Nostalgia is usually meant to be a yearning for the past and the "good old days." My childhood was, shall we say, dysfunctional. Therefore, I don't really "yearn" for the past. However, there are some good memories and simple things I recall fondly. For example, when I was about 7 years old and allowed to walk to and from school by myself, I remember one day in May passing by a house with a gigantic lilac tree in full bloom. I stopped and took many deep sniffs of those gorgeous flowers and from that day on, I've always adored lilacs. As a family, we loved to go camping in the Okanagan or Kootenay regions of British Columbia and we girls would laze around reading comic books like "Little Lulu," and "Archie." Remember when you could get a big comic book digest for 25 cents? Whew...times have sure changed! Here's my take on nostalgia.NOSTALGIA
Nostalgia is the gentle grey of a friendly phantom.
It looks like a black and white photo album.
It sounds like nursery rhymes and bubble gum.
It smells like lilacs on the walk home from school.
It tastes like tomato rice soup on a day that's cool.
It feels like Vicks vapour rub and the warmth from firewood.
Nostalgia is sweet memories of childhood.
Here we are camping at some BC lake one summer.left to right younger sister Jackie, me, and older sister Robin.
Oh, yes, I remember Little Lulu and Archie and Nancy and Sluggo (my daddy named me for that Nancy!)....now you've made me nostalgic!
ReplyDeleteAs Carly Simon said, "THESE are the good old days."
ReplyDeleteDo you have Vicks in Canada too?!
ReplyDeleteI have to stop and sniff lilacs whenever I pass them. Much under-rated.
What a beautiful trio you make - ahhh, so tenderly young and full of promise! I love how you incorporate all the senses into your verse. Isn't it amazing how the scent of something can yank us straight back down the decades to visit an entirely different time and place (And music, or a taste..)?
ReplyDeleteDefinitely leslie - a lovely post. Yes smells do bring back memories don't they?
ReplyDeleteDenise ABC Team
Woooo!! you made me nostalgic of those good old days when we too on the other side of the globe did the same things, read Little Lulu, Nancy & Sluggo, Archie, Tarzan,Phantom ~ the Ghost Who Walks!! lol!! Sigh!! Your poem is a delight and lol Vicks vapour rub was a must in every home!! It is a small world :)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful poem. I love the tone set with the first line: "Nostalgia is the gentle grey of a friendly phantom." Super job.
ReplyDeleteWhen did Vick change to Vicks?
ReplyDeletesmelling lilacs makes me feel nostalgic every time! i also remember walking home from school and stopping to take in the scent of a lilac tree and the next day the homeowner kindly cutting some branches for me to take home with me!
ReplyDeleteAh yes, lilacs. We had our own lilac tree in the corner of the front yard (in the Okanagan, where I went through school) and I loved to hide in its scented centre. I would pluck off the little tiny separate flowers and suck the sweetness from them.
ReplyDeleteI also liked eating the flowers of red clover when they first bloomed and were small and sweet.
And comic books! They were always guaranteed good gifts at Christmas, birthdays, whenever. We'd each read our own and then trade.
Thanks for the memories, Leslie.
Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie’s Guide to Adventurous Travel
It's good that the dysfunction in your childhood didn't completely take away all the nostalgic, happy memories. I remember getting a comic book every time I went to the grocery store with my mom. :-)
ReplyDeleteI thrive on nostalgia. My ABC Wednesday this week, Neil Armstrong, is more or less rooted in the pressent, but all too many of my other stories there are just steeped in the stuff.
ReplyDeleteI, too, love the smell of lilacs each Spring. And I remember the Vicks vapour rub. I think my mother thought it was the cure for the cold.
ReplyDeleteThe smell of lilac's is heavenly.
ReplyDeleteI grew up on Little Lulu and Archie. In fact the other day at the thrift store I picked up a video of Archie and Friends... My grandson's had never heard of it, and were amazed I knew every character in the movie.
There is nothing like the smell of lilacs!
ReplyDeleteNice post. :)
My first time here. I enjoyed your post. We had a huge white lilac tree in our garden when I was a teenager. Here it is too warm to grow lilac. I liked your photo showing when you were a little girl. When I was a little girl I did not read comic books, because I did not speak English then. I read “Bécassine” and “La Semaine de Suzette.” In the afternoon we would walk to the bottom garden of the Sacré-Coeur which was not too far from our apartment. I do have nostalgia (often.) I miss my hometown (Paris.)
ReplyDeleteI didn't think anyone from our ABC team was naughty! Now I'm feeling nosy about who is naughty!
ReplyDeleteHad to stop and think what I ever feel nostalgic about and I guess it really is my childhood days in Flamborough -- the cliffs, the sea, the fog, the seagulls and the caves.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of nostalgia it's rather a place where I was happy to visit or to stay. Certainly not my childhood !
ReplyDeleteI just went mad reading the verse- loved it- I read it over and over 4 times
ReplyDeleteNostalgia described this way sounds beautiful and sweet!
ReplyDeleteI can relate with you Leslie, I tend to just focus on the positive things that happened to me in the past. You are invited to my nostalgia meme every Thursday hehehe.
ReplyDeleteNostalgic, is one of my ABC entries. Come by any time you get a chance. Have a great day!
nostalgia is alomost a two edged sword for some of us...
ReplyDeleteI like your poetic tribute to nostalgia but I also understand that looking back is not always a pleasant thing. You post is a good balance. Love the sweet photo.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness for nostalgia! A delightful read, chock full of memory joggers!
ReplyDeleteReminds me of Wonder years :)
ReplyDeletePheno, ABCW
Yes, you have "captured" nostalgia perfectly in your poem. x
ReplyDeleteSmells do make you nostalgic. Someone mentioned Vicks - the memories are a mix. First comes the stuffy nose and congestion, the next is Mom rubbing the Vicks on my chest and that wonderful nose clearing smell. But they don't make it the same any more. Smells the same, but doesn't break up a chest cold as well. - Margy
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