Onward with the September Challenge

Autumn is here and the weather is now more summery than summer. Today is cloudy, drizzly and humid and it has been downright hot the last few days. It was cooler in August. I finally put a centerpiece on my table and a pumpkin on the buffet.

It is high time I continued with the Back Where I Come From challenge at McClendon Villa.
I am not usually so lax with things like this but plans to add a question to each post didn't always happen.  The reason is oo much on my mind this month.
Now to catch up.

9.  Do you plan to move back to your hometown area in your older years? Why or why not?
I don't have plans to do that.

10. How do you feel about the place that you came from?

my home town

It was okay. i have very mixed feelings actually. 

11 Were there a lot of churches in your hometown? What about where you live now?
Yes and yes.

12 On the opposite side of the fence, did you know of anyone engaged in an illegal activity? (In the song, they mention moonshine.)
I really don't know for sure.



13.What color were the eyes of your first date?
Oh, I don't have a clue! He didn't make much of an impression on me I guess

14 Do you tan easily or do you burn instead?
I tan but I avoid tanning like the plague.

15 When did your family get their first color television set? Do you remember the first show that you watched on it?
I don't recall at all. I wish I did!

16  Was your hometown a “backwards” place or do you feel that it was progressive?
Well, that depends on the definition. These are really political terms today. It was an average NJ town. I don't like backwards as it implies they wanted to regress to the middle ages or something.  Progressive means that you must be constantly changing and I don't like that either.

17. Was your hometown an economically advantaged or disadvantaged area?
People did alright over all but no one was super rich or very poor.

18. Did you like your childhood home? What did you like or not like about it?
It was okay. Not a bad place to grow up. It could be clannish which I don't care for. But if you mean house, then absolutely yes to each and every one.

Buttons looked just this way. She loved eggs!

 19.  Did you have any pets in your childhood home? If so, please tell me about them. If you have a photograph of any of your childhood pets, please share.
I had a dog I got in kindergarten. I was given him after school one day by a girl who had several puppies to give away.
I walked home with her in my arms not really knowing my way home from her house. I was barely 5 years old.

She died 12 years later  in the summer of my junior year in high school.
My boyfriend at the time was unsympathetic about it. I should have kicked him to the curb right then and there, but I didn't. How I wish I had!
 Why do we ignore red flags with people?

In the spring brides have photos taken here 

20.  Did you have a neighborhood park/playground?  Did you play there?
Yes.  But this requires explanation.

photo found online of park by my hometown

I  really have two home towns. One right next to the other and sharing one name.
For a long while I lived in one and went to school where my parents business was.
In that town I lived across from the park designed by  Frederick Law Olmsted who also designed Central Park in New York.
I learned to ice skate at age 3 on that lake. I got pretty good too.

21  Were there any flowers growing in your yard back home? What kind? Were you or your parents good gardeners?
Yes and Yes!
My mother was a great gardener.
She was great with roses especially.

a street in my hometown

22. Did you have chores when you were a kid? What were they? What did you think about having chores? What was your least favorite chore? Is it still?

I had no chores at all. My grandmother wouldn't allow it. She said I would do enough of them once I was on my own!
In spite of that my house is always clean and I keep it pretty neat.
I did paint the backporch every year for my Daddy and I kept my room neat and clean.  But I was never required to do things.


 
23. Are you ever homesick for your hometown?
In a way,  but mostly homesick for an idealized version of things. 

 24. Does your hometown have a website? Please share the link.
It does but I will not share it.

 25.What is your hometown known for? In other words, what makes it special?
It was the first town to have electric lights.  Also it was home to a large maker of Persian Rugs.  Marconi had his laboratory in my town and Edison had another lab there as well.  A signer of the Declaration of Independance lived in my hometown as well.

26.  Does your hometown experience all four seasons? If not, which ones does it skip over?
Yes. All four are very defined.

27. If there were no restrictions such as money or employment, where would you most like to live?
Massachusetts by the seashore, Maine by the sea or even Prince Edward Island in Canada.
It would be lovely!