June 2018 – transcribingmemory

Back to July, 1939: Vintage Images

As it is probably clear to see, I have been spending a lot more time on this project and maybe what is not as clear as the posts is all the work I have been putting into the organization of the archive. Today was especially rough. My eyes actually hurt from looking at alllll the…

Trends

What is with my obsession with finding patterns? I know life is more likely just chaos and random occurrences. Even still, here are some trends I’ve seen transcribing 1940: I found an interesting pattern with the Nee-Wahs: Tuesday, February 13th, 1940 I wondered tonight if the Nee-Wahs were going to break up. We discussed the…

Throw Back Thursday: The First Post

I have started to comb through the blog, fine tooth style. I plan to archive the archive. I may tweak some things, delete some posts, fix some typos. I’m going through it all, rehashing it, if you will. I’m mining more sense out of this, finding more meaning, identifying more patterns. Perhaps…finding a way to…

Retro Wednesday: Trolleys Part One

This is where something historical, the trolley system, meets something more. Something intimate. I read some research and I can tell you when the trolley system was put into place and when it was dismantled. Who funded them, who approved and disapproved of them, I can tell you this history of these machines even in…

A Day in the Life, 2018 and Another Month in 1940: Part Seven

I believe that as a caretaker, there is always room for self doubt. For guilt and being hard on yourself. Sometimes I have to reverse my thinking. I sat with my grandmother tonight during what has become my favorite part of the day, night time pill time. I quickly give her her pills then turn…

A Day in the Life, 2018, and Another Month from 1940: Part Six

Now, night time is when the fun begins. Adam is usually home around five and we spend as much time as we can in the garage. For him, it is his home away from home and for me, it’s the place right next to my garden, and him. Sometimes the house gets oppressive. Sometimes we…

A day in the life, 2018, and Another Month in 1940: Part Five

In the afternoons, Babu does her exercises. She reads the paper. I bring the dog down and she tells me that “she’s getting bigger!” She rests again and gets up and does her exercises again. She places her double sided sheet of instructions that are, of course, in a plastic sheet protector on the table…

A Day in the Life, 2018, and a Month in 1940: Part Four

“Dobre popowoodnew!” as she crawls from the living room after her long nap. I say good afternoon in Polish slowly, and spell it (incorrectly) even slower. She doesn’t reply but keeps making slow progress towards the bathroom. “How are ya feeling?” I ask as cheerfully as possible but I already sense, and brace myself. She…

A Day in the Life, 2018, and a Month in 1940, Part Three

After breakfast, once Babu is safely on the couch, is another span of time where I don’t need to be 100% on watch. Many aspects of this job are not that hard. Most days, Babu doesn’t need all that much and sleeps a lot. I’ve gotten into the habit of cleaning and showering during this…

A Day in the Life, 2018, and a Month in 1940: Part Two

Babu rises and shines again right around 8:30. Ok, now we are back on track. As she takes about 25 minutes in the bathroom I get breakfast started. I should set my alarm in the morning a lot later because at this point I can do this in my sleep. When the door to the…

A Day in the Life, 2018, and a Month in 1940: Part One

There is some dream, some dream about…my garden. I keep walking, taking turns peering around corners, snooze and there’s more. More yard, more rose bushes. It’s both a marvelous snooze dream, like The Secret Garden! and an anxiety dream. There’s more. More work to do. I could have put the snooze cucumber plants here and…