05 March 2011

The Colorful Winter Of 1959




Scenes from yet another festive (and picture perfect) Christmas with The Nelsen family.  Above, we see (left to right) my mother Kathleen, my Aunt Karen and my Uncle Kevin.  My guess would have to be that the Weave-Craft TV Chair set was NOT for him... Nope, not so much.




Below, we see my Aunt Karen (age 2) in front of what the kids called "the boardwalk".  This was a necessary (though awkward) walkway for The Nelsen Family that ran from the house to the car before the sidewalks around their new Todt Hill home were poured.  Time and time again I've been told by my Mom that the biggest drawback to this makeshift thoroughfare was shoveling it off in the snow.

In case you didn't know, EVERYONE'S parents walked to school uphill both ways (in the snow) EVERY day and fought off bears with their textbooks... without shoes.  Ask around... You'll see!




My Mom (in white ice skates) with my Uncle Kevin and grandmother Joan... skating after a deep freeze at Clove Lakes Park.  About 25 years after these photos were taken, my Mom would be living near this park with my Dad and I.  It was a favorite spot for neighborhood kids to go sledding and a great venue for a nice, long walk with our dog well into the 1980s.  This particular part of the park looked no different last time I visited it.  It's always great when good things remain as they should be.


BELOW: A parting glance of my Mom on the ice.  I only wish my grandfather had asked another park patron to shoot a photo of all of them all on this day.  Regardless, I can still feel him behind the camera.