The sound of a train’s whistle always conjures up a dim, whispery memory of me and my mother sharing a bed together at our family’s cottage. Although I had my own room beside hers – connected, in fact, by an adjoining door – the pitch northern black would often find me snuggled beside her, where we’d talk in hushed tones so as to not wake my aunt and uncle across the hall.
One night as we lay side by side we listened to the call of a train as it steamed down the nearby tracks; first faint, then stronger as the sound was lifted across the river water, through the window screen and into our bedroom.
“I love the sound of a train,” she murmured, her voice thick with sleep. “It reminds me of the nights I spent here when I was a child.”
My childhood home sat behind train tracks and I would listen to the call of the train whistles at night, just as my mum did when she was young.
The house we live in now is quite close to a busy and long stretch of tracks, much to Oliver’s – and yes, my – delight. He likes to drop everything and scream A TRAIN COMING! when he hears the now-familiar sound of one passing by and more often than not, when I hear one I think of how the sound reminded my mum of nights at the cottage when she was a kid.
One night this week over the thunder and the pounding rain I made out the faint sound of a train in the distance. I fell asleep thinking of things that remind me of being a kid, like train whistles, orange popsicles that melt down my arm, grass stains and swinging so high I’d lose my stomach. The Care Bears, Rainbow Brite and Tom and Jerry; losing track of time, grass stains, jumping rope and the smell of dandelions, tying my shoes and pretending the laces were bunny ears, mud pies and penny candy, catching tree frogs at the cottage, hopscotch, The Mini Pops and stella-ella-ola, clap clap clap!
Ah, to be a kid again…
What reminds you of being a kid?
*Wanna see what I’m raving about over at Mama Says? Clickity click!
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Honeysuckle, frogs, horses, forsythia bushes, wood burning stoves…remind me of childhood.
September 28th, 2007
Catydids, crickets, cicadas at night.
Flash light tag. Inspector Gadget. Cinnamin Toast. Sailing. Baseball.
September 28th, 2007
Fall. Leaves. That smell in the air when the wind blows crisp and sweet. You don’t get that here very often and when you do, it’s very fleeting.
Also, the smell of vinegar. My mother used it to soothe sunburn and in lots of (German) recipes. My aunt made homemade pickles and dillybeans. The smell of vinegar always takes me back.
The quiet hush of a heavy snowfall. Again, I don’t get that here. SIGH.
September 28th, 2007
something about he smell of oak leaves in the park sends me hurtling back to something I cannot remember. Its not bad, just shrouded by time I think.
We lived near train tracks as well, once I went up the embankement against my parents rules and my brother caught me, I had to give him a quarter or something so he wouldn’t tell them.
Years later, my then boyfriend lived in a studio right on the tracks and we would cross over them to get to Queen Street or to return back to his studio. I always loved how it looked sort of post apocalyptic.
I once tried to do it in a train with yet abnother boyfriend, but the jolting of the train made him chip his tooth on a wine bottle so the moment was sort of finished.
And how many trains have I been in to cross Europe……
Hot damn Tulip. Thanks for the opportunity to flood your comments section with personal therapy moments.
September 28th, 2007
What reminds me of being a kid?
Those hand-sized red, blue and while rubber balls — the ones that the dog would chew on if you left them outside until they were all slobbery and chunks would be gone, showing the red-brown rubber underneath. Egg salad sandwiches that we always brought when we picnicked at the beach. Getting dandelion milk stains on our hands. The Banana Bunch, Scooby Doo and Johnny Quest on Saturday mornings. Saturday morning cartoons, period. Pixie sticks. Hide and seek. Frozen tag. Strawberry ice cream. The smell of sun-warmed rocks and pine needles reminds me of summer days spent at my step-mom’s family cottage. Picking dog-tooth violets in the spring in the bush behind our house. Building snowforts.
September 28th, 2007
Fall, which makes me think of school. Shopping or having coffee with my mom because this is a tradition that I was introduced to very early in my life. Fruit rollups. Anne of Green Gables.
