Life is Good!
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| Here's my completed "test" version. Isn't it amazing? It's every bit as much fun to hold as it was to make! |
"Introducing the next generation of Etch A Sketch. One that lets you draw loops, lines, curves, and curly-Qs with perfect ease. Just shake to erase! Then draw again over & over!"
We all know it's what's on the inside that counts. That is most certainly true when it comes to people and boxed, assorted chocolates. Hannes would agree with this philosophy when it comes to his toys, if they don't contain a squeaker they're simply not worth their weight in fiber-fill! Why? The answer is simple... he believes it's his canine responsibility to free the squeaker from the belly of the beast, and in record time no less! Here lies Freddy the Fox, in pre-op; and sew it goes (sorry, I couldn't help myself)... I will stitch the squeaker back inside and it will once again be freed only to return to the pet hospital. It's what's inside that counts after all and I feel compelled to teach that to Hannes... or die trying.
...there was a little red wagon and a small, red-headed boy. They played together for hours. The boy rode in the wagon, he pushed it, he pulled it around the house, he gave his stuffed animals rides. The wagon was very happy, way back then. That little boy grew up and the wagon was forgotten, it sat in the dark; waiting, patiently, for another little boy to discover the joy contained within. The long and lonely wait was worth it. The wagon is, at long last, happy once again; so is this little boy... take a good look at that face!
... there were American Plastic Bricks. I saw something on the news yesterday about Lego turning 50. I recalled a set of bright red bricks from my childhood, a predecessor to the more modern Legos. I had a large can of these building bricks, undoubtedly brought by Santa Claus in the late 1950's. I remember being entranced, in particular, by the windows; casement windows, they were functional and actually swung open and closed! That was a big thing to a six year old building a model house. By contrast, I remember being highly disappointed by the roofing slabs, they were stamped cardboard and seemed quite inferior to me at the time. I balked at topping off my finished creations with the supplied materials and substituted the green, wooden slats from my Lincoln Logs instead. It was all about quality at my imaginary construction company. I didn't often follow the enclosed directions but preferred to design my own houses, walls and patios; adding all kinds of unlikely, found elements from around the house.
I'm still playing with bricks. I don't always follow the directions and since matching up seams and points is paramount, I guess it's still all about quality of construction. The toys themselves have changed, but I still get that Christmas morning feeling every time I walk into my studio and pull out the components of my next, great creation! Those seeds of creativity were planted early on.
No, not for me! My husband got a new toy in plenty of time for fall and mounds of leaves. Since he and our son care for two yards, the raking can get out of control in the blink of an eye... and let's just say that raking is NOT the favorite task of either of these men! This is a 'Cyclone Rake', kind of a rake-vacuum! It mounts behind the lawn tractor, sucks up the leaves and passes them through a shredder before depositing them, as compost, into the giant box on the back. My husband saw one that my Dad uses for cemetery maintenance (Dad's a cemetery caretaker in our hometown) when we were home this past July. We ordered the video from the company and after watching that, and hearing my Dad's testimonial, he was sold! We're now proud owners. He couldn't resist starting it up and trying it out, even though there was only one leaf on the grass! Hey, it was 'Labor Day' after all! Plus, it wasn't all work, either... someone got a ride back into the garage!
Life is Good!
