It’s the time of year for trips to the attic. That, after all, is where the holiday decorations are, and the big roasting pan, and the treasures.
A year or two ago I gave Rob the Firefighter and the Lady Alicia my Swedish straw ornaments, confident that I could make new ones. Ha. I could not find the book with the useful directions in it. Today I was determined. I ended up spending quite awhile travelling the long road of memory. I found lots of things I thought I’d lost.
The box itself is an antique from my mother’s youth. Stockings! Even I, an old bat, can barely remember stockings. Inside, where it has been kept as long as I can remember, is a tiny christening dress. It was made of lace from my grandmother’s wedding gown.
As you would expect, there are boxes and boxes of books in my attic. The bookcases from the house in the city were too big to bring up here, and I’ve never gotten around to making new ones. I spent awhile visiting old friends, the delicious books that had been special favorites: Margaret Atwood, Studs Terkel, Lee Smith, Barbara Kingsolver, Louise Erdrich, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings.
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I lost myself in children’s books I used to read to Rob the Firefighter, and some that my mother had read to me. I found some books I’d acquired and never read. (Looking Backward, 2000-1887 is going on the nightstand tonight. I’ll let you know how it goes.)
I found a few utterly precious things.
And my button jar! Inside it I found a button from the navy blue sweater I was wearing when I learned that I was going to be a mother. It’s odd how the insignificant details of a life-changing moment are frozen in memory.
Oh yes–I found what I was looking for, too.
We spent all afternoon at it. The Cowboy is exhausted.
Torch Lake Views 
P.j. grath
December 6, 2010
That poor little Cowboy, dragged down memory lane! Are you sure he isn’t just posing that way to get attention? (Sarah does.) I’d have loved to be there in his place as you rediscovered all those wonderful treasures, Gerry. It sounds like a beautiful day.
Gerry
December 6, 2010
No poses for the Cowboy. He was sound asleep. Miss Sadie, on the other hand, took the opportunity to make herself a cozy nest of comforters while I was distracted by the attic.
Karma
December 6, 2010
Adorable post – especially the note from Rob the firefighter. I’ve managed to stash away a few momentos like that.
Now if I could just find my darn iPod! I lost it a week ago and I’m still rather distressed.
Gerry
December 7, 2010
Thank you. I’ll look in my attic for your iPod. Everything else in the universe seems to have found its way there.
La Mirada Bob
December 7, 2010
Hmmm. “My Mother read to me…” I will have to go back in time and bring you a recording of Dad reading to you.
Gerry
December 7, 2010
You are absolutely correct, Dad did read to me. I distinctly remember the rumble of the Dadly voice. Dad also brought his grandson that yellow ABC book all the way from Australia, where Dad had gone on a business trip. This explains why Rob the Firefighter thinks those large four-wheeled vehicles are “lorries.” Thanks, Dad!
Anna
December 7, 2010
Oh, what wonderful treasures to come across. I don’t have an attic to store stuff, as it isn’t finished or safe to be in. The opening to the attic was made for wee people too. Your attic photos reminds me when I was a child and used to explore my great aunt’s attic when we visited. She always had boxes and boxes of puzzles sitting on the steps. Straw ornaments! How neat. Such a lovely christening dress. I would so love to go through those books!
Gerry
December 7, 2010
Ah, my attic is under the eaves, in two pieces, one on each side. Even a wee person–I am vertically wee, if not horizontally–must creep about on hands and knees. And the opening has a very sharp-edged frame and I now have a bump on my head, but that’s another post. Aside from head-bumps, some of my happiest hours have been spent in attics. My grandmother’s was especially fine. I’m thinking the best thing I can do with all the books–there are at least a thousand–is to open a bookstore with coffee and excellent treats and WiFi. I have a rich fantasy life.
Molly
December 7, 2010
Thank you for taking me (us) along on your treasure hunt. I enjoyed every minute of it. My heart just about burst when we got to the note from Rob the Firefighter, and perhaps you recall my sad story of button jar loss……….. I am so happy that yours was found.
Gerry
December 7, 2010
As it happens, my heart did a little dance at that exact same point in the adventure. I seem to recall that yours was one of a couple tales of Possible Button Jar Misappropriation. I am celebrating the Recovery of the Lost Button Jar. If you should happen to find yourself in Torch Lake Township over the winter, and if you should happen to have pockets in your snowpants, I believe I may have something to give you.
Molly
December 8, 2010
Gerry, there are not very many good things about my snowpants, but they DO have pockets
Gerry
December 8, 2010
Excellent.
isathreadsoflife
December 7, 2010
I love this type of day, Gerry, going to the attic with a precise idea and ending up there re-discovering much more I had forgotten about. Spending lots of time opening boxes, hitting my head on the ceiling, getting cold or too warm according to the season. What books from B. Kingsolver and L. Erdrich have you read ? They are two of my favourite authors. Just reading “Animal, Vegetable and Miracle” right now. My son offered me “Tracks” from Erdrich. Beautifully written but quite dark…
Gerry
December 7, 2010
It was a good afternoon, particularly as I found things I thought I’d lost!
