I couldn't escape from small town life any faster than I did after high school - I was ready to get away and get away fast - but looking back, there where a few lovely things about growing up in a town of 10,000 people.
1. the local university provided some cool camps during the summer - when I was a little kid I did art, theater, music . . . and then when I was a teenager, the college hosted hockey camp with lots of out of town boys. Need I say more about my appreciation of this?
2. my hometown is really pretty. I don't think I appreciated it then, but when we were back in Wisconsin last week, I took Tall House, Double Cup on a hometown date and marveled at how many lovely trees and greenspaces there were. Ack - greenspaces - isn't that a Portland word for what a midwesterner would call a "lawn."
And finally, the very best part of my home town:
3. The movie theater. The movie theater in my hometown was a huge part of my life. The owner had several other theaters in bigger cities and always doted and personally ran the one in our town. He brought all of the first run movies to us for bargain prices. How bargain? $1 for kids, $2 for adults - 50 cents for weekend maidens. On the weekends, every kid got a ticket with a number on it and Stan showed old fashioned b&w dog race films. Everyone would yell out there number, "Go 12! Go 4!" and if your dog won, you got to run up to the concession stand and get a stuffed animal - just because. This was the life!
And check out this picture - not much has changed. This is their current price list.
I saw ET 16 times at this theater one summer. One extremely boring Christmas break (yes, even the school called it Christmas break - we had one Jewish kid in the whole school district), my best friend and I sat through Terms of Endearment 6 times. My first kiss happened just
after leaving this theater. A huge romance blossomed for me on a Friday night in 1984 while watching The Breakfast Club. I snuck bottles of beer in my jean jacket while watching Batman in high school. This place is epic to me.
Which is why I had to share it with THDC. The theater has gone through a bit of a remodel. Your shoes no longer stick to the floor like they used to. The cry room where we used to go makeout is now a storage closet. The concession stand is still exactly like it used to look. On the night we went, the owner wasn't there but the popcorn had REAL Wisconsin butter on it and cost $1. The bathrooms had been repainted and even though I stood on the toilet and tried to scrap a teeny tiny bit of paint off with my car keys, I couldn't unleash the pepto pink paint that I remembered so fondly.
I'll never ever move back to Wisconsin or even to a small town - I am reborn as a pdx girl completely - but it was lovely and a little teary to see it all again.
The CeCe from ChickKnits
The bathrobe is done! The bathrobe is done! And guess what? E informed me he "doesn't like bathrobes." I got this picture only by promising to read chapter upon chapter of Captain Underpants to him. Both of his preschool teachers are working behind the scenes with me and going to drop hints about how much they love their bathrobes . . . . maybe it will help.
We hardly had anything on our schedule for this weekend, but we quickly realized that the main objective would just be getting through the heat. We sat under the sprinkler, went to the pool, and went out to eat for most meals. We survived, but it wasn't pretty. I did get one lovely project done (but now I realize I need one more piece to complete it):
Nana gave me the prettiest pair of shoes I've ever had and I've been stomping around the office looking for a compliment . . . and let me tell you people, it's not working. NO ONE has commented on these and I've worn them TWICE this week. I even gave out a few compliments (which I am happy to do, but hey - this was intentional). "oh, co-worker, look at your lovely skirt. You really know how to pick pretty clothes." In return, "Thanks."
So today I even went super matchy-matchy and pulled out the PERFECT shirt to go with the shoes. More stomping around the office and . . . . nothing. At least E told me they were pretty. He likes the flowers. I like it all.
I got a bit down and out about the flowery sweater from Lucinda Guy - that damm intarsia colorwork is truly the death of me. So I needed another project that I knew I could be successful at. Enter - the boy bathrobe.
On Saturday, E had his 3 1/2 year pictures followed by a trip to Grant Park and the Ribsy statue turned into a soaking wet "Waterboy!" adventure.
Ella and Baby Lucy came over while their parents had a date night. Evan was a total show-off for Ella -"Look how fast I can run. Look at me!"
Big Nate turned 3 on Sunday and the kids celebrated with a slip and slide and alligator green cupcakes.
3. The movie theater. The movie theater in my hometown was a huge part of my life. The owner had several other theaters in bigger cities and always doted and personally ran the one in our town. He brought all of the first run movies to us for bargain prices. How bargain? $1 for kids, $2 for adults - 50 cents for weekend maidens. On the weekends, every kid got a ticket with a number on it and Stan showed old fashioned b&w dog race films. Everyone would yell out there number, "Go 12! Go 4!" and if your dog won, you got to run up to the concession stand and get a stuffed animal - just because. This was the life!
And check out this picture - not much has changed. This is their current price list.
Which is why I had to share it with THDC. The theater has gone through a bit of a remodel. Your shoes no longer stick to the floor like they used to. The cry room where we used to go makeout is now a storage closet. The concession stand is still exactly like it used to look. On the night we went, the owner wasn't there but the popcorn had REAL Wisconsin butter on it and cost $1. The bathrooms had been repainted and even though I stood on the toilet and tried to scrap a teeny tiny bit of paint off with my car keys, I couldn't unleash the pepto pink paint that I remembered so fondly.
Jonesie was back in pdx on business and flew back to mpls with us. He got bumped to first class and let me have the ticket (wine and cheese and silence for moi!). He got the lucky seat next to E.
We spent a day at the Mall of America - all trying to maintain that Camp Snoopy is still there for E's benefit (I had talked it up a bit much before finding out the Schultz people pulled the licensing last year. E and his Nana checked out Legoland.
Our own Little Uncle Sam - we had our own fireworks show at my parents' house - sparklers were a hit until the end of the show when E went into meltdown mode over the fact that sparklers indeed do run out.
Jonesie hid a pirate chest full of booty on the other side of their pond. With map in hand, he and E set out on a treasure hunt - E was THRILLED when he found a "real" treasure chest!
E caught his first fish - a four-inch bluegill - what a sportsman!
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