Thursday, November 25, 2021

A Small Objects, Big Memories Weekly Link Round-Up

 


I don't know about you, but I feel like sitting back and relaxing after another dose of turkey and dressing. I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving Day yesterday, even if you were alone. Sometimes a day to yourself is just what you need. If being alone is the last thing you need, I wish I could give you a hug. I've been there.

Denis and I had a nice quiet day and intend to have another one today, and it's left me with not much left to say until I looked over at the top of my end table. There's an object on it that I rediscovered during the guest bath remodel, and just holding it in my hand brought back so many memories.
 

I brought him out so you could see him better. This little brontosaurus was given to me by my great-grandfather, James Elmer Brown. Pictures of Elmer (or "Dad Brown" as we called him) as a young man show a very handsome dark-haired man whose smile could light up a room. When I knew him, he was an old man with a shiny bald head fringed by a bit of snow white hair.

I was very young when Dad Brown gave me that brontosaurus, and he (and it) are the major reason why I've had a love of dinosaurs my whole life. I've had it tucked away for years, and for some reason, when I saw it in my mind's eye, my little bronto was made of green soapstone, or something like soapstone. However, when Denis handed it to me, I could see that it's made of brass.

Whatever it's made of, it's very simple and very tactile, and reminds me of a man who had a love of puzzles, jokes, and the great outdoors. 

Enjoy the links!


►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄
 
►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄
 
►Channeling My Inner Elly Mae Clampett◄
 
►Fascinating Folk◄
  • Chin Foin, the debonair restaurateur who inspired the first Chinese-American cookbook.
  • Six Native artists and their works receive major recognition.
  • Seventeen-year-old Mariella Satow created a free app that makes Disney+ films more accessible to deaf children.
  • Harriet Martineau, the Victorian woman writer who refused to let doctors define her.
  • Wil Wheaton gave a perfect explanation of how to separate problematic artists from their work.
  • Helen Keller and the problem of "inspiration porn."
 
►I ♥ Lists◄

That's all for this week! Don't forget to stop by next Friday when I'll be sharing a freshly selected batch of links for your surfing pleasure.

Stay safe. Stay healthy. And don't forget to curl up with a good book!

13 comments:

  1. How wonderful that you found that piece of your past, Cathy! That's the thing about some of our beloved things; it's not so much the thing itself, but the memories we have when we hold it or look at it. I'm glad you have that connection. Now, I must be off to that Egyptian sun temple (but you figured that, right?).

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great links as always and I love your brontosaurus. What a lovely story about it and your great-grandfather.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If I'd had access to my photos of Dad Brown, I would have shared those, too. He was quite a character.

      Delete
  3. I find it a beautiful thing that you still have something given to you by your grandfather...and that it had such a positive impact on your life. That's what all we grandparents have to hope for, isn't it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not being a grandparent myself, I would imagine you're right, Sam.

      Delete
  4. How wonderful that you still have something given to you by your great-grandfather! Not many people have been blessed enough to have met a great-grandparent. I have one picture of me being held by my great-grandmother. I was a baby at the time. She died while I was still very young. I do have a rocking chair that belonged to her though. Those connections are so meaningful.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, they are. I was just a baby when my other set of great-grandparents died, so I never knew them, but my mother made sure to tell me stories about them. I wish they'd hung on for a few more years, but they'd been hard-working farm people all their lives, and they wore themselves out raising nine children with little to no money, bless 'em. I never heard a mean word spoken about either one of them.

      Delete
  5. So glad you and Denis had a nice day, and also that you have the dinosuar that belonged to your great-grandfather. I never knew mine, I knew my grandmother pretty well and had met my two grandfathers. My grandmother Sophie was a force of nature, an Eastern European immigrant who lived to be 98.
    I know how much it means to have items passed down from relatives. I have my grandmother's teapot and some Mexican jewelry.
    She, my aunt and my mother liked Mexican jewelry, pottery and art, and they handed down that taste to me.
    I must say I just love those dolphins, otters and elephants.
    Thanks for the links.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Very good article about Helen Keller. I saw a PBS documentary about her a month ago. I must say I learned a lot and was impressed that she could read German and French. I had known she read German philosophers in German Braille.
    How intimidating! I can't read German in regular print.
    But I understand the writer's words about acknowledging and appreciating disabled people today. I do.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Totally agreement on that. I have no idea how she learned and communicated so much. And she did it all without the technology available today to similarly disabled people.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to make a comment. I really appreciate it!