Screen Doors......Old Screen Doors

There are certain things that creep into my thoughts from my childhood at the most unexpected times. Sometimes, things I have not thought about in years, or things I gave up on obtaining many years ago.

This past week, out of the blue one of those memories came flooding back into my mind and it was quickly added on a "must have" list I am making as we are in the process of looking for a new or at least new to us house to purchase this year......let me just say it is a daunting task...house hunting that is.

It occurred to me this week, that my kids have never known the sound of the spring stretching on an old screen door as it opens, and then the quick slamming sound as it pops back against the door frame.

My grandmother had an old screen door on her porch that lead to her back yard. Many a Sunday afternoons were spent when I was a young girl of me running out that old screen door. Then as I would turn loose of the wood frame,  and as the door slammed shut, I remember my mom and aunt always in unison yelling..."don't slam the door" and before they could get the words out...the door popped shut and off the porch I would go. Honestly, I did not really slam the door, the door just sorta slammed itself.

There isn't anything at all romantic about an old screen door, but the memories they evoke are the romantic fibers of my heart. I can remember as if it was yesterday, the smell of Sunday chicken frying from my grandma's kitchen. My mom and aunt would be working right alongside my grandma and  the meals they turned out of that kitchen are the memories that can make your mouth water. 

I always loved her screen door, I loved the smooth feel of the plain iron handle, nothing fancy, just functional, but it had a certain feel in my young girls hand. I loved the safety lock which was nothing more than a simple eye hook and hook. I liked locking and unlocking that door as I stood looking out into the back yard. I also loved locking my sister (clearly by accident) out of the kitchen. I loved the chippy paint and I loved how my grandma had little square patches for repairs in the screen of the door.

I wish my kids had been able to experience the simplicity of old screen doors. We always had storm doors on the front of our home. My kitchen door was not to where I could put up a screen door as the pitch of the roof outside the back door would not allow for one. Thus I gave up that dream of having a screen door long ago. It occurred to me, kids today for the most part, never will know the sounds, feels and fascination like I always had with my grandma's screen door.

My must have list for my new house has included a door in the kitchen to the outside, and one that will allow for an old fashion screen door. I don't want a new one, I want an old one. I want one that evokes all the nostalgia and memories I carry in my heart of days gone by. I want to recreate all the warm and fond memories that came from inside that screen door on Sunday afternoons in the summertime. 

I wonder....is it really the screen door itself that holds my fascination and longings? Or is it the memories that are intertwined with the memory of a certain screen door my heart is longing for?

It is a rather simple item to be added to a list of "must haves" in searching for a new house, but one that I don't see myself crossing off the list as not attainable. 

Oh, and about that list......there are really two list....one that I talk about with my husband......and then one that is written in my heart. The second list is the one I am afraid I stay a little more focused on most of the time. The old screen door is item number three on the list.......stay tuned.

Happy New Year......Welcome Twenty-fifteen

Happy New Year!! The first day of a brand new year.......what will be different? What will be the same? How do you feel about that? What can you do to make things in your life better? Lots of questions spinning in my head the dawn of this day.


I find myself with lots of questions about these things on the beginning of a whole new year. It occurred to me that many years I have faced the prospect of a new year and hopeful some things will be different. However, when it is time to see the year out, I discover that as so many times before, things are still the same. Nothing has changed at all. Then, I play the blame game...and the only one responsible for that was myself.

Twenty-fourteen was not one of the best years in the record books, but it certainly was not the worst one either. There was lots of sadness and a huge share of unrest during the past year. That is normal on the grand scheme of things, but when looking back over the year and there are stand out moments that pierce your soul....sometimes, like it or not, there has to be a common factor for those types of stand out memories, good or bad.

Twenty-fourteen did however, have some wonderful, joyful and totally unexpected stand out moments for me as well. It's the little things that surprisingly enough make the largest impact on your day. I found that very thing this past year when a young rooster wandered into the field behind my house. A rooster of all things. I never liked birds, never wanted chickens, never had an interest in them at all, and never, and I mean never had a desire for fresh eggs. That one little rooster wrapped his feathers around my heart and I found myself to be a backyard chicken keeper. I have never looked back." The Chicken Resort" was born....I have shared a lot of this journey on facebook, but will share more here on my blog this next year. The lesson for me was don't over look the little things, because those are the things that become big things. I can attest to that..joy was surely found in my back yard and I would never have imagined it to be so. The Chicken Resort is really a stand out moment and was certainly unexpected.

Twenty-fifteen is here.....the dawn of a new year. This year I have adopted two words that I will most definitely apply to my life throughout the year. The last part of twenty-fourteen opened my eyes to a lot of things and one of them was the fact I can not keep holding on to things that do not bring happiness or make my life better.  I have held on to many things for far too many years in the hopes of all of this will make my life happier, better, or complete. I have learned finally, that just is not the case. It is now time to let go of it all. It is time to focus on what I need to do to get where I want to end up. It may very well mean changing how I think, feel or react to things things, but letting go of all the negativity that surrounds an unrealistic way of thinking should be a positive start in the right direction.

"Letting go" will certainly be the running anthem for the new year in every aspect of my life. I have decided that by doing that....I will be freeing myself from facing a new year with the same unrealistic hope that things will just change on their own. If change is to come, I have to make the changes. It will be like a breath of fresh air. Hanging on to things...and I have lots of things is first and foremost in the letting go part of my new year. Hanging on to unrealistic ideals and opinions of people in my life will go as well. If they don't bring joy or appreciate the joy I try to bring to the relationships, then they will be let go of as well or the very least scaled down.


I am hopeful for a new year that the right changes will have the most impact  in my life. For me, I get stuck in a rut and wait for someone, something to make it better. I have not lived up to my potential for several years and for the first time in my life, I see what has, or what I have allowed to hold me back. I am going to "Let Go" of all of those things, and I am looking ahead at Twenty-fifteen with a heart wide open for what is to come.

Blogging friends...I am back! Thank you one and all who certainly impacted my life during December in a huge way. You truly, TRULY have no idea of the impact you made on my heart and thoughts in the last couple of weeks. I am forever thankful for my wonderful friends from afar! My heart sisters!!

Now....stop and think about what your words will be for the New Year....no resolutions...just actions!!   Letting Go!!