Two presidents, the first and the l6th, played a big part in our academic lives. Each February we read about them, wrote essays, and painted their silhouettes on white paper to be hung around the schoolroom.
Our heroes, our shining examples all through the elementary grades, year after year, were expected to be these two men, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, whether or not we found them inspiring.
By the fifth grade, the second month of the year had become a time of boredom. We knew every available detail in the lives of the “Father of Our Country” and “The…
We hope you enjoyed the first 100 words of The Two Presidents. For The Two Presidents (715 words) in its entirety you can Subscribe to New England Nostalgia.
Valentine’s Day—the world’s most popular unofficial holiday. It is one of the biggest sale days for florists, candy stores, greeting card shops, and some restaurants. No signs of affection are too corny or too lavish today.
Back in the 1930s we, too, lost our hearts to this romantic day. Its celebration was far more reserved, but was anticipated with spine-tingling eagerness. Those old-time New Englanders had difficulty expressing their emotions in everyday life, and here was an opportunity, without fear of ridicule or censure, to send out a tentative message to the one who took your fancy. Very…
We hope you enjoyed the first 100 words of Follow Your Heart. For Follow Your Heart (633 words) in its entirety you can Subscribe to New England Nostalgia or you can Download it instantly in Adobe PDF format for only 50¢.
During my lifetime, so many things that graced my childhood have disappeared, never to return—meadows and pastureland, blueberry patches, old stone walls, pine groves. Saddest of all, perhaps, was the loss of the elm trees that spread their sheltering arms and deep shade over our old yellow farmhouse. These five graceful trees, their roots long-crumbled into the earth that nourished them, fell victims of Dutch elm disease, along with millions of other elms throughout the Northeast.
Our elms, already centurions, were planted around the homestead in an irregular circle, standing like giant benevolent guardians towering over our lives.
In…
We hope you enjoyed the first 100 words of Rising from the Ruins. For Rising from the Ruins (979 words) in its entirety you can Subscribe to New England Nostalgia or you can Download it instantly in Adobe PDF format for only 50¢.
The schoolroom, in all ways except sleeping, was our home away from home. In that one room, we learned our lessons, practiced music, worked on sewing or manual training, struggled through our punishments, ate our lunch. Until we went to high school in a large neighboring town, we had never heard of an “assembly,” a gym, or a lunchroom.
While several grades worked on an arithmetic assignment, the teacher would hear the reading, geography, or history of another grade. It was hard to concentrate on our take-aways while the teacher outlined the battle of Bull Run on the blackboard.
“Eyes…
We hope you enjoyed the first 100 words of Lost at Sea. For Lost at Sea (553 words) in its entirety you can Subscribe to New England Nostalgia or you can Download it instantly in Adobe PDF format for only 50¢.
It was somewhere around 1930 that my mother learned to drive. Not many women took to the roads back then; it was more a man’s privilege.
Undoubtedly, my mother’s venturous achievement had something to do with the many farm errands—learning to drive for pleasure would have been out of the question.
We even had a car in addition to the trucks, a blue Model A Ford sedan. This was a later type than the Model T, but retained the same angular shape and upstanding radiator cap.
This chariot-on-wheels opened up new vistas to me. At that time I…
We hope you enjoyed the first 100 words of Taking a Ride. For Taking a Ride (755 words) in its entirety you can Subscribe to New England Nostalgia or you can Download it instantly in Adobe PDF format for only 50¢.
The first dog I remember was Buster. He was black and white, and I suppose a mongrel, but we never thought of him that way because we loved him whatever he was. My older sister knew Buster best—he was quite old by the time I was allowed the freedom of the out-of-doors; he was content then to be wheeled around in an old baby carriage.
For a while after Buster died we didn’t have a dog. There was sadness in the house, and then too, Rin Tin Tin was dead at 14. Back then, there was no local animal…
We hope you enjoyed the first 100 words of The Saving Grace. For The Saving Grace (807 words) in its entirety you can Subscribe to New England Nostalgia or Download it instantly in Adobe PDF format for only 50¢.
It had been a hard morning in the schoolroom. The long winter was taking its toll on weather-bound spirits, and “unsatisfactory deportment” would appear on many a report card.
Skinny had hidden a big icicle in his desk, which intermittently dripped on the floor, and Willie, miserable with chilblains, sniffled by the stove.
After lunch, eaten while sleet needled the windows, Miss Crosby passed out thin volumes of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Coleridge.
Priss raised her hand. “My mother says that book’s too hard for us,” she said.
Miss Crosby gave her stock answer. “Becoming familiar…
We hope you enjoyed the first 100 words of Fanning the Flame. For Fanning the Flame (553 words) in its entirety you can Subscribe to New England Nostalgia or Download it instantly in Adobe PDF format for only 50¢.