Tag: memories

nostalgia

Weekly Photo Challenge ~ One

Joanne4 Comments

Last weeks WordPress Photo Challenge theme was “One”. Yes, I know, I’m late, but I really wanted to share a photo and a short story….

Sitting silently alone, in the midst of…well…nothing, I spotted this old park bench.

I visited an old park just recently, during a visit back to my old home town (which I have yet to tell you all about!)

Way back in time, at the very young age of only nine years old (wow, that sounds so long ago!) I enjoyed playing in this park, which was just across the road from the home we lived in.

It was a rented property and we only lived there for a couple of months, whilst our new home was being built, but the memories of this home have lived on, so many years later.

My hours spent playing in the park with friends were definitely a highlight of this time.

The park has been renewed over the years and certainly isn’t the same as when I played there as a child. But it is still a park. With one very old bench, sitting near the fence.

I could never know for sure, but I do believe that perhaps this is the old bench that lived in this same park, way back when….

There is no way of knowing for sure if it’s the same bench, but I like to think that maybe it is. Just maybe, something of my old park still remains today.

 

Australia · nostalgia

In History Today ~ Dollars and Cents Introduced in Australia, (Amongst Other Things!)

Joanne4 Comments

“In come the dollars and in come the cents

To replace the pounds, the shillings and the pence,

Be prepared, folks, when the money starts to mix

On the 14th of February, 1966”.

And so went the jingle, to the tune of “Click Go the Shears”, during the weeks leading up to Australia’s change in currency.

Yes, yes, yes, I know; it’s Valentine’s Day today! There’ll be enough love spinning around the internet today, without me adding my “penny’s worth”, or perhaps “two cents worth”!

So, dear reader, you’ll probably not hear this story anywhere other than here!

Today, I wear the hat of the “individualist”. Everyone else can take the high road and I’ll take the low road and we’ll all still arrive at February 15th in the same way!

Some may arrive there more broke than others, having spent a small fortune of their dollars and cents on materialistic impulses, in an effort to impress someone they love.

Perhaps this is the point where I should be yelling out “Bah, Humbug!”, even though it isn’t Christmas! But really, I ask you, why can’t we say “I love you” every day of the year?

Today is the anniversary of a momentous, monumental and unfortunately, probably forgotten memory, a day in history, lost in the depths of an ocean filled with a million bunches of perfumed roses.

It was forty-five years ago today when confusion began to reign supreme, when no one could work out the equivalent of what, in our currency, so everyone admired the shiny new coins, featuring Australia’s native animals, instead.

The change over period of pounds, shillings and pence to dollars and cents lasted many years until eventually the old currency was completely phased out.

It is a rare occasion today to see any money from the old system.

So there you have it, my reminder that today is something more than just Valentine’s Day, especially in Australia!

Footnote ~ Any contributions of roses to the author would be greatly appreciated, the real and scented variety, that is. And afore said contributions need not be limited to just one day of the year! (I’m not that Scrooge-ish!)

On a more serious note, please read a story of family love, here…. And tell those who mean the most to you “I love you”, not just today, but every day. xxxxxx

Australia · music

My First, Last and Only Rock Concert

JoanneLeave a comment

Perhaps I really have lead a sheltered life, but the only rock concert I have ever been to in my entire life was in Sydney. I was nineteen years of age.

The concert was held at the Sydney Showground, which was the old venue for the Royal Easter Show, long before Olympic Park at Homebush Bay had even been thought of. At that stage, Sydney had not been given the rights to host the 2000 Olympic Games.

I remember the day well, it was a warm November day, and I believe it was a Friday. The well promoted concert was called Rock Arena and it was THEE place to be in Sydney that day.

It had only been six weeks since I had left my brand new job at Broadbeach on the Gold Coast, my home and my parents. Sydney beckoned and I had answered the call.

The line up of artists on the day of the Rock Arena was impressive and included, among other lesser known bands, The Little River Band, Santana and the big finale was to be Fleetwood Mac.

With apologies to L.R.B. and Santana, I will admit (now!) with all honesty that my only attraction to the day was Fleetwood Mac!

The earlier part of the day began in quite a civilised manner. The concert was open air and the audience sat around on the huge grassy expanse with blankets and esky’s.

As the day turned into night and the big names appeared, my civilised afternoon transformed into chaos. Arm and legs were flung willy-nilly and girls climbed up onto beefy boys shoulders. Long hair flew hither and yon as the crowd surged forward, taking over our once claimed patch of ground.

The horrendous noise (from the crowd, that is!) and smells of cigarette smoke (or whatever it was that people were smoking!) and sweaty bodies scarred me for life.

Fleetwood Mac were the band I had waited to see, the only reason I had sat patiently in the heat of the afternoon, feeling like a veritable fish out of water, and see them I did!

