Quote du jour/My mother and I - 1961

From my mother's diary, February 25, 1961:

Girls came at 4 for Nan's birthday. We had supper at 5:30. ... Girls went to movies. It rained hard all p.m. to 1 a.m. Cellar leaked. They walked home in rain, had cocoa and to bed @ 11. Still talking @ 11:45.

From my diary, February 25, 1961:


I had been counting down the days for a while, and at the top I wrote:

O more days - jackpot
Dear Diary,
Today is my birthday. I am 13. Just think, now I'm a teenager. An honest to goodness teenager. I had a kind of halfway party & company. I had 3 girls over: Anne, Peggy, and Bernice. Mom had 2 cots set up in my room. Anne slept in the guest room & Peg and Bernice slept in the cots. They came at 4:00. We went down cellar and played "Keep Talking" [anyone have any idea what that is?? I don't remember] then we had supper, then we went to the movies 101 Dalmations, then we came home (in the rain) When we got home from movies we went upstairs & goofed around. Then we went downstairs & had some cocoa & crackers. Mom took pictures of us - 1 down cellar, 1 eating supper, 1 eating c & c,

& 1 in bed with our eyes closed. We went to bed at 11:00 but we talked & giggled & laughed until 20 minutes of 12. Then Mom told us to be quiet. I love all three of those kids. When the cake was set before me I wished I could get a horse & I blew out all the candles.

I then listed all my presents, and from these three girls I got a bracelet, a Judy Bolton mystery book, and a 'cap you put over curlers & bobby pins.'

Oh my, how very innocent. And yet it was really fun. I thought so then, and I still remember it as such. I'm not sure a 13 year old in 2011 would be quite so satisfied with such a simple time. I'm still a simple soul. I expect our evening will be much like our others - supper and some tv. The kids are all working, and it is snowing to beat the band today so I don't expect anyone will stop by and we certainly won't be going out.

PS - that's me on the left.

Quote du jour/Frances Theodora Parsons

For all practical purposes nature is at a standstill... there is a wonderful joy in leaving behind the noisy city streets and starting out along the white road that leads across the hills. With each breath of the sharp, reviving air one seems to inhale new life. A peace as evident as the sunshine on the fields takes possession of one's inner being. The trivial cares which fretted like a swarm of mosquitoes are driven away by the first sweep of wind that comes straight from the mountains. ... The intense silence that broods over the snow-bound land is a conscious blessing. The deep blue of the sky and the purple shadows cast by the trees and plants are a feast to the eye. The crunch of the snow-rind beneath our feet and the varied hum of the telegraph wires overhead are music to our ears.

- Frances Theodora Parsons (née Smith, 1861–1952), usually writing as Mrs. William Starr Dana, was an American botanist and author active in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries