Remembering my grandmother.
I always loved the drive to London Ontario from Toronto when I was a kid. We would play fun games in the car, in an age without cell phones and the Internet. I remember always looking out the car window, and looking at the clouds as I would see the clouds literally tell a story and see images and people in the clouds! "Look mom, I see a Lion in the clouds, do you see it?" They would look, my parents and brother, and someone would say "yes I see it too!" Then the cloud would slowly melt away, and the image in the sky would either dissolve or change into something else. "Oh, now look the Lion is changing into a person!" You get the idea.
Then there was always the question "are we there yet?" From Toronto to London was a two hour drive, and my father would create patience in us by timing the trips for us by answering "just two more episodes of such and such a show." We didn't have a tv in the car, we had to use our minds for that. Then of course we played "I spy." I spy with my little eye something the colour of yellow. Of course the items could be in the car, or outside the car, and the trick was to look very closely at the scenery as the car sped down the highway. "Oh, I see it!" It was a sign or landmark or something like that. I'm very familiar with the landscape and landmarks from that two hour drive from Toronto to London because we used our imaginations as kids, and had nothing to distract us from taking in all the scenery.
By the time we got to my grandmother's house, we were tired, and one of the favourite things I liked to do was to go to my grandmother's TV set, and see how all the stations were no longer Toronto tv Stations, they were London. I think we still got some stations the same, but from that moment "I was in London!" My grandmother had an old fashioned organ in her home, and we loved to play around with it. I couldn't actually play music, I would improvise and create my own chords, and my own sounds. It was one of the favourite things I liked to do at grandma's house as a kid! I also liked it when we had permission to look in her fridge for food, or make ourselves some cereal. I loved that part.
One of the fun things was waiting for my uncles and aunt to appear. They were young too! It was fun. The older folk loved to play cards, and at that point I would feel left out, but would quickly become interested on what was on the tv, and also take part of a conversation with those who weren't playing cards. The game they always played was canasta. I still enjoyed watching them play. Sometimes if not always we would eat together. That's what family did back then. My dad loved my grandmother's cabbage rolls. I liked them too!
We were all lighthearted and we used to like telling jokes. People were free, and I was a happy child. The actual visit was the highlight of the trip. We would usually stay about two days, then drive back home to Toronto satisfied with our trip. This is Mike.
I always loved the drive to London Ontario from Toronto when I was a kid. We would play fun games in the car, in an age without cell phones and the Internet. I remember always looking out the car window, and looking at the clouds as I would see the clouds literally tell a story and see images and people in the clouds! "Look mom, I see a Lion in the clouds, do you see it?" They would look, my parents and brother, and someone would say "yes I see it too!" Then the cloud would slowly melt away, and the image in the sky would either dissolve or change into something else. "Oh, now look the Lion is changing into a person!" You get the idea.
Then there was always the question "are we there yet?" From Toronto to London was a two hour drive, and my father would create patience in us by timing the trips for us by answering "just two more episodes of such and such a show." We didn't have a tv in the car, we had to use our minds for that. Then of course we played "I spy." I spy with my little eye something the colour of yellow. Of course the items could be in the car, or outside the car, and the trick was to look very closely at the scenery as the car sped down the highway. "Oh, I see it!" It was a sign or landmark or something like that. I'm very familiar with the landscape and landmarks from that two hour drive from Toronto to London because we used our imaginations as kids, and had nothing to distract us from taking in all the scenery.
By the time we got to my grandmother's house, we were tired, and one of the favourite things I liked to do was to go to my grandmother's TV set, and see how all the stations were no longer Toronto tv Stations, they were London. I think we still got some stations the same, but from that moment "I was in London!" My grandmother had an old fashioned organ in her home, and we loved to play around with it. I couldn't actually play music, I would improvise and create my own chords, and my own sounds. It was one of the favourite things I liked to do at grandma's house as a kid! I also liked it when we had permission to look in her fridge for food, or make ourselves some cereal. I loved that part.
One of the fun things was waiting for my uncles and aunt to appear. They were young too! It was fun. The older folk loved to play cards, and at that point I would feel left out, but would quickly become interested on what was on the tv, and also take part of a conversation with those who weren't playing cards. The game they always played was canasta. I still enjoyed watching them play. Sometimes if not always we would eat together. That's what family did back then. My dad loved my grandmother's cabbage rolls. I liked them too!
We were all lighthearted and we used to like telling jokes. People were free, and I was a happy child. The actual visit was the highlight of the trip. We would usually stay about two days, then drive back home to Toronto satisfied with our trip. This is Mike.
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