DISNEY LAND ARTIFACTS

DISNEY LAND -What a fun place to visit.

When I was about 6 to 8 years old, my parents allowed me to put in my room the Walt Disney Bambi Movie Ceramic Characters. They had collected them before I was born, as I have no memory of every going to Disney Land as a child. I always was very careful with them. Once I broke one and I got the glue and put it back together after hours of meticuliously sorting through the pieces. There was Bambi, Faline (Bambi's girlfriend), Flower (a skunk), Thumper (a rabbit), The Great Prince of the Forest (Bambi's Dad), Mother, Friend Owl and Aunt Ena (Faline's mother) and little blue birds. This story was produced in 1942.

I played out events in my imagination with these figurines - like creating stories. I would spend hours in my room after breakfast. Of course, this meant that I would have to dust them weekly. I never minded at all. I would talk to them, like people talk to plants. It was similar to having a play house with Barbi and Ken dolls, that my own children had.

In 1966 I took my own children to Disney Land in California. we not only spent days there, but we also went to the zoo, sea world, the fair with Ferris Wheels and Merry-go-round, and the Museum. This museum had house size insects with wings moving. windows showing spiders and creatures of many kinds. Another area had machines that showed how earth-quakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, volcanoes, and other clamities happen - with moving pictures. It was quite informative. I put pictures in my photo album. I remember in one of the pictures, I had on light green pants and had my hair pulled back. My hair length back then was down to my waist.

When I grew up, it was the tradition for all families to do laundry on Mondays and house cleaning on Saturday mornings, early. There was even a radio program that I turned on to give me a working beat to listen to. I believe it was called "No School Today". They had songs to make cleaning fun. I remember one tune but have forgotten the words. One of my favorite songs to work with was "Teddy Bears Picnic". It goes like this: If you go out in the woods today, you better go in disguise, If you go out in the woods today, you will not believe your eyes, for every bear that ever there was, will gather there for certain because, today's the day, the Teddy Bears have their picnic.

I also remember my Mom's wood floors. They needed to be waxed. I would first lay wax onto the wood by hand. Next, put on my big thick wool socks, then run and slide on the wax to move it around the room until the floor was nice and shiny.

One week-end I remember waxing the hallway between my mother's bedroom and mine. She came home from shopping and went quickly into her room...except I didn't have a chance to tell her that I already had wax down. She went ker-splat on her backside, going around the corner of the living room into her bedroom. She wasn't very happy. I kept real quiet for awhile.

You may not believe it, but when I was young there was no Television - just radio. We went outside after school. We played dodge-ball, kick the can, road our bicycles, played Cowboys and Indians on teams, (my bike was named Rex), played at other peoples houses, or rode down to the desert on Tucson Blvd and played on our home-made forts, or riding around the cane growing in the middle of the block. No one locked their front doors. Kids were safe on the street.
During fruit bearing season, we would knock on someone's door and ask if we could pick some of the fruit off their trees. They always said yes.

My Mom gave me a quarter on Saturdays and I rode my bike to the Movie Theater on Campbell. It was about one-mile from home. On special Saturdays we went downtown to the Mickey Mouse specials. There was always a news reel with current events, then several comic strip cartoons, and then the movie. Sometimes an M.C. [Master of Ceremonies] would get out on the stage and there would be a drawing of gifts, using the numbers on your movie ticket. I never won any prizes. Then I'd ride back home. It was about 5 miles. My brothers only rode with me occasionally. I was the youngest and they would try to lose me often. If someone used your bike to get back home (and not ask you first) they would leave the bike in the desert a few blocks north of my home. I would walk home, then go look for my bike and bring it back home. I always found it. No one took the bike and sold it, or sent it to another country for money.
Life was sweet! No worries!

LEARNING NOT TO GET LOST

When I was grade school age, my family would take trips in the summer all over the Southwest. My Dad, who was a contractor, was off during the summer months in Arizona. It was just too hot to work building houses, offices or hotels - roofing, laying cement and all those things that bricklayers, carpenters, hod carriers, and laborers do for a living. It was also a good time to spend with family. The time off would be one-month or up to three-months. Summers in Tucson are often over 100 degrees for 3-months in a row. My dad was good to his employees.

