"These happy golden years are passing by, these happy golden years." Laura Ingalls Wilder

Thursday, July 05, 2007

My Father's "Almanac"


For the past 22 or so years, since my father built his "new" home and retired, he has been preserving daily facts on 22 years worth of wall calendars ... yes, that's a new one added faithfully to his collection each year. If you need to know what the weather was like say 19 years ago on July 5th, all he would have to do is find that calendar still hanging on his garage wall. You see, each calendar is in chronological hanging order ... and each month, he routinely flips them all up to the "current" month. Things of interest to him that he notes are:
  • daily high/low temps
  • rain gauge amounts
  • how many fish he caught
  • when he purchased his fishing license & cost
  • visits from his children
  • date he ordered firewood, cost, and how much
  • date he fired up the wood stove for the season
  • date he put out the wood stove in the spring
  • trips to the doctor for his "baby" (my mom)
  • date he puts up his 15 or so hummingbird feeders
  • vacation start/end dates
  • gardening facts/seed types
  • golf tee times + scores
You get the picture. I think it's time to carry on this time honored tradition with our first wall calendar in our new garage. Maybe I'll even use my "better" penmanship so the grand kids can read grandma's writing in years to come.

5 comments:

Pat said...

Were we separated at birth? I save my calendars but I don't hang them anywhere. I love your dad's idea, but if you saw my garage you'd know that the walls aren't visable because of all the "stuff" that Hal keeps out there. That's a great tradition for you to carry on - I think your grand kids will cherish it one day!

Terry said...

I think that would be a really good idea Mrs. Mac!
My father has done that too.
I don't know where mom puts them but I managed to swipe one a few years back when mom was not too well and almost every day of the week for a few months Dad had her doctor and hopsital dates written in.

I agree with Miss Patty,
This is something that the children would really cherish!!...Love Terry

Constance said...

My Mother-in-Law was very detailed oriented too! Every year when she got a new calendar, she'd transfer all of the birthdays, death dates etc onto it! However, they're all packed away in the black hole we commonly call their basement!
Connie

Jada's Gigi said...

I love it!! Calendars are an awesome way to look back and see what your life was like during a particular time frame. I kept the calendars from when the kids lived at home..its interesting to look back over them since i don't journal or keep a diary..even looking at our budgets from years past is kinda fun. Now I've never kept them all up at once...that would be fun...my hubby keeps a calendar in the garage and records his biking adventures on it...:)

Anonymous said...

What a really cool idea. I always think of journals, not that I keep one, but calendars would be easier to compare from year to year. It would be so cool to be able to read a grandparents calender.
Donna
www.homeschoolblogger.com/alwayslearning/