Memorables Dying...

The weather is doing me in.  It was warm yesterday & might hit 80 today, then drop back down to seasonal norms.   The up/down & allergies have left me in a funk.   Maybe, it'll pick a direction soon.

The point of today's post has to do with places we once cherished being shut down, torn down or simply made unavailable.  There were a ton of places that helped me keep my sanity as a kid that are no longer there or aren't what they used to be like record stores, 80's malls, skating rinks, local amusement parks, etc...  These places helped me get through my younger years mostly intact. 

The news is out, Toy "R" Us is closing.   This was never a big place for me.  I wasn't a Toys-R-Us kid.   I was more the Kay-Bee kind.  That store was in the mall & the other was mostly stand alone in my area.   Still, a lot of people have really fond memories of the place & soon it will be gone.

Watching places from your childhood fade is hurtful.  It's not as bad  when you're young.  Something new generally distracts you soon enough.  But when you're an adult & you drive by your old haunt & see an abandoned building or just a parking lot, it's like part of you was torn down as well.  You may never have gone back there again in your life, but now, it's not even an option.  

I've seen a lot of things I loved get lost to time.   Be kind to those who lose their memorable places & things.  You have no idea what they meant.  It may very well have been what kept them alive.

So long Toy "R" Us,  thanks for all the happy moments you brought.

Cya...

My Place...

I am continuing with the blog challenge & today's part was in regard to your favorite place.  I can get difficult on this one:

• I like being home, but get wanderlust easily
• I love travelling, but get tired of the actual process
• I like people watching, but I'm not really a fan of most people
• I like oddity spots, but not when they're overrun with tourists
• I like cities, but hate the noise
• I like small towns, but despise the lack of things to do
• I am outdoorsy, just don't ask me to anything outdoorsy

As I said, I'm difficult.  It seems that I am one juxtaposition after another.  I am gay & loved the dance clubs, just not the people that usually hung out in them.  I usually wound up at hole in the wall, pool halls, where most of the clients were straight, bordering on redneck butch.  I loved this one after hours coffee house in Stillwater, but didn't care much for the coffee house crowd.  That's right I'm picky & difficult. 

I decided that I'd choose a place that I felt most at ease.  It's not a specific place but a type.  It's the type of place I'd retreat to as a kid to get away from everything.  The type of place I wish I lived near now.  I like moving water; creeks, streams or rivers.  I'm not nearly as much of a fan of lakes & oceans.  I like the woods.  I like wooded areas along rivers.  I like the trees, the smell of the earth & the sound of the running water.   I like to watch the animals that gather along banks.  

As a kid I'd spend hours wading in the shallows of creeks & rivers.  I'd catch crawdads (crayfish) & snakes.   I'd corral the small fish in the shallows & watch them dart away from me.  Being from Oklahoma, you were apt to find arrowheads or other pieces of shaped rock/flint along the waterways.  I liked wading, swimming, canoeing, tubing, sometimes you could even get me calmed down enough to fish.

For me the wooded waterway is my favorite place.  The serenity let me just be for a while.  I could get lost in it all.  We all need that sometimes.

Well, that's my favorite type of place, what's yours?

Cya