I dodged and weaved with the best of them, straining my neck and standing barefoot on unnaturally high tippy-toes and there they were, confirming that the band was actually there!

Between songs, I seem to recall Stevie Nicks reaching for her glass of water, a lot. After the heat of the afternoon, I needed water too.

Finally the concert seemed to be winding down. It was decided that a speedy exit would be wise as the traffic leaving Sydney Showground would be horrendous.

My shoes! Where were they?

Crawling around the grass between smelly legs and feet, my one and only pair of decent shoes that I had brought with me to Sydney when I left the Gold Coast were located.

On that warm November day, way back when, I experienced my first, my last, my only, rock concert.

To this day, the scarring of that November day still remains and I continue to view rock concerts from home, on my television set, comfortably curled up in my comfy chair.

Tonight, I watched a George Michael concert, which he performed in a massive, under cover stadium in London. Thousands of seats surrounded the stage, filled to capacity with fans who witnessed the charming George belt out hit song after hit song.

As I watched George Michael performing, it brought back to mind my patch of grass and Fleetwood Mac, and all of the other memories from a lifetime ago.

Rock concerts have certainly advanced during the goodness-knows-how-many years since I suffered through the heat and discomfort for Fleetwood Mac.

Wonders may still exist…if George Michael should arrange a concert tour of Australia, I may just buy a ticket to his concert! 🙂

music

A Beautiful Movie….A Beautiful Song

Joanne5 Comments

A commitment is a commitment, and yes, I did commit to a postaday2011.

So here I am at 11.30 pm, just to say today has been big.

And I’m tired.

If I talk about my day now, there is a danger this post won’t make it to being published before midnight, largely because my head will crash onto the computer keyboard and I will be asleep at my desk for the night!

It will have to keep ’till tomorrow.

I will leave you with a link to YouTube, to a song from a movie, both which hold a lot of meaning to me.

It’s A Beautiful Song….so until tomorrow, enjoy.

daughter

A Reminder of a Priceless Treasure

Joanne2 Comments

Further to last night and my post “A Time for Silence”…..

After completing my post, I wandered off to have a browse at what was on the television. I felt rather “brainless” and needed something to amuse me, without having to concentrate, before I turned in for the night.

At first flick through the TV channels I found nothing entertaining at all. Surely there must be something worth watching on the fifty-million channels available?

Fox Classics was the big winner. How did I mange to miss this, during the first flick through?

I had missed the beginning of “The Sound of Music”, but that’s okay. Hadn’t I seen this movie enough times during my life to know where I was up to in the story line?

With my body constantly breaking out in goose-bumps, I sailed along on my cloud of reminiscing, recalling most of my favourite songs from the movie; “Edelweiss”, “Climb Ev’ry Mountain”, “The Lonely Goatherd”, “My Favourite Things”, “So Long, Farewell” and of course, the movies signature song, “The Sound of Music”.

As the wedding scene began, I instantly recalled that Maria walks down the aisle of the abbey, to marry her beloved Gaylord, (played by the dashing Christopher Plumber), to the song, “Maria”. I remembered the post I wrote here last year, in July, noting that my own daughter, Emma, reminded me so much of Maria in “The Sound of Music” (played by Julie Andrews).

At the time, I gave the post the title of “Miss Seventeen”. Emma is now eighteen, is definitely still my “Maria” and still makes my heart dance and sing, every day!

If you would like to read the post, you can do so here….

As I re-read the words I had written about my daughter less than twelve months ago, it became evident to me that she has matured. Oh, for sure, she is still my “Wild Child”, but my girl is learning new lessons of life, every day.

It seems like only yesterday, when she was just fifteen years old and I worried myself to a frazzle over her. Wanting to protect her, I tried to hold her down, just a teeny-weeny bit.

She announced to me one day, with the most solemn look on her face, that she knew I was only trying to protect her, but she wanted to make her own mistakes.

How could I argue with her? They were the very same words I had spoken to my own mother, as a teenager!

Emma reminded me that it is impossible to live someone else’s life for them. You can only ever live your own life.

So here we are, three years down the track from that most memorable of conversations. There are still times when I worry myself to a frazzle over my beautiful girl, but what else can I do? I’m her mother!!!

Emma is living her own life and learning from her own mistakes. She has grown in maturity since July last year and she is happy; oh, she is very happy!

Some things remain the same, though. Her bedroom is consistently messy, there are times when she is far too outspoken for words and as I write this post, late at night, she is not at home.

My Moonbeam is still sparkling, still shining her light of individualism and still making choices full of wisdom far beyond her years.

And as for me, I just keep on loving my Moonbeam, just as I have every day of her life, and since her conception.

How appropriate that my need for silence and watching an old movie has reminded me of how much I treasure one of my life’s greatest gifts ~ My daughter, Emma. 🙂