Once Upon a Time. tponetom

[tponetom]

Once Upon a Time!
Once upon a time,,,,,,, in Detroit, there were times to remember and cherish. They may have been garish or revolutionary, or gentle and kind, or lurid or laughable. There was no specific time table. To each his own.

. “Try to remember the kind of September

When life was slow and oh, so mellow.”

Harvey Schmidt, [[Music),
Tom Jones, [[Lyrics)
For me, September was the pivotal point of the year. It was the end of Spring and Summer. The heat of summer was abating. Our bodies were lagging a bit from the physical efforts necessary to keep up with the whirls of excitement that were always omnipresent in our social engagements as well as our athletic life.
An advancing grade in school would extend our cultural mores. If it was only a micro step, maturity reared its positive genes in our id.
September began to scheme and collaborate with October. A mystical mix of cool temperatures, a bit of rain, a kaleidoscope of color and then the incredible aroma of burning leaves. It induced a euphoric attitude of luxurious laziness.
Autumn has never failed to keep its prominence as a Member of the Four Seasons.

“Try to remember that kind of September
When you were a tender and callow fellow.”

November began probing an entrance to the stage. A short, flittering snowfall would remind us that the best was yet to come. The neighborhood
Parks were getting ready to flood the wading pools and then wait for a good ‘freeze,’
The Mark Twain Library, on Gratiot and Burns, was getting ready for its burgeoning clientele. Grade School and High School students were the dominant group, followed by the older folks with their fanatical fetish for reading, anything. There would always be more than a few who were just looking for a warm and cozy atmosphere and a comfortable chair. And Oh, yes, there were those private reading rooms. A bit of high jinks
Part time jobs would open up for high school kids in December in anticipation of the Christmas season.
December was always a blur. It seemed to appear, slowly, on a dry and vacant field. And then it gained in velocity and canvassed the City in a coat of white. The hurly burly citizenry burst their bonds of restrained antics and the decorations they put on,,, were their smiles.

“Deep in December, it’s nice to remember,
The fire of September that made us mellow.”

NOTE:
I have to pause on this soliloquy with a ’thank you’ to Schmidt and Jones for such beautiful lyrics.

I wonder if there are members who have enjoyed their own.,,,,

“Once Upon a Time!”

[Retroit]

That sent a chill up my spine. I'm enjoying summer too much to get nostalgic over fall and winter.

"Summertime
And the living is easy...

One of these mornings
You're bound to rise up singing
Then you'll spread your wings
And take to the sky"

[Ray1936]

"Splish, splash, I was taking a bath....
long about the middle of the night...."

Oooops, sorry, TP. That was crass, but I couldn't resist it......

[gazhekwe]

Oh, my, beautiful, but I still have too much winter left in my bones to appreciate thinking about the end of summer. It's time to "Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer" [[with thanks to Nat King Cole and writers Tobias and Carste).

I'll bring the soda and pretzels, if you want some beer, BYO.

[tponetom]

Ray,
Make ye not light of an icon. I was greatly saddened by Bobby Darrin's early death. He was one of the few young talents of that era that had style! I thought "Splish Splash' was the National Anthem for all the teeney boppers.
He was born in 1936, when many prominent people were born. Hmmm!
He died in December,1973 [[?) that was the year we left Detroit for the North Woods.
That is one of the sad memories I seldom mention.

[eriedearie]

TP - another wonderful post. Thank you!

I have had so many wonderful once upon a time memories of Detroit during every season. However, I often recall one day when I was walking home from school by myself, and when I got to the start of my street on the corner of Erwin and Ruth Streets...I stopped and just gazed at the beautiful green leaves on the trees that lined both sides of Ruth Street. The leaves from one side of the street actually touched those on the other side of the street and made an arch over the pavement. I thought I lived in the most beautiful place ever.

[Gannon]

TP!

Heya...I'm wrapping up a week in the north woods right now. Headed into Grand Marais for some breakfast before hitting the road southbound.

I jogged the Grandma's Marathon up in Duluth again this previous Saturday, and decided a week in Alger County was the perfect way to recuperate. I never imagined it would only take one day this time.


But I met a good friend who lives near Dapper Dan for part of the year, along with her 7-year-old son and aunt. This is now my Walden, I expect to find some wonderful inspiration up here very often over the next year or so.


Cheers and more from the closest place to heaven on this troubled Earth.

[tponetom]

Gannon,
You heap misery on these poor old bones.
Yesterday, Thursday, it was 109 degrees in Tucson. today, it will drop down to 107.
We have toured the Lake Superior shoreline from the Soo to the Copper Country many times.
We had many "Waldenesque" experiences during those outings.
"Show us what we are missing and we will show you how to get along without it."

[Ray1936]

TP, been lots of folks who entertained me over the years that have gone on their eternal way. Frank, Dean, Sammy, Perry....the list goes on. I suppose we're fortunate to be living at a time where their performances are saved for all time, unlike 150 years ago.

By the way, drive up to Vegas and cool off. We only made it to 106 yesterday.

[Retroit]

Yesterday, Thursday, it was 109 degrees in Tucson. today, it will drop down to 107.

No wonder you're looking forward to fall and winter.

Now I get it.

[Bobl]

Thank you, tponetom, again. We wait patiently for your posts, here at DetroitYES.
I have always enjoyed autumn, but would rather not deal with December through March.

"I CRIED over beautiful things knowing no beautiful thing lasts.

The field of cornflower yellow is a scarf at the neck of the copper sunburned woman, the mother of the year, the taker of seeds.

The northwest wind comes and the yellow is torn full of holes, new beautiful things come in the first spit of snow on the northwest wind, and the old things go, not one lasts."
Carl Sandburg

[tponetom]

BobI:
“The northwest wind comes and the yellow is torn full of holes, new beautiful things come in the first spit of snow on the northwest wind, and the old things go, not one lasts."
Carl Sandburg
After the “first spit of snow ?” Oh yes. And then, deep in December, it becomes more beautiful
Re: Carl Sandburg: “the fog comes on little cat’s feet/”
The ‘fog ‘ that Sandburg glorified , might be mysterious, scary, or inconvenient and uninvited, to some. To me, It might present a romantic camouflage for lovers on a street corner.
“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” Speaking for myself, the trick is, to keep that ‘beauty’ in focus, every day of my life.

Eriedearie:
I have done little writing, lately. I have been reading in the archives, if only to keep my perspectives alive.
I came up with: Jan.12, 2008, “A Word From Tponetom.”
Two of your replies, #’s 886 and 894 among other nice replies, stood out very eloquently.
They validated that admonition from Brother Brendan, that I had written in another post. “If you have an audience of 1000, and you touch the heart and soul of just one of them, you must have done something right.
http://atdetroit.net/forum/messages/...tml?1204149947
　

[reddog289]

I was thinking that I will be glad when the kids go back to school and I ca go back to working afternoons, Till I read this. I think I will enjoy the rest of the summer till that day arrives.

[eriedearie]

Tp- It has been a while since I've checked on Dyes to see what has been going on. I have good intentions of doing it on a regular basis, but I get side tracked by one thing or another these days.

Anyway, your mentioning of my earlier posts, and clicking on the link you so kindly supplied; of course I had to wander over there! For sure I reread mine along with all the others on the link. We've all got some fantastic recollections don't we?

The day of your post, you did touch the heart and soul within me and you went and done something right. I needed to bring those rememories out, and you gave me just the right oomph to do so.

Little did Brother Brendan know that a comment made to his students, would stick in one young man's mind all these years and then take on a new life to live, grow, and be quoted on an Internet forum.