September 28th, 2007
The sound of locusts chirping in the trees first thing on a summer morning, when the dew’s on the ground and it’s not yet oppressive with heat. I hear that sound and want to run out into the backyard, play in a fort, save the world…anything’s possible.
September 28th, 2007
Going to a farm, since we lived on one.
September 28th, 2007
I hear a train and I think of my Bug. He was freaked out by the whistle and the noise and would scream uncontrollably with fear. Good times. I still get misty eyed at a train track.
Cotton candy makes me think of my childhood. Which is funny, since my parents never bought me any growing up, but something about it makes me feel young again.
September 28th, 2007
Fizz candies, pop rocks and mojos, building snow forts at recess, ice-skating on the community rink, skateboarding, bike riding from dusk to dawn in the summertime, swing-sets, Looney Tunes, The Brady Bunch, Little House on the Prairie, two dollar Tuesdays at the movies, Roller Land.
September 28th, 2007
oops, I meant “bike riding from dawn to dusk”
…no matter how much more freedom we had when we were kids, I still wasn’t allowed out after dark!
September 28th, 2007
What a beautiful post.
The Doobie Brothers. Hot summer days. Sprinklers. Veggie gardens, and the smell of wet earth. Old On the Road movies, with Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. Halloween.
These are the good things.
:)
September 28th, 2007
Before kindergarten, we lived near train tracks and would do the same thing you did — stop everything and run to watch.
When Seth was little -little, I knew the schedule of the trains and we’d would walk to a nearby high school campus, feed the ducks at the pond on the campus and watch the trains go by. We no longer live in that house but hearing the whistle and taking my son’s hand, running toward the tracks (and waving to the conductor because its SUCH a thrill when they wave back.) would remind me of being 5 again. The sweet, sweet simplicity.
September 28th, 2007
I love the crisp rustle of leaves, the slap of skipping ropes, schoolyard chants, blowing bubbles, and candy like whoppers and tootsie rolls.
September 28th, 2007
Climbing trees. Doing cartwheels (yes, I still can, although it hurts now). Eating graham crackers with chocolate frosting. Making s’mores.
Great post. I haven’t thought about a lot of this in years!
September 28th, 2007
Trees, especially maples, dogwoods, and white birches.
Sprinklers.
The smell of fresh cut grass
Homegrown tomatoes
Vegetable gardens.
Canvas sneakers.
September 28th, 2007
sprinklers and sparklers. the smell of play doh.
September 28th, 2007
Glass Coke bottles;
Keds sneakers;
banana-seated bikes.
September 28th, 2007
I love you cause you always give me great ideas to blog off of. I shall piggyback this one into an entry for this weekend if you don’t mind. I finally played your music meme, go check it out love!
And have a great weekend! ♥
September 28th, 2007
My grandmother’s cabin is on a small lake, opposite a mountain and twice a night, every night, a train goes by on the other side. They have to blow the whistle to frighten off any animals in that neck of the woods. The sound carries so well across the lake that it sounds as though the train is about to come careening right through your tent…every summer, I would wake up the first few nights when the train came by and, after that, I slept like a baby.
September 28th, 2007
The smell of anything baking.
Decorating for Christmas.
Changing fall leaves.
New crayons.
September 29th, 2007
Vegetable gardens – mom gave each of us our own row to plant whatever we pleased, and taught us how to care for the tender plants.
Watching my son follow my husband around while he mows the lawn – brings me right back to one of the few childhood memories that I can remember with perfect clarity. My dad mowed the lawn in crazy patterns one day and my brother and I chased him through the paths he made. I felt so free and happy at that moment, instead of guarded and careful.
Tom and Jerry cartoons for me, too! I love it when one of the old school ones comes on and my kids are watching it for the first time.
Thank you for this post–it has me remembering some pretty happy moments!
September 29th, 2007
Beautiful post, thanks.
Just a small list of things that remind me of my childhood:
Lolas (remember those lovely frozen triangles?)
Mr. Dress Up
A little frog figurine in my parents garden…its been there my entire life.
