I miss that, the excitement that permeated the air when the phone rang and the caller at the other end, an aunt, a grandparent, or an old friend, from another state would call. If someone called long distance you ran to the phone, because it was expensive and you paid by the minute.
In that vein, I have a special spot here on The Poor Farm, complete with a vintage phone that once belonged to my Aunt Bernie. She never wasted time on the phone but got to the point quickly. Always sensitive to the financial needs of her siblings, she had never married and took her oldest sister responsibilities seriously, she gave or received information on the phone in a most efficient manner.
Time wasting conversations such as those about weather, family gossip or political arguments (she loved those!) could wait until she saw that caller in person. She died a few years ago at the age of 93 and I miss her. So when I wanted to create a quiet spot here I had to include her old phone which she owned and used for decades.
None of those lightweight, silly pink princess phones for her, let alone a cell phone.
The decking in this spot came from our old farm and is getting on in age. We'll need to replace it in a year or two. The impatients were an anniversary gift from Keith back in June. I lined up some old posts running parallel to the sides of the deck and filled the 6 inch gap with our compost. I blocked off the end with recycled brick to keep the soil in place.
Over the top I placed some coated wire mesh to keep the chickens out. It looked ugly when the flowers were little but soon it was barely noticeable. It took a couple months for the impatients to fill those areas but now in early September they look wonderful.
This spot, which is located between my clothesline and our front door to the Looney Bin , gets a nice breeze and is always in the shade. A cool oasis, especially earlier this week when temps were back in the 90's again.
When the GK's visit we'll sit there and I'll let them practice dialing on the phone the old fashioned way. I'll pretend talk to my Aunt Bernie which cracks up the 3 year old grandson and makes the 10 year grandson roll his eyes.
That's why I'm here. Entertainment and embarrassment.
When I was very small we had a neighbour who had a phone in his greenhouse, about 50 yards from the house. We thought it was the most exotic of luxuries. I suppose at the time it was!
ReplyDeleteIn 1990 I was the first director in our hospital to get a "car phone". It included a small suitcase for carrying in to patients homes. The Financial Officer at the time told me not to get used to it, that portable phones were just a fad. What we all thought of as "luxuries" have become routine. Takes all the glamour out of it.
DeleteSo sweet! Love the new seating area. Impatiens are such beautiful flowers too. I'm still young enough to remember life without smart phones. In fact, my first mobile phone at 21, was a brick! Before then, it was all dialing phones and no such thing as a cordless one. I remember waiting for the plastic circle to come around, before you could dial the next number.
ReplyDeleteOh Dear Lord, I spelled them "Impatients" didn't I? What a goof. Didn't even notice until I read your comment. I so need an editor. Speaking of patience (weren't we?), it certainly did require a large amount to wait for that plastic circle to come, ahem, full circle.
DeleteWhen I was a kid at home, our number was TUlip 5, something or the other. That dial coming back around in Chris's comment did seem to take forever! :~) You have a nice little shady area there, so the impatiens are perfect!
ReplyDeleteTUlip 5 sounds so exotic. My first phone number that I remember was when we moved out of Chicago and into Warrenville Il. in 1967. It was 393-9877. No area code. Ah, the simpler life.
DeleteDonna, you create some of the loveliest little nooks on your place! I love this. My family was always to the point when it came to the phone. No chatty nonsense allowed.
ReplyDeleteDonna, this was such a fun post reading about your Aunt Bernie and her approach to telephone conversations. Growing up, we also had a rotary dial phone and the our phone number was 2 letters followed by 5 digits.
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What a lovely tribute to your aunt. Our first phone number was Kenwood 0890. Relatives still had a wooden wall phone with a hand crank. Grandma's phone was tall and black. She'd listen in on the party line. Today's loss of privacy has nothing on Grandma.
ReplyDeleteDonna that was so cool to read!!! I love that you set that up. How sweet and fun! :)
ReplyDelete