Author: Susie Krivacic

So I’m continuing to think back to my days as a child in Indiana. We had this cute scrap of fur, a white Maltese dog named P2. Maltese dogs are in the “toy” category, so they are very small. You want to know what can be an adventure? It’s walking a small white dog in two feet of snow.

One winter morning, it was my turn to take P2 out. I was carrying her, hoping to find an area for her to do her business that wasn’t so dense from the storm. You see, the snow had fallen the night before, and a very thick blanket covered our back yard to the tune of two feet.

As I was walking, P2 jumped from my arms into the fluffy snow. Her leash was intact, but she had totally gotten away from me. Near panic began to set in. I couldn’t see P2 anywhere.

As I gazed at the backyard, left and right, I suddenly caught a glimpse of her. Well, not of her actually. I saw a path scurrying through the snow. And P2 was moving quickly. I raced through the path, caught up to her, and scooped that damp pile of fur into my arms. A warm dry towel next to the fire got her comfortable within a few minutes.

After that, I made sure to hold tight to that leash, particularly on a snowy morning…

Stay groovy…

–Susie

(Copyright 2019 Susie Krivacic)

So I’ll never forget this really cool thing my grandfather did for us. We were living in South Bend, Indiana about to embark on our first winter there. My grandparents came for a visit, and our grandfather began building “an organic garden”. As gullible little kids, we bought this story.

So Grandpa Joe measured and measured, cut wood and cut wood. He built a square foundation while hammering nails and hammering nails. He then added plastic to the bottom. I figured he had laid seeds under the plastic and in some magical way the “garden” would sprout.

When winter arrived water was added to the garden and with a good freeze, our ice skating rink was born. It was so much fun to be able to walk into the back yard and pretend to be Dorothy Hamill. Okay, so she wasn’t an Olympic champion until 1976, but she was becoming a household name. You get the idea. We also had awesome ice hockey matches.

We would continue to skate until our toes were numb with cold, only to go inside for just enough time to warm up and thaw out. At some point during the day, our neighbors would arrive “to play”. They just happened to bring their ice skates. Needless to say, our house was the place to be that winter and subsequent others.

When I was 10 years old, we moved to Florida, so our ice skating winters were in the past. But I still often think of that rink made with love by Grandpa Joe. So many memories were made there…

Stay groovy…

–Susie

(Copyright 2019 Susie Krivacic)

So do you remember waking in the morning, going out to the front porch, picking up the newspaper, taking it inside, and reading it while drinking your morning coffee?

Well, this is something that kids today know nothing about. All news is fed to most of us through some electronic device whether it’s your cell phone, laptop, PC or tablet.

Some people just catch the news on television or listen to the updates on the way to work.

And sure, there still remain some purists out there who like the feel of a standard newspaper in their hands. They don’t seem to mind getting their fingers covered in ink.

How about you? What’s your preferred method of catching up on the news?

I wonder how long until the sound of a newspaper hitting the front porch will go the way of the dinosaurs…

Stay groovy…

–Susie

(Copyright 2019 Susie Krivacic)