Dear Diary

In going through some of the boxes of water-soaked books in my storage locker, I found my childhood diary.  My nickname was "Bitsy," as some of you may remember.  Inside the cover are these words:

To Bitsy from Aunt Dot Xmas 1950

So my first entry was Monday, January 1, 1951.  I was ten years old when I wrote this:

Wrote show "At Home."  Put it on in the yard.  Made 9c.  I got 3c.  Later we went to the picture show.  Saw Hopalong Cassidy & Bud Abbott & Lou Costello in double feature. 

Saw show at "Dixie" was added later above this first entry.  That was a movie theater in Chattanooga in the 1950s. We lived in a neighborhood full of children, and it appears I had some helpers to put on the "show" that day.  It also appears that we charged a penny each for the privilege of seeing us perform my little play, and I got a third of the money.  So whatever "show" we did, I'd say it took three of us to do it.

Notice that I was a writer early on, not only writing in my diary, but I also wrote a play.  And I was a musician, writing this on May 4, 1951, a week after turning eleven:

My first real concert.  At the Memorial Auditorium.  It was about the happiest moment of my life.  I played the fluteophone with the big band.  Saved program.

I misspelled "flutophone," but I had fun playing it.  Having that experience probably made learning clarinet easier when I got a clarinet for Christmas in 1952, also in the diary.

In early 1954, I wrote repeatedly that I took bassoon lessons.  I played clarinet for only a year before switching over to bassoon.  But my friend Ada and I played our clarinets together at least once, since the Friday, February 4, 1955 entry says:

Ada Rentfro and I played clarinet duet, "Sisters," at E.S.'s Chili Supper!  I changed words of song.  Had planned to sing.  Sore throats.

"E. S." would be East Side Junior High School, where we attended 7th, 8th, and 9th grades together.

Ada and I also sang "Sisters" on stage before our whole school that year, as I have mentioned before.  For that performance, I played an accordian while we sang in front of our peers.

I'm still writing, but now I'm writing on a blog.  A blog is a lot like a diary.  I guess I should mention books and reading, huh?

Liar and Spy ~ by Rebecca Stead, 2012, children's mystery (New York), 208 pages

The first day Georges (the S is silent) moves into a new Brooklyn apartment, he sees a sign taped to a door in the basement:  SPY CLUB MEETING — TODAY!  That’s how he meets his twelve-year-old neigh­bor Safer.  He and Safer quickly become allies — and fellow spies.  Their assignment was to track the mysterious Mr. X, who lives in the apartment upstairs.  But as Safer’s requests become more and more demanding, Georges starts to wonder:  how far is too far to go for your only friend?

This is the book I'll read next, after finishing Aunt Bessie Decides by Diana Xarissa (2014, cozy mystery, 238 pages), which I'm reading now.  Both of these are books that were in my friend Donna's Kindle, which I "inherited" after she died last year.

Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

The Rear View Review 2018

Tiny and her daughter Lauree (see July)

This look back at 2018 was done by excerpting a short portion of one post from each month last year.  You can click on the name of the month to find these twelve posts.  I took this idea from Colleen at Loose Leaf Notes and soon realized it works best when I'm quoting something personal I wrote, rather than my posts about books and what some random author wrote.

January ~ I don't remember WHY we did it, but I do remember borrowing an accordian and learning to play it, so Ada and I could go onstage in front of the whole school to sing "Sisters, Sisters."  Yes, once I was able to play and sing at the same time!  I think we were in 8th grade when we sang.  After graduating, we went on to Chattanooga High School, where we once again played in band and orchestra together.  Here's a high school photo of me holding my bassoon.

February ~ What a fascinating book! I could imagine a forest of trees "leaning" on one another, "talking" to each other via their roots, and sending out "scent" signals to warn other trees of dangers such as insects nibbling on leaves or beetles boring into their trunks.

March ~ I often find myself pondering strange ideas, like the odd fact that 39 years ago when I was 39 years old, I did something foolish on St. Patrick's Day.  That was half my lifetime ago!  So today, I'll let it go and be happy that it was something that I could (and did) un-do.  I'm just glad it was St. Patrick's Day and not April Fool's Day!

April ~ Clawdia looks like an ornamental decoration herself, sitting on the little corner table.  By the way, Clawdia knows I don't always see her, as she slips past me like a shadow.  When I'm coming near her, she actually chirps, a little "meowp" sound, to let me know she's there.  Is this cat smart, or what?

May ~ When I started talking about women needing to have a voice and men doing the talking about #MeToo, a man near me interrupted me (!!!).  So I stood up and continued to talk ABOVE him.  We women had come to discuss the #MeToo situation, not to have it "man-splained" to us, though I didn't use that word. A woman came up to me afterwards to thank me for speaking up.

June ~ My friend Ginny visited me at the end of May, bringing along her sister Bunny.  Although she lives in Florida, Ginny figured out how to come through St. Louis on her way to Pennsylvania.  Makes sense, doesn't it, driving from Florida to Missouri to get to Pennsylvania?

July ~ Last night, Tiny knocked on our door with two bowls of vanilla ice cream in her hands.  That's vanilla covered with chocolate syrup.  And she didn't know it was Vanilla Ice Cream Day.  How funny is that!  (Tiny, who'd never done that before, is pictured at the top with her daughter.)

August ~ Gumption

Don’t call me pretty or say that I'm beautiful.
That's not what matters to girls who have spunk.

Tell me I'm smart or I show such compassion.
Say I have spirit or always seem savvy.

Tell me I'm witty or clever or funny,
and point out whenever I'm loving and kind.

Looks are not all that a girl should consider,
so tell me I've got what it takes to succeed.

― Bonnie Setliffe Jacobs, August 2, 2018

September ~ Today I will ponder "a road crossing a forest" as opposed to our human assumption that the deer is crossing one of OUR roads.  From the deer's point of view, that road came through the forest, making a mess of things, causing problems, making life difficult and extremely dangerous.   Oh, to see the world ― and life ― as others see it.

October ~ I first noticed the tree's reflection in the water, full of leaves.  Only then did I see the "actual" tree had no leaves.

November ~ I guess what I'm saying is that my happy place is where I can enjoy green growing things.  Hmm, and at this point in my life, I think my happy place is living here at the Crown Center.

December ~ I try not to put my foot in my mouth, not that I could literally do such a thing at my age.
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I posted something similar to this six years ago:  2012 in first lines.  The idea was to "use the first lines of each month on your blog, to give an overview of your blogging year."