Monday, January 21, 2013

Winters Past

Mom's friends from her youth
 
I've been scanning my parents' slides over the weekend ... yesterday I went through 530 slides.  Lots of memories swirled through my head making it difficult to sleep last night. 

My early years living in Dundas, Ontario
 
Memories of winters when we were guaranteed snow every single year.  We were very much an outdoors family.  We were encouraged to "get outside" and enjoy the day.   Winter meant just playing in the snow, and a lot of tobogganing!  We weren't a skiing family. 


 
 My dad told me he once went to a ski hill to give it a try ... how difficult could it be?  He got to the top of the hill and went down ... straight down ... he didn't know you were supposed to go back and forth across the hill.  He made it down at top speed, turning more than a few heads on the way.  At the bottom he walked back to the chalet, handed in his skiis and never went again.
 
I still have this little toboggan and use it as a Christmas decoration at my front door  This is my brother and sister.
 
left to right:  My dad, brother, me, sister, sister and Skipper the daschnd
 
Did you ever have a furry winter coat? I don't mean real fur, or even fake fur.  I mean the kind of plush synthetic fabric that stuffed toy animals are made of.  We had them.  It's what you got in the 1960s.  Here is my family with our oh-so-plush winter coats.  Notice how the snow just sticks to them.  It was like wearing a big knitted woolen mitten the way the snow formed a crust on you!!  And there were snowpants to match (not shown ... probably still drying from the previous day's romp in the snow).


Me with my new Christmas skates!!
 
And skating ... outdoors.  How I loved to skate!!  My brother and I would clear these tiny rinks in our field (it conveniently flooded a bit in the fall).  We also skated along the small creek that bordered the field (hence the flooding).  We never went to an arena (you'd have to pay for that, and things were done without money as much as possible).  So we skated very carefully along the creek, always on the look out for a twig frozen into the ice that could trip you up, or a bit of open water that would soak your foot!
 
I still love the outdoors and get outside as much as possible.   My kids have been brought up the same way, although the electronics do lure them away more than I like.  We didn't have that distraction growing up, and being outside was our best entertainment.
 
Thanks for stopping by!!
Wendy



16 comments:

  1. ...what lovely memories.....i remember lots of snow in my childhood...we built igloos for hours, sat in them for about 5 mins, got wet bottoms then went inside!..love your new skates...do you still have those? x

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  2. Ah yes, igloos! and snow forts and snowmen. We would also dig tunnels in the huge drifts of snow that came off our hill. My sister stole my skates :( and I've since replaced them, but haven't gone skating for a couple of years now. Wendy

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  3. Brilliant photos, fashions may change but families are still having fun in the snow, that doesn't change! :) x

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    1. So true Ada ... but we've got NO snow on the ground now :( Wendy

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  4. Hi Wendy I'm your heart swap partner!!! I adore these photos....brought back memories of when I was a child and lived in Germany for a little over 3 years. (military family.) I still have my sled from 1967 and use it as a Christmas decoration too...and YES! I had those plush type coats myself...we must have a lot in common!!!!
    email me at valpowery(at)yahoo(dot)com so we can visit regarding the swap!

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    1. Hi Val, I posted a message on your last blog post too. I'll send you an email ... thanks :) Wendy

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  5. Oh my gosh, this is fantastic! How wonderful to see the photos that inspired your trip down memory lane. Our school yard had a rink that someone or other volunteered to make. No boards - just flooded directly onto the ground. Must have taken FOREVER to build up the ice surface. I remember skating (terribly) and being so worried that all of the hot shot hockey players would knock me over. I'm still an atrocious skater and its my children that are the hockey players.

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    1. I was never very good either, and then when I had kids I had to get back on the ice after MANY years off it ... a little intimidating! I think I'm finished with skating now, although I do have a nice pair of blue suede skates ready and waiting in the basement should I change my mind. Wendy

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  6. ~ What a lovely post, Wendy....I really enjoyed looking through your younger years in Snowy pictures, from the warmth of my cosy chair!
    YOU are like have a lovely virtual pen friend. hehe..
    I kind of remember those jackets and in fact, may have just had one! I was going through, Mums things myself today and was going to post about our fashions in the sixties!! Our Dads looked very similar ~ What a lovely walk down memory lane~ Love Skipper too! hehe..
    Thanks for sharing, Ooh do you still have those skates, my friend?
    Love Maria x

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    1. Oops..... I must remember to borrow hubbies reading spectacles.....Of course it should read having...Instead of have..(It comes to us all, old age) and short sightedness..hehe...

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    2. It is fun revisiting the past, isn't it? I always thought my life as a kid was SO dull, but when it's condensed into a few photos, it looks like we had enormous fun!! And my oldest sister stole my skates from my parents' house before I had a need for them again (ie when my own kids were old enough to skate with me). I may have a few more posts on the good old days as I have about 3 binders full of slides yet to scan! Wendy

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  7. Hi Wendy, I enjoyed both the post and the pictures. You look so cute !! It also brought back memories of my first winter/snow in canada. I remember looking into the sky to see where it was falling from :) - Gaia

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    1. Thanks Gaia ... I love that "seeing where it was falling from". I have a friend from the east coast and when she moved to Ontario she called her mom to say "the rain falls straight down here!". On the coast the rain was always coming down sideways in the wind :) Wendy

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    2. Hello Wendy, I love the little toboggan, I bet that looks lovely by your door as a decoration. I hang a pair of vintage skates on my door ... you'll have to get yours back from your sister! Enjoying getting to know you!

      Love Claire xxx

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  8. Wonderful photos. I especially love the one with the matching red snowsuits and the toboggan. We weren't skiers in my family either, but we did hit the hills for some sledding. I actually grew up in Hamilton, so not so far from Dundas. Not much snow to speak of this year, huh?

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    1. Hamilton!! My mom's family were all from Hamilton (West Hamilton as it was known then), below the mountain. My Dad worked at Stelco as an electrical engineer, but he is from Sheffield, England. We moved out to a hamlet called Lowville when I was young (HUGE tobogganing hill there). Well, small world :) Wendy

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