52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History #10 Disasters

Week 10: Disasters. Did you experience any natural disasters in your lifetime? Tell us about them. If not, then discuss these events that happened to parents, grandparents or others in your family.

I haven't really lived through any major disasters and I am not aware of any that my parents or grandparents went through either.

 

The closest I came was Hurricane Allen which hit Corpus Christi in 1980. 

 

(picture from Wikipedia)

 

We were on a family vacation at Padre Island and recall hearing news reports about the approaching Hurricane.  The day we left, I recall seeing dark clouds way out on the horizon. 

 

The next close call was when Hurricane Rita was approaching the Galveston/Houston area in 2005.  I was far enough inland that I didn't feel I needed to evacuate, but my parents were a bit concerned so I hopped in the car and joined the mad rush out of Dodge.  In hindsight, I could have stayed home and had a mini b-movie fest.

Sounds – 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History

Week 9: Sounds.  Describe any sounds that take you back to your childhood. These could be familiar songs, jingles, children playing, or something entirely different.

The one TV theme song that instantly takes me back would have to be the Looney Tunes theme.  I remember getting home from elementary school and my mom would have a card table set up in front of the TV with popsicles, ice cream sandwiches and the like waiting for us.  When the tune played we'd bop along in our seats while eating our treats.  Eventually, the table disappeared and we'd end up sitting on the floor rocking out to the theme. 

Another sound I remember would be late at night trying to go to sleep and hearing a train way off in the distance.  It was far enough away not to be annoying and I enjoyed listening to the whistle and the clickity clack.  It usually was able to distract me from whatever was going into my mind and help me fall asleep. 

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History - Technology

Week 8: Technology. What are some of the technological advances that happened during your childhood? What types of technology to you enjoy using today, and which do you avoid?



Technology has changed quite a bit in my life time.  Some of the major things I recall include:


8 Track tapes.  My first real albums were 8 tracks, though it didn't take to long for cassettes to replace them.


My parents were never the types to buy the newest item, whatever it was.  The one exception was when my father came home with the video game Pong.  When we got it, it was the coolest thing ever.  Later on, when the coolness wore off and our friends were getting Atari's and intellevision's, my parents never upgraded no matter how much we pleaded and whined.  Of course, that may be why I have very little interest in gaming these days.  I think have the personality to have been a serious gamer, but frankly, I'm nerdy enough as it is.


When I attended college far enough away from my parents so I couldn't easily use my dad's typewriter, I bought a word processor.

I had that machine for years until I graduated with a history degree with no clue as to what I wanted to do.  As I worked a few retail jobs and looked into  various options, I bought my first computer, an Apple Mac.  

After that, I had a series of PC's until last month I finally went back to Apple and bought a MacBook.

As for something I avoided, I really can't think of anything.  It did take a while for me to get a cell phone, but now that I have one, I don't think I could go back to a landline.

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History: Week 7-Toys

What was your favorite childhood toy? Is it still being made in some form today?


For some reason when I saw this weeks item, the first thing that came to mind was Col. Steve Austin, a man barely alive...

I remember watching the Six Million Dollar Man as a kid and wishing that  I could be in a horrible crash and have various body parts replaced with bionics.  Fortunately one year for Christmas, I got the action figure and suddenly being in a disfiguring accident was no longer on the top of my list of things to do.


A little later Maskatron was added and what made him awesome is that you could give him the face of Steve Austin or Oscar Madison, who never did get an action figure if I recall correctly, and do dastardly things until good ol' Steve showed up to put a stop to it.  He would often kidnap my sisters dolls since we never did get the Jamie Somers figure and they'd end up tied to trees and all manner of objects and wait for Steve to come and rescue her.  In hindsight, all Mascatron needed was a cape and black mustache to twirl, but then the disguises wouldn't really have worked.  

I don't believe any of us got the Bigfoot action figure which in hindsight seems like a terrible oversight on my parents part.

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History: Week 6

Week 6: Radio and Television. What was your favorite radio or television show from your childhood? What was the program about and who was in it?

TV: 
Doctor Who-I grew up with the Tom Baker Doctor on PBS.  Then for the longest time, I lost track of him only to be re-introduced in 2005.  Since then, I've been going back and catching up on all the Doctors that I've missed over the years.  I even managed to get my granddaughter interested in it.  She was about 2 when I was watching some early black and white episodes.  One time when she was at home, her parents were watching a black & white movie and she asked, "Doctor Who?"  I realized my work was done.

Star Trek- The original show. I began watching it because I thought Spock was cool and wanted to be him.  Later on, I realized green aliens were hot and wanted to be Captain Kirk.

B-movies- On weekends and afternoons I spent time watching many low budget movies that were often shown on UHF stations from The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms to Christopher Lee Dracula  to giant mutated insect movies and the like.  To this day, I'd rather watch an old B movie than many of the newer/current releases.  Unfortunately, I never saw a local horror host show while I was growing up in the DFW area.  I don't know if the market didn't have any or if I just somehow missed it as a kid. 

Radio:

The main show that impacted me was Doctor Demento- He always had good song paradies which many times I preferred over the actual songs they were spoofing.  I remember listening to it late at night on Sunday, probably around 10:00, and my parents fussing at me about going to bed because it was a school night. It was a happy day when I picked up a white single earphone cord so I could quietly listen to Weird Al Yankovic's newest tune.

