More walks down memory lane

My Mother hung on to a lot of things

My Brownie and Girl Scout sash.  (I can’t believe that I have badges pinned on? Or maybe they came off of my uniform?)  If you look at the badges that I earned they do reflect my interests today.  Arts and crafts, animal care, cooking, flowers, sports, and some house that is kind of in the mountains.  Maybe someone will remember what that was for.  Travel maybe(?)  I certainly had to travel with my parents so maybe I managed to get a badge for it?  Who knows?

And of course there is this picture

Sorry it is so dark, difficult lighting in that room.  Anyway, it is me as a six-year-old showing dismay that our library has fewer books that year than in the past.  This accompanied a newspaper article about how school libraries were no longer getting books from the Louisville public library.   And because so many new schools were opening,  books were being moved to the new schools.

So wonder why I didn’t get a badge in reading?  Reading was very much encouraged by my parents.  I can remember them each having a current book that they would read each night.  I guess at the library, my Mother picked out books for my Father.  I don’t ever remember going to our local library with him.  Thinking of that library  lead to the thought that I have always treasured summer because it meant that I had time to read and that I could read what I wanted.  I was able to ride my bike to the local library.

Anyway, I have made time this summer to read.  I could ride my bike to our local library or even walk, it is close enough.  (It is also HOT here so I have not done either yet.  Also don’t have a bike.)  I am catching up on two series that I have read through the years. Aunt Dimity, very light-hearted, set in England (here is a link  about Aunt Dimity ) and Miss Julia, also not serious literature, set in North Carolina.  (about Miss Julia)  Miss Julia is helping me to get back in touch with my Carolina/Southern strong women attitude.

From reading earlier posts you might remember that I have a very vivid imagination.  (that movie of my life that plays in my head when I first arrive in France)  I was pleased that when I started reading a Miss Julia book again the same images of the homes and the town popped up in my head.  And this is the question, when you read do you see the story and what is happening in your mind?  Is it only people who really love reading and can get lost in it that see this?  Is this something that is taught or does it just develop?

When in the library I also pick up a cook book.  Currently eating our way through Burma (Myanmar) using the book Burma Superstar  (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31084637-burma-superstar)  by Desmond Tan and Kate Leahy.  Yesterday was a very tasty okra curry.  It was not quite right since I used a Spanish smoked paprika and the can of tomatoes had Italian basil in it….but what is a little blending of cultures.  So did my parents, who forced me to travel with them and gave me a love of reading, shape my everyday life years and years later.  Yes, most probably.

 

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