My Dad would drive the family to some chosen location, which was different every year. He had traveled a lot during his own childhood [which is another story] and he wanted to travel and see more of this beautiful country we call the USA. Each year we would load up into the car and off we would go. I remember many of those years with lessons that I learned.

Before leaving the city behind my Dad would stop the car and ask me if I could find my way back home. He would say things like: "I am putting you out of the car here." "Can you find your way home?" I was scared! I couldn't believe he would abandon me in a place I'd never been before. Often this would happen in another State, where I had no idea where I was or how to find home. The first few times, I panicked. I'm sure I looked over at my mother and cried. I hung on even when the door was swung open. I wasn't going anywhere other than where my parents were.

Then my Dad would tell me to look out the windows of the car. He'd ask me to find the tallest mountain and tell him, was that mountain toward the East or West of our home? At night he would have me look at the stars for the big dipper and find the North Star. That way I would know when I woke up in the morning just what direction we were traveling iand of course, what direction from home would I be then. He told me that the pioneers placed their wagon tongues toward the West at night when they unhooked the oxen or horses, so in the morning they could know which way to travel.

Then I learned to tell time by the sun. When the sun is overhead it is noon. The sun goes down in different seasons at a different time each day. What season are you in, and what time will the sun go down? His questions were to teach me North, East, South, and West. He never let up.

He'd ask me to find landmarks, look around for something different on the street or highway we were traveling on. See the surroundings, the buildings, the gas station or market across the street. What highway sign number was the last one and did it change when we came to the next town? Was there a river we crossed, or a bridge? What was the name of the last town we were traveling through? Would there be little towns before we arrived at the next destination?

He also would ask me what would happen if we turned around and drove back to where we last stopped for gasoline. Would I know to turn right or left to get back on the highway? He would ask me if I was left behind, what would I do? He instructed me to always have phone call money in my pocket. I would need to call the police and have money left over to buy a drink or food while waiting. I must always have identification on me, with my home address. Today we are instructed to have our blood type and medications or alergies in our wallets, too. Never leave home without money! This was throughly imprinted on my mind. Money keeps you safe.

My mother was a saver. She would always take along a container for bread, sandwich meat, and mayo to make sandwiches on the road. When we stopped, we would have food to eat and ocassionally Dad would buy soda pop. Often we didn't stop and just ate in the car. You learn what you see and live through. I learned to always take food and drink in the car when I am traveling. Eating food while driving keeps you wider awake. Perhaps the movement of the mouth.

Remember how you used to wet your eye lashes and stick your head out the window, or roll it down, to keep yourself awake while driving? My son found a new answer for himself. He plays loud mind-irritating music and eats a snack to keep himself awake for long-trips.

Back to my story: When we would stop for a rest stop or picnic for lunch, Dad would get out the map (that my mother used while traveling to give him directions). Dad would look it over. He would ask me questions about the map, too. He wanted me to learn how to use a map. He said, I must know where I am, how to find it on a map, then locate where I am planning to go, and to know how far and how long it will take to get there. This helps to know when to stop for gas.

Learning to read the map was a little harder, however, I wanted to be a navigator, like my mother, and be able to sit in the front seat, next to my Dad. I knew I had to learn to read the map first. The front seat was the best, as Dad would often put me on his lap and teach me how to stir the car. Of course, he had his hands on the wheel as well as mine. It was fun!

I learned that each map has a legend/scale that tells you distances. Some list sample miles from one city to another. There are red and black mile numbers. Look for the arrows that tell you how far from this place to the next city. Main highways are marked with large blue lines. Small roads have small red lines, and tiny grey lines are dirt roads. Toll roads are usually bold green or red yellow columns, usually a four-lane highway. State capitals usually have a star inside the black dot marking the cities. Go get a map and really look at it.

It became a game or learning. I always loved learning and lucky for me, I still learn. When I am a passenger in a car I keep my eyes moving. Looking for how we are traveling, looking for landmarks like I was taught as a kid. What buldings, churches, stores, bridges, rivers, gas stations, street work, or signs are we passing?

I find most drivers are not conscious of their surrondings, and should they go to a place they haven't been to before they can get very lost. I have been in the car of many of these people. I have to tell them which way is East and how to get back out of the winding road area they are presently in. They often tell me they don't know how I do it. I can tell you, it was a different experience having the Dad that I had, but the learning was permanent. I don't get lost.

