CHRISTMAS 2020

[datzenmike]

That was great Mike, that was my growing up too, I really am Ralphy in the Christmas Story. Even the bully, which I finally took care of.

I can still see my Dad fighting the coal furnace in the house I was born in, in Winnipeg.

Dad used to hang a small bag of parsnips on the roof overhang near Christmas. He said frost sweetens them. The water they were boiled in was also used to make the gravy. Parsnips these days just don't taste the same as they were when I was 8. That's true of a lot of things that are better as remembered.

[510rob]

That was great Mike, that was my growing up too, I really am Ralphy in the Christmas Story. Even the bully, which I finally took care of.

I can still see my Dad fighting the coal furnace in the house I was born in, in Winnipeg.

Dad used to hang a small bag of parsnips on the roof overhang near Christmas. He said frost sweetens them. The water they were boiled in was also used to make the gravy. Parsnips these days just don't taste the same as they were when I was 8. That's true of a lot of things that are better as remembered.

Time tends to sweeten a lot of memories.

[RONSLYCHUK]

This year has brought back many memories........Remember when......?

[datzenmike]

.... I was three and my mother, brother and grandmother had just crossed the Atlantic to come to Canada to a farm where my dad has working for the past six months. She missed him terribly and was always talking about our trip to a place called Canada and see our dad. She was afraid we would forget who he was, six months is a long time for someone who is only three. After my father passed I found in his papers a birthday card he sent me from Canada when I was three years old. This was late November '53 and less than a month really to prepare for a Christmas. It was all new to me but we used dad's work socks and hung them up with oranges and candies in them. There weren't enough socks for everyone and I had to make do with a pillow case. I don't remember if we had a tree or a turkey, or anything else about that Christmas but I remember the pillow case. All the rest of my years with my parents we never lacked for anything at Christmas time.

[bertvorgon]

I'm glad all my memories of Christmas's past are good, Christmas is about NOSTALGIA. I still have my PUMPKINHEAD Christmas stocking from the 50's, and no, NOT the horror character. I only got rid of my Davy Crockett coonskin hat a few years ago, stupid thing is likely worth money now. Mike, you would remember KING OF THE WILD FRONTIER. I was going to be a frontiersman just like Davy, well, we see how that turned out.

Lets hope this NEW YEAR will be way better than last, I know personally it has been a tough journey, as I had a health issue and my wife had full right knee replacement, which was not easy on her....or me. We lost a lot of friends this past year, some of which have been from the motorsport community, a couple from Covid now.

On the positive, we move forward, I am under no pretext that the vaccine is a long ways away for most of us, so I see 2021 as a repeat of last year in terms of distancing and meetings. If I am proven wrong, GREAT! At least now we know how to do our drive(s), hope to plan a few this year again.

So...Happy New Year, be safe!

[datzenmike]

Fess Parker! Hopalong Cassidy, Rin-Tin-Tin, Lassie, Tales of The Texas Rangers, The Lone Ranger, Tate, Rory Calhoun as The Texan, Riverboat, Have Gun Will Travel, Roy Rogers and Gene Autry, Wanted Dead or Alive, Rawhide, Wagon Train, Maverick, Hawaiian Eye and 77 Sunset Strip, Seahunt... and of course Sargent Preston of the Yukon.

[bertvorgon]

You got it! That's great, lived all those shows for the most part. My uncle bought the son of Rin Tin Tin from the breeder, when my Uncle lived in California. Went for many a trip with us over the years, great dog.

I soon will be into a sea chest in my basement, with a TON of collectibles in there, of which I have quite a few BIG LITTLE BOOKS....the precursor to comics, they are very cool. Some had a little "movie" by flipping the corner of the pages.

One of my absolute favorites of the late 50's into the 60's were the 3D comics, man did I love those. Pop the glasses out of the inside page and a whole new world opened up. I sucked up the FAMOUS MONSTERS and other movie related magazines like crazy.

Then of course, things morphed as I headed into the 70's, with the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers and other "underground" comics. I must go online and see what price they may be fetching these days. My love of science fiction and other fantasy stories had me buying the HEAVY METAL magazine, first came out in 77', unbelievable art work. Still have a ton of those.

I am pretty sure I have a brand new, in the box 240Z, slot car, can't remember if it is AFX or....any slot car collectors out there?

I know I will be lost in that trunk for days. And then what.......