Souvenirs And What They Mean To Me And Also Turning Seventy-Eight Elita Sohmer Clayman

Today June 21st, 2012 is my seventy-eighth birthday. Always the 21st day of June was the first official day of summer. Every year now it seems to be either real late at night on the 21st or the day before the 21st, which it is today. It is the summer solstice and it seems it changes. When I was a kid, the day was supposed to be the longest daylight day of the year. I use to think that my special birthday had forty-eight hours instead of twenty-four. Now after today, the days will get shorter about one minute a day for daylight and on December 21st, if that stays the same, it will be the first day of winter.

Some days in our life seem as if they are lasting forty-eight hours instead of twenty-four hours. There are two kinds of these days. If it is a special day like a wedding, a birthday, a vacation day, then we want the joy and splendor to last for the longer time. If it is a not so great a day, we cannot wait until the day is over. My friend used to quote a day like that as a “day and a half.” She meant it was so long and hard, it felt like another twelve hours.

 Some days when we have lots to do, we wish the day was longer. Some days go by so slowly, you look up at the clock thirty-five times and think that the hands on the clock are not moving. I had a friend who collected grandfather clocks. He had about twelve of them in one room and every hour on the hour, most of them clanged away noting the hour. I once went to a party at his house and I kept hearing the clocks clang away and I thought that I cannot wait to go home for some serenity.

I wondered how the family slept all night, because you could hear the clanging up on the second and third level of the home. The last time we were vacationing in Ocean City, Maryland, I purchased a globe with little floral pieces in there and if you walked by the globe, it made sounds like you were at the ocean. For the first few months, I liked the reminding sounds and then after that, it got on our nerves. I vowed to myself that when the batteries went up; I would not replace them. Would you believe in twenty some years, we only changed them several times. The last time I put in some new batteries; I swore to myself, that was it. I would just let it sit on the shelf and think it looked nice. One day, I walked by and nothing sounded. I was so happy. About an hour later, it started up again. My husband had replaced them and so it started all over again.

If I had courage, I would take the batteries out, throw them away and let the ornament sit on the shelf and let it be silent. Somehow, I decided to wait until it shuts down again and then never replace them. Silly of me to put up with the racket of waves and water making supposedly ocean rhythmic sounds of a fake ocean in a ceramic piece, bought on a vacation twenty some years ago.

On other trips to Europe, I purchased a copy of the Mona Lisa painting when we were in Paris. When we went to Norway, I purchased metal, small statues of a girl by the river which is famous there. When we were in Hawaii, I bought a black statue of the head of a mermaid. When we were in Disneyland and Disney World, I bought Mickey Mouse ears. When we were in Spain, I purchased a leather coat that they are known for there. When in England, I purchased Wedgewood china that is made there and they are well known for.  Also in Portugal, I purchased a ceramic piece to remind me of the country. In Denmark and Sweden, I bought small statues that makes me remember my happy days there. In Norway, we all bought fisherman sweaters that are huge and warm. Also, in Spain, we schlepped (lugged) home a large statue of a girl in braids with her hands out to a bowl in front of her. It is Lladro porcelain and cost half the price there, as here in the states. It must weigh over fifty pounds and it sits in my dining room on its own table, because it is so huge.

None of these items gets on my nerves. I have been to all these countries and have something representing the place and they sit quietly on shelves in my downstairs family room. When down there, I and we can enjoy the memories of the time spent there. On my three cruises, I bought little replicas of the actual ship we were on. Even in Williamsburg, I bought a set of candles and on the way home; we stopped in a dinnerware factory and bought a set of dishes.

So why do I let this noisy globe of a fake ocean annoy me each and every day by its sounds of the phony waves? I guess I am a sucker for souvenirs of actual vacations and trips away from home. My son on his honeymoon bought me a huge coffee mug with Mickey and Minnie’s face on it. This is a joy to drink my tea out of each morning.

Souvenirs are exactly that. They represent where you went, what you did and why you loved it so.

I guess I will continue on collecting, even though we no longer travel to faraway places and destinations. The one nice thing about all the collecting is that it helps you to remember these happy times and the not so nice thing is that they require lots of dusting to keep them clean.

Oh well, at seventy-eight, I have the time to dust in between the writings of these articles. The total including this one is number 168 and that is a nice number. Also, I have collected 58 trophies, medals and certificates for my ballroom dancing competition days. That equals 226 of two things I love the most at this age, my dancing and my writing, after my family. I will be married 52 years, so add that to 226 and I have 278 and I am 78 on the 21st. Maybe, I should play these numbers on the lottery.