Milk weed.
Dixie cups, we always used them at the cottage to ‘rinse’ after brushing our teeth.
Barbies, barbies, barbies!
Accordians (sp?)…one of my uncle’s played and would bring his out at family events and everyone would dance…gosh those were really good times.
I think I want to do my own post about this, I just realized how little I stop to think about this…but it feels really good.
September 29th, 2007
My red BMX
Peanut butter biscuits
Nike trainers
Silly poodle perm!
September 30th, 2007
Snap-N-Pops. SheRa. Fraggle Rock. Fago Red Pop. Flames painted on a truck. McDonald’s Happy Meal toys. Nickelodeon. Lucky Charms. Pink Huffy bikes. Painter turtles. Wrist-Rocket Slingshots.
September 30th, 2007
Long time reader…first time comment
Swatch watches.50/50 bars.Smurfs.Roller Skates.Strawberry Soda.You Can’t Do That On Television.Strawberry Shortcake.Holly Hobby.Mr.Bubbles.Blow Pops. Otter Pops.Alvin and The Chipmunks.
September 30th, 2007
Lurker here, had to delurk thsi was so beautiful, loved everyone’s posts… had to add my own.
Halloween pumpkin plastic buckets.
Sucking honeysuckles.
40 Barbies, and our one Ken.
Laughter in the neighborhood.
Candy cigarettes.
Dogwoods.
Big shaggy white dogs.
Snowmen, and sledding.
Slip and Slide.
Sugary cereals.
Crazy plastic straws.
Decorating Christmas Cookies.
Pez dispensers.
Pixie sticks.
Board games. Monopoly in particular.
Nightlights.
Tshirts fifteen sizes too big.
Sitting too close to the tv.
Nick at Nite.
Lollipop rings.
October 1st, 2007
*this, ick.
October 1st, 2007
Winnie-the-Pooh, Mother, May I, Tom and Jerry, Woody Woodpecker, Little House on the Prairie, and the Monkees! :)
We live near a train track too. When Brendan was little, he would be so excited when he heard a train, he’d run down the street toward it. I can still see my sister chasing him down the street for me. :)
October 1st, 2007
Many, many songs. Tea parties. Playing in the gravel. Mudpies.
October 1st, 2007
Building forts out of anything available
The Grease soundtrack
The Pop Shoppe, specifially Lime Rickety soda
The Smurfs
The Mini Pops
October 1st, 2007
Oh I was just swinging the other day. My husband was pushing Miss M and so I got on the swing beside her. I pumped and pumped until the stomach went and the head compacted in on itself. What a sweet yet hideous sensation.
October 1st, 2007
The night before Christmas.
Christmas lights.
The smell of crayons.
Riding my bike in the winter.
Ice skating.
Playing HORSE.
Jumping on our trampoline.
October 1st, 2007
Lilac trees. I used to be able to smell them walking down our street on my way home from school in the springtime.
October 1st, 2007
Pumpkin pie–Mom would have a dutch oven of pumpkin-pie filling cooking on the stove while she rolled the crusts (she made it as if it was a cooked-custard filling…somehow richer and creamier than the standard recipe). And piecrust trimmings rooled out by ME with my six-inch rolling pin, sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar and eaten warm from the oven; Mom called it “shoofly pie”although it’s nothing like most of the recipes I see by that name.
And hopscotch. Do girls still play hopscotch, I wonder?
I may just have to do my own extended blog about this subject too. Thanks for starting the memories, MamaTulip!
October 1st, 2007
Mmm…those are good memories. :)
October 1st, 2007
Thanks. I needed that today :o)
October 2nd, 2007
When I was young my dad ran a gas station. So the smell of gas always brings me back to being a child. That and 5 cent Mr. Freezies.
October 2nd, 2007
Kraft Dinner & The Flinstones together. My babysitter used to make that for me for lunch and I’d watch the TV as I ate. Every day I would walk to her house to eat and then back to school again.
That and any kind of penny candy!
October 2nd, 2007
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