If I'm ever on vacation and wind up in a city that has roads not on the map, I am not ashamed to stop at a gas-station, talk to the cashier about where I am. Then look at a local map, to find my way back on the right road, and off again on my fun vacation. You can do this too! Enjoy life!

G-ma Loves You So Much!

I want you each to know that I love you very, very much! Really...You are part of my life that lasts forever.

I have something I want to share with you:
When you are out in the company of others, how you act, reflects on me. You ask, How! That is easy. The family is the most important part of our society. In this world that we live in, we are tagged or known by others, because of our parents, grandparents, siblings, special friends, and ancestry. We tend to be as the saying goes, "birds of a feather flock together". What this means is that when you are with someone, you tend to act as they are acting. Therefore, if they are acting stupid you may be inclined to act that way, as not to offend them. Really, though...you should always be true to yourself and your family. Always, ask yourself --What would your mother think if she was standing beside you, when you are acting out that way? Some parents might say, what would Jesus think? Now, don't he-haw about that remark. It is a truism. What you do, how you act, what you say, your grades in school, where you go, who you hang around, what you do when no one is watching, all of these things reflect on how you were raised and by whom you were raised.

What influence has your grandparents had on you. Did you e-mail, write, or call your grandparents and ask their advise? Then...Whether you listened to their advise or turned off your ears to truth. Have you been around nice people and learned a few nice ideas that your parents, maybe, didn't share that advise? When you see polite, or kind, you should take notice. The rich, of course, know all the rules of a nice society. They send their children to schools for the training - or they have a nanny come in.

My brother dated a girl that went to a private school. She told me that besides lots of study they also trained with manners. My mother sent my brother to "Mrs. Wrights Old Pueblo Social School"...or a name like that. He learned how to open the door for a lady, how to seat a lady first in the car before you walk around to your own door, how to stand when a lady enters his table at a restaurant, how to take your hat off inside and never wear one at the table, how to pay the bell-boy at hotels, how to help a lady on with her coat or off with her coat, how to give a lady your own coat if she gets cold, how to say Thank You and Please, how to be gallant, how to use all the silverware at a fancy dinner, how to eat a pitted fruit, to be very mannerly, and socially acceptable among others. Just how do the rich walk, talk, and socialize? Yes, there are rules!

It appears that the rich businessmen among us still act the polite ways. They should be good examples for the young students in school. Do we want to be thought of as poor, unaccountable, or white trash...No! We must learn the correct behavior, in order for us never to be considered less than children of a KING! You are of royalty. Act with kindness and never slump into depravity. Stay away from people who act stupid, do dangerous things, drag you into anything that gives you a bad feeling, or pushes feeding you illegal, immoral or low-life ideas or consumables. Just say No! Tomorrow when you wake up well, and you find they had died, you will remember what your g-ma was offering to tell you, to protect you, to shower love upon you!

I want only GOOD for you. I want you to grow up feeling life has lots of good opportunities for you to create a wonderful life, full of gifts, full of opportunity, and full of praise and love and even to be wealthy. All of us who believe in Christ, read His words, live His advise, and obey the gospel with marriage in the Holy Temple of the Lord are wealthy!

Remember always that g-ma loves you....this much.......xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo!

A Memory:
I remember being around a friend's family when I was young and that family had salad for dinner, every night. My family didn't fix salad...ever! I tried the salad and I liked it. I decided that when I grew up and had a family that I would serve salad. I did do this. I'm not saying that anyone changed, I just did the best I could with the situations that I was served in life.

This same family, the Peterson's, had a mother that painted her toenails red. She would sit up on the couch/sofa/divan/ and put her feet on the cushion. Unscrew the bottle and carefully paint each toenail - very slowly. I loved to watch her. It seemed like a girl thing. I didn't learn anything like this from my own mother. She didn't paint her toenails. Yes, I feel very girl-like when I paint my toenails! I prefer red polish.

Let me know if you vote for more life stories?

Grandmother Uses G-ma As Her Signature

G-ma is the word for grandmother in my close family. Sure, other families use Mimi, Tia, or Oompa or even Mamia. Because I have been on computers for many years, I was always able to type up a letter or e-mail to my family. G-ma was easier, because of the sound it resonates is easier for me to use for the grandchildren.