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History - Week #5: Food

Week 5: Favorite Food. What was your favorite food from childhood? If it was homemade, who made it? What was in this dish, and why was it your favorite? What is your favorite dish now?


I don't recall a special meal or dish that really stood out while we were growing up.  The one food related event that does stand out is the relatively rare times we went out to eat.  My parents didn't take us out to eat very often, but when they did it felt like something very special.


My favorite place I believe was Crystals.  It was a spaghetti/pizza place and we always had a fun time there.  One room had a large screen TV and we would watch movies like The 7th Voyage of Sinbad or sports bloopers.  For our birthdays, we'd get a cake with a sparkler in it but I don't recall all the staff singing 
happy birthday.


This may be the reason I am not really a fan of going out to eat at the drop of a hat.  For me, going out to a restaurant should be something special, something out of the ordinary.  I feel if you go out too often or because you feel lazy and don't want to cook, then frankly going out loses its appeal.  


It's also why when I do go out I would rather go out to a proper restaurant than a fast food joint.  If it is a choice between fast food and staying at home with peanut butter and jelly, I will almost always choose that latter.  

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History - Cars

Cars. What was your first car? Describe the make, model and color, but also any memories you have of the vehicle. You can also expand on this topic and describe the car(s) your parents drove and any childhood memories attached to it.
This is an especially appropriate topic as I just bought a new (to me) car yesterday.


I have never been a big car person and would be happy depending on my bicycle, legs and public transportation. Unfortunately, in Texas, you pretty much have to have one.

My first car was a 1979 white 4 door Mercury Zephyr. Around 1983 it was decided that my grandfather was not really able to drive any longer, so since my older brother had a car and I just received my license the car went to me. I do not recall and was never told how my grandfather reacted to this but I think it went fairly smoothly. While I enjoyed having it and being able to go where I wanted to without relying on others, I felt a little bad that my grandparents were now in the position of having to rely on others.

Whenever I would visit my grandparents, my grandmother would always ask how the car was doing. My grandfather by that point was losing his battle with alzheimers and never mentioned it.

I had the car for the rest of high school and it served me well. Since I was a little older than my classmates, I was the car guy until others started getting theirs. I then learned that I definitely prefer being the passenger and not the one with the keys. Since the car was a 4 door with bench seats, I could always fit more people in mine than most of my friends who had trucks, hatchbacks or sports cars. Every car I have had since then has been small so I rarely end up having to be the driver.

I believe it was just after graduation, before I figured out what to do next that the car started having problems. When I decided to go to Lubbock for school, a good 7-8 hour drive, we traded it in for a newer, more reliable car.

A more positive memory I have is of my parents blue station wagon that they had for more than 10 years during the 70s and 80s. Don't remember the make, but it was the car that I saw my only drive-in movie in. It was probably my 10th birthday and my parents asked me what I wanted to do. I wanted to see Godzilla Vs. Megalon at the drive-in. My father tried to talk me out of it, but I wouldn't budge. They gave in and we went. I recall my father pulling into the spot backwards so we could open the back door and us kids sat there watching the movie. My parents sat in the front seat and I have no memory of what they did other than bring us drinks and popcorn shortly after the movie started. I'm guessing that just sat there and dozed while we saw the epic masterpiece.

Shortly after that the theater began showing X-rated movies then eventually closed down.

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History - Winter

Week 2: Winter. What was winter like where and when you grew up? Describe not only the climate, but how the season influenced your activities, food choices, etc.

Growing up in Fort Worth, Texas we generally had mild winters.  On the rare occasions it would snow, it usually gone by the next day. 

The one thing we would specifically do during winter is that my mother would mix up some spiced tea which we would drink on the weekends sitting by the fireplace usually watching football.  Everything else was pretty much business as usual.

The one thing we did get at least once a year, so it seems, was ice.  Of course with it would come the stories of how people in Texas cannot drive on ice and the inevitable, some guy just threw hot water on their windshield.  I never remember it being so cold that we didn't venture outside at some point.  Even when we were hit with ice and schools were closed, we'd still be on the street playing football at some point.  Usually most of the ice was sanded and melting.  It did make the games a little more exciting when we'd hit an ice patch or slip in the slush by the curb.

We never really had full seasons.  It seemed to go from summer immediately into winter.  We did have coats, hats and gloves, but often had on only a shirt underneath.  By mid afternoon, the coats were slung over our shoulders or on the ground as we went about whatever we were up to. 

Trees quickly lost their leaves and grass turned to the color of hay.  I recall one year, going into the backyard for some reason and looking up.  There in the large tree was Superman hanging in a weird angle, arms outstretched as if flying towards the ground.  On another branch were tied Captain Kirk and Barbie waiting for Superman to arrive.  Who knows how long they'd been up there, and forget about any future resale value.
 

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History - New Year's Memories

Did your family have any New Year’s traditions? How was the New Year celebrated during your childhood? Have you kept these traditions in the present day?

I really don't recall any specific traditions that we followed. I do recall my father either eating or saying we should get some black-eyed peas but am not sure if we ever did.  My parents were never much for going out to parties especially on New Years because of all the drunks on the road as my mother would remind us and still does.  In fact, that may be one of the reasons I'm not really inclined to going out on New Years unless it's an informal get together of friends.