It seems my recent posts have brought on a wave of nostalgia. While just a skosh too young to have shared Bill Bryson's childhood years, charmingly retold in The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: a Memoir, I'm close enough to understand exactly what he is writing about. Childhood was simpler then. Kids could, and were, sent 'outside to play' in the morning and often times not expected to come back inside until supper time. A blanket over a table made a wonderful cave. A card board box offered hours of entertainment.

Chevrolet Summers, Dairy Queen Nights by Bob Greene is a collection of the author's syndicated newspaper column about being a baby boomer. They will make you laugh and cry, some will anger you, some are thought provoking, such as the one about Woody Hayes. All I knew about this man was that he was a football coach, sometimes was rude and foul mouthed. I did not think very highly of him. My views of him changed when I read how he regularly visited service men in hospitals, and/or visited their parents, all without any sort of publicity.

Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression by Mildred Armstrong Kalisa. Everyone had chores, from the youngest child to the oldest adult. Everything, and I do mean everything, was used up (including the lining from the inside of eggs!) For some things (such as skin products), you made your own, or did without. You recycled, reused, or re-purposed. It was a hard life and yet, according to the author, no one felt deprived. There was a strong sense of family and of community.

Remember Wunda Wunda? Stan Boreson and No Mo? Or JP Patches? For those of us who remember the earlier days of TV (although not quite the earliest), when the picture was black and white and shows were live, there's Puget Sounds: a Nostalgic Review of Radio and TV in the Great Northwest by David Richardson. While this wonderful book also includes the then new stations on both radio and tv as well as news, sports and music shows, it is the children's shows I remember most clearly.

I almost didn't include Going Home to the Fifties by Bill Yenne as I'm pretty sure the Fifties weren't this good! It is, however, classified as an interior design book and not history, and for this reason it was an interesting read, and look, as there are many pictures. I do remember much of what the author writes about, but overall I found it just a bit too schmaltzy for me. And, alas, there was no bibliography, which I'm sure would have been interesting.

And lastly, Mud Pies and Other Recipes by Marjorie Winslow with illustrations by Erik Blegvad. My all time favorite cookbook! Even though I didn't like to cook (still don't) and never played with dolls, I followed most of the recipes. Designed for a time when kids played outside (and not just in organized sports, etc.), with what was found in a yard, on the beach, in the woods. I found it even more charming when I read it as an adult as I had more appreciation as to how clever and whimsical it is.

Reading Hermit With Dog