Summer's End

Midge making sand castles with a friend. I wish I knew who he is!

Making Sand Castles, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Summer's End

It is always hard for New England folks to give up summer. I learned from studying The Great Hurricane of 1938, that the people who died in the area where the descendants of the sea captains (I have been blogging about) lived, had a different view of summer than we do today. This surprised me. 

Now I think of the people in New England as traditional hard working people of the land and the sea. Summer was a time of work for our ancestors not one of vacation as you see here in this photo of me at the beach.  

The people who lived on Napatree Point in-between the states of Connecticut and Rhode Island were killed by the hurricane. (It is not that far from this beach pictured here to where people died.) 

They were swept out to sea and many bodies were never found. The hurricane deforested New England, damaged the railroad and crippled the economy. Remember, that was the depression era. 

The houses on Napatree Point were not summer beach shacks. There were built for the wealthy people who summered there who lived in Boston and New York. The September of the hurricane was so warm and sunny, that they didn't return to the city as usual and they didn't send their children to school. In fact, I learned that school didn't start until October. I went to teacher's college. No one ever mentioned this...

Although the many books about this summer event are criticized as not historically accurate, you will get a really good picture of how the sea can change your life (and your ancestry) from a book called Sudden Sea. Horror stories are not always about zombies and vampires. Don't call me and tell me you can't sleep! (Video by PBS)

Bonnet Beach House

Bonnet Beach House, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

The House at Bonnet Shores 

 

I don't have many photos of my parents with myself and my maternal grandmother. I have no idea who is taking this photo but it might be my grandmother's sister who came to visit.

I am sure that we are going out to eat and that it is probably Sunday. I can tell you that it isn't a "fancy" place because my father is not wearing a "sport jacket". But, I am wearing a dress with a cardigan sweater. My mother always made me wear a sweater because she was convinced that I would catch a cold. I was pretty prone to that as I am now. But, it does make it hard to tell which season the photos are taken in.

I think this is the summer before a Presidential election because it made rainy days even more boring. All the channels showed the same stuff over and over. 

I see my mother's white milk glass chicken that I did not find when I cleaned out their house and maybe that was because it was packed with my grandmother's things and they gave it away. It is also possible that they left it behind when they sold this house. I do know that they sold it with most of the furniture. I thought that was odd because they were always going shopping for things for the beach house. I know the lamp came from the store that had the great dolls with doll outfits.


Looking at photos are remembering the people and the items around them makes you a better genealogist. I have sat with people and made them look at their family photo collections to get them started.


I can tell you that the photos on the wall came from a trip my grandparent's took to Guatemala or Mexico. My mother was always jealous of their trips and it made her mad that she wasn't asked to go with them. Imagine WANTING to go with your parents on a vacation?
 

Wishing I could Remember

With Eleanor, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

My friend Eleanor

Today, I am wishing that I could remember teenage Eleanor's last name, who babysat for me when I was small. She was only 17 but looked much older because she was so tall!

This photo is dated August 1949 so I am not yet two. I called her "Eye-Eye".

Taken at Bonnet Shores Beach.

Bathing Cap

Bathing Cap, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

My husband says I look "pretty good" for an 8th grader in this swimsuit and bathing cap.

"Jailbait", I replied.

August, 1960 at Bonnet Shores Beach, in Rhode Island.

Have a great weekend!

Sentimental Sunday: Floating Away

Floating Away, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Looking at the Bottom of the Ocean

On this Sentimental Sunday, I remember fondly my pre-teen days of going in the ocean and playing all day. 

Not being a strong swimmer, I was content to stay close to shore. I remember this floation "boat" that you could lean forward onto the front and look down at your feet in the water.

This is at Bonnet Shores, RI

Sentimental Sunday: Favorite Chairs

 

My husband and I were talking about chairs and I remembered this photo of my grandfather enjoying the porch at their beach house. When I looked at it again, I was surprised to notice that the chairs we bought this year have a pull out footrest just like this one.

When I first saw this type of chair at Target, do you think I unconsciously remembered this photo? How much am I carrying around in my visual memory?

Just think, my grandfather, gone since 1955, would be a second great grandfather today just like his grandfather was to me when I first saw that man's photo! That's when I became a genealogist.