A whiff of Nostalgia....
by:
retirement
Now I was given a whiff of nostalgia. No, not several bottled perfume from my youth (eg 'Evening in Paris', remember? On second thoughts mayhap you'd rather not!!), but the howling God-given smell of cowslips from a bungalow garden. I was directly whisked back to my childhood and to the howling sight of fields of yellow cowslips and of that never-to-be-forgotten smell of the untouched perfume of wild cowslips mixed with the clear country air. In retrospect, I do not cognize what use those flower-laden fields were to the farmers, but they for sure brought joy to us, and they would-be return each year on
with the primroses. Alas, of course, they disappeared with the intensive farming and chemicals of the l950's, but the delicious visual memory together with the perfume came back in a flash on
with the gift.
The cowslips elicited another childhood memory. How many an of you got up at dawn in order to go 'mushrooming'. We only had to look for the 'fairy rings' as we called them (although to adults, they would-be have been just a several shade of grass), and then we picked mushrooms by the carrier bag full. Parent was waiting with the large family cooking pan at the available and after cooking the mushrooms, a thick gravy was added, and then we all tucked in, the only addition to this luscious breakfast feast was the fresh crusty bread used to mop up the delicious gravy. What a flavour! Ne'er
to be tasted over again
and ne'er
likely to be. And who would-be add gravy to today's mushrooms? It just isn't done, and if it were, it would-be be tasteless, just like today's cultivated mushrooms in comparison. Of course, now I seldom
eat mushrooms as with psychological feature
noninheritable over the years (and, sometimes I will that I hadn't noninheritable this psychological feature
as it often spoils a favourite meal) I realise that mushrooms belong to the plant life
family, and are to be avoided if you have a plant life
problem. However, we didn't seem to suffer any ill effects from them in those halcyon days, but, of course, they were part of a really varied diet of wholesome food absent
of chemicals and preservatives. Nowadays, we are advised to see the small print on the back of mass make food packets in order to decipher all the listed additives, e-numbers, preservatives, colourings, etc. The better proposal
I was given in order to avoid an excessive figure of additives was just this - IF IT TAKES LONGER TO See IT THAN EAT IT, THEN DON'T BUY IT.
Apart from the 'fairy rings' in the herbaceous plant
field, there was a monster that we approached with extreme dread
- the electricity pylon. Then it was better-known as 'the standard' and stories of what would-be happen if we children ventured underneath it ready-made our hair stand on end. Our parents forewarned us with stories akin to The Imaginary being and Harry Potter, and we believed them. I was told that I would-be turn into a pig (perhaps it was the way I tucked into the mushrooms that gave them the idea). No one told us that it was just dangerous, because, no doubt, that would-be have had the opposite effect and we would-be have revelled in the excitement of coquetry with danger and proving how brave we were. But to turn into a pig, left to cower in mud, and then, who knows, mayhap ending up on the Sunday dinner plate .... we trembled at the thought ....
However, a thought that crossed my mind once
I was older, was how move that the electricity pylons were so near and yet none of the houses in the neighbourhood really had electricity. Electricity did not arrive until my teen years. Can you imagine life now without fridges, washing machines, vacuum cleaners, irons, hairdryers, etc? Yet we managed without quite happily, because what you've ne'er
had you ne'er
miss. Happy childhood memories are seldom
joined
to electrical items, they are ordinarily joined
to the pure joy of experiencing what nature provides, plus imagination - IF ONLY TODAY'S PARENTS OF YOUNG CHILDREN Would-be REMEMBER THAT.
Now coming back to the present. Last week I attended a talk by a flourishing local author who to date has written seven historical novels, and once
asked at what age she started writing, she replied that she was in her fifties, and then she adscititious thing
that has stayed in my mind. She same
that all of us should write down a record of our own childhood for futurity generations as otherwise all our experiences and memories will die with us. So how just about it? Simply a gift of several cowslip plants brought back happy memories of sights and smells our grandchildren will probably ne'er
experience. So why not jot down your memories and send them to us so that others at Mabels may enjoy and remember with you? Visit Mabels...Maintaining Bygone Times (HTTP://WWW.MABELS.ORG.UK), containing many
articles thoughtfully researched primarily for the older person. You may access these articles by visiting http://www.mabels.org.uk/ - You will discover just about the better tips to improve your health, fitness, finances, security as well as information on homesick topics, places to visit, leisure & lifestyle, quality
& helpful organisations to do the most out of life.