Ah, another Kingsolver and Erdrich reader! Thanks to an independent bookstore downstairs from my office in the Penobscot Building, I read pretty much everything Louise Erdrich wrote during the 1980s and 1990s: Love Medicine, Tracks, The Beet Queen, The Bingo Palace, Miracles at Little No-Horse. I have Plague of Doves on my nightstand but haven’t found the right time to begin it–a time when I can indulge in one long uninterrupted read. Reading an Erdrich novel is like skiing down a challenging run. As long as you keep going, you can stay on your feet.
I love Barbara Kingsolve, too, especially Poisonwood Bible and Prodigal Summer. No one who knows me can believe I haven’t read Animal, Vegetable, Mineral yet, but I haven’t, and it’s just going to have to wait its turn.
Both of ’em reside in the Delicious Books box, right next to Margaret Atwood and Studs Terkel.
La Mirada Bob
December 7, 2010
Anna’s note suddenly took me back to 1932 or so in my grandparent’s attic in West Virginia. I found a collection of old records and a wind-up Victrola to play them on. “Oh how I hate to get up in the morning, Oh how I’d love to remain in bed, For the hardest blow of all is to hear the bugler call….”
You can hear this at http://firstworldwar.com/audio/ohhowihatetogetupinthemorning.htm
Gerry
December 7, 2010
OK, that was fun. You never mentioned your grandparents’ attic before–I’m glad to hear that my affection for attics is a family trait.
Nye
December 8, 2010
I see Du Pont made stocking way back then, they have come a long way. And your grandmother’s wedding gown is too precious. Did anyone ever wear after her?
Gerry
December 8, 2010
I was thinking about that christening gown. My mother always said that it had been made from the lace on Gram’s wedding dress, but I don’t remember hearing who wore it once it had been made into the christening dress. A puzzlement.
Kathy
December 8, 2010
This was a sweet post. I started laughing at calling yourself on “old bat”. That’s probably because you were in the attic, right? Was your attic cold? Our attic is so cold one doesn’t dare linger there and ponder memories. Love the note from Rob–precious memories, indeed.
Gerry
December 8, 2010
Hmmm. Old bat is used ironically on Torch Lake Views. It is a disparaging slang term–frequently found in noirish novels and pulp fiction from the 1930s–generally referring to an older woman, such as myself, who irritates the speaker by being (1) eccentric (2) onto his scam (3) right (4) his mother, or (5) all of the above, in which case he is almost certainly plotting her demise. As to why I am fond of expressions from the 1930s–I am not, after all, that old a bat–that will have to be a post for another day.
I do love the note from Rob. He would never plot my demise, even though he occasionally thinks of me as eccentric and irritating. He would miss me. We think the same things are funny, and do not have to explain to each other why they are funny.
Gerry
December 8, 2010
Pat Stites sent me a nice note via the “Contact” button, and I asked if I could publish it as a comment. She said OK, so here you go:
Hello! I bookmarked your site back when you did the article on Farmer White’s and I want to tell you how very much I’ve enjoyed reading what you’ve put out here!!
I was raised in Elk Rapids. My father is the Edward in the “Edward C. Grace Memorial Harbor”. My husband and I now live in Kentucky and any news from “up there” I really enjoy.
You wrote about stopping at “Sonny’s”. We try and get there everytime we’re home for his “cherry” brats! 🙂 We went to school with Sonny and our children went to school with HIS children. Who are all grown and have children of their own. Where has the time gone????
We also make it a priority to stop at Farmer White’s. Mary and I grew up together. Did she tell you they use to board the ponies from the Drive In that was in Acme?? Her mother taught me to sew and churn butter!(I believe at the time it was called “free labor”!) Now that is a beautiful family!
I was kind of expecting to see all kinds of snow pictures yesterday or today, as my husband’s Mother said they received over 9 inches of snow, but enjoyed instead the visit to the attic. 🙂 I hope you have a beautiful winter and THANK YOU again!! — Pat Stites
chris
December 10, 2010
hey Patti,
thanks for the nice “plug” for the store and the Szejbach family.
Don’t you all have stories to tell about each other..!.
So many of the Elk Rapids famlies have worked for Ed/Sonny at Ed’s Market, or gone to school with Sonny.
(Mary White included) Altho I am a Traverse City girl, Elk Rapids has been my home for 35 years and now Torch Lake Village is where we hang our hat.
We do appreciate the business from our “old customers” and also enjoy all of Gerry’s posts.
Gerry,
I too have a Christening dress to look up. Mine is the dress my Mom was baptized in, my two sisters and me, and my three girls too.
when I find it, I will share too.
chris
Gerry
December 11, 2010
I love this stuff. Stories. I just love other people’s stories. We may have to do a whole series of Up in the Attic.