We're two sisters who are craft book publishers and found ourselves in the midst of an avocado grove. We bought this house where we planned to conduct our publishing business and in the deal got 4 acres of avocado trees thrown in. Now we're not only publishers but ranchers as well! This blog is all about avocados and anything else that strikes my fancy.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Sepia Saturday #117 Girl Scouts and Diaries

Here I am in my girl scout uniform in the 5th grade class photo. As I remember, our teacher had sent a memo home to parents saying that we should wear something nice for photo day, and please no uniforms. Somehow my memo didn't get home. And I'm the only one in our troop that wore a uniform that day. But I see that the Blue Birds didn't get the memo either. They're the ones in the the crisp white blouses and kerchiefs.



About a year ago my daughter who lives in Brooklyn, told me about going to a club in her neighborhood that once a week would feature people reading from their diaries. She said it was absolutely hilarious.

So I'm going to feature a page from my diary which involves Girl Scouts. I noticed in my fifth grade diary that I would sometimes write about the Girl Scout meetings, but mostly about boys.

I don't know why I didn't have a proper diary like this one, all leather with a secure lock:

No, I had one that I must have stolen from my father. Or did I ask him to buy me one and he said, "no, you can use this one".  He was known for being really, really cheap or should I say thrifty? So instead of a pretty red leather diary with a lock, I had this one which I had to personalize myself. You can tell that I didn't get any of the "art" genes in our family. My sister got them all. I can imagine what her diary might have looked like - certainly not like this one.



This page proves that the diary had belonged to my Dad, but he passed it along to me (or did I steal it?) and I scratched out his name (to hide the evidence) and added mine instead. The diary made the move from Chicago to California (note the different addresses) which leads me to believe that I didn't steal it - it must have been laying around for years before it was handed down to me. Looks like I was pretty scared that someone might return my found diary to Stanley Quality instead of to me. No way did I want my secrets sent off to Westfield, Mass.!!





So back to the Girl Scouts. On April 1st our troop must have decided to play an April Fools joke on the tourists heading to San Diego on the train. Can you imagine their horror seeing a bunch of uniformed 5th graders infiltrating their car? It couldn't have been a pretty sight. I'm pretty sure we weren't a well-behaved bunch. So here's my diary posting for that April Fools Day:
Dear Diary,
Went to the San Diego Zoo on train.
Sat with Jane on way up and on the way
back Donna, Connie, Jane and I sat
together on seats like this

Seats went like this when you
press a button.
Seats were comfortable.



So I was pretty impressed with the seats. There was absolutely no news about the zoo or San Diego or anything else about the trip - just the seats. How easy was I to please?


Here's another posting about the girl scout meeting, but you can really tell that all I was interested in at that time were boys.
Dear Diary,
We put on those plays at girl scouts.
Gordon never pays any attention to me, so I guess
I'll stick with Douglas. All day long it's the same old boys.



One of my fondest memories of girl scout meetings was that we would all stand around holding hands and sing the Girl Scout song. My friend Jane and I can still sing all the words. If you were a girl scout, do you still remember the words? If not, these lovely ladies on youtube will help us out:



I loved being a girl scout, but once I got into high school I dropped out. It just wasn't the cool thing to do.
For other scouting stories, click on Sepia Saturday

21 comments:

  1. We have an Orchard but only for private use. Trees have good and bad years. Generally when there was a bumper crop one year next year is usually leaner. Droughts have a big influence on the crop. Avocados have very long tap roots. Many big trees planted together like in a orchard take up an awful lot of water. In a dry year they suffer and do not produce much. It is sort of a protection for the tree.
    Yes, diaries can be certainly hilarious. I Have tried a few time to write a diary when I was a child, but it was to strange to speak to a book with empty pages. Usually I rather used the books for drawings. They have not survived, I don't think it is a big loss!

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  2. Yes I did have a 5 year diary...but got Hubby to toss it out when we moved...now I regret that!!!

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  3. I enjoyed this so much. You had me laughing out loud over your Dad's name crossed out and the little drawings of the seats. The drawings are not that bad..they remind me of little of Jules Pfieffer cartoons.

    I don't have a diary..the only piece of writing I have from when I was a child is a letter to Santa in which I chastised my mother and expressed an urgent need for a Barbara Ann Scott doll. What a brat I was.

    Your comment about the same old boys is hilarious. Poor Douglas - but at least he was your second choice. Maybe you'll hear from him :)

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  4. It's Something of a Lost-Art, which is shame,as Diaries are a great way of preserving personal History.

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  5. in a way, i guess blogs have taken over for diaries, except they certainly don't have locks on them! your post made me laugh out loud. i love the cover of your diary and the diagrams of the seats on the trains. well done!!

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  6. As a guy I never wrote a diary, but sometimes I find an old letter or two and wonder if the aliens had control of my mind while young. I really felt some good smiles from your diaries. Thanks for that!

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  7. thanks for all your comments. Glad I was able to make you laugh.

    yes, diaries are a lost art. I wonder if little girls are still using them.

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  8. I've always had a business diary but it only ever contained apponitments or events. Now I use one for logging who comments on my blog each day. Perhaps writing in diaries is just a 'girls' thing - although Pepys would not have agreed.

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  9. Nancy, you had me laughing out loud the whole time on this post! I like the last part, about "all day long, it is the same old boys." It sounds like being married, lol.

    Thanks for this post, I am reading it first thing in the morning and I know that I will be laughing about it all day long.

    Kathy M.

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  10. What a hoot! I enjoyed this very much and am still laughing. You can probably hear Kathy all the way from Oregon and me from Virginia.

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  11. You and the Camp Fire girls look like you are dressed more appropriately for school than the girls that look like they are wearing party dresses.

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  12. I love the drawings in your diary and I think you were quite possibly the cutest girl scout ever. They should have used you for advertisements. I always love class photos; the kids in your class were very well dressed.

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  13. You obviously were enjoying reading on those seats, the peak excitement of the day, so funny. They just had a series on the radio of well known people reading extracts from their diaries of their younger selves, yes boys were a big topic in their diaries as well. Great thing to still have.

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  14. An excellent post Nancy, with so much to enjoy. The little drawings are delightful - and your stories about the diary.

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  15. I'd forgotten about those "no uniform" memos. I rather like seeing school shots with the kids in their uniforms. I do remember not wearing mine one day because of the dastardly memo. I eventually just felt odd wearing the uniform. It was early to mid '60s and the world of teenagers was about to change. I don't think I ever remember seeing anyone after 6th grade wearing a uniform.

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  16. You look like Ali McGraw...adorable. This is such funny writing - I fell off my chair laughing too. Can you publish more diary comments for our reading pleasure??

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  17. I can in fact remember the words to the Brownie Smile song. Your Youtube link didn't show up for me but that's probably on my side not yours. Love your photo!!

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  18. Great insights into a little bit of social history. I know when I read my old diaries, it is always the mundane rather than the bog events that says more about my life back then. Great post and photos.

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  19. Throughly enjoyed your post - it brought a smile to my face. I also wore my girl scout uniform in my class picture. Isn't it funny what appeals to kids - the scout leaders probably thought the zoo would be the highlight of your trip - but it was the seats on the trains. :) Thanks for sharing your diary - your post has brought back memories for me of my time in the Girl Scouts. It was such fun and I haven't thought about that part of my life in a very long time!

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  20. You looked lovely there!!
    I went to St Patrick's parade yesterday, and there was a large delegation for the Scouts celebrating the 100th. Then there was the Girl Scouts who were numerous and some sang that song.
    I'm glad I waited to read your post as I got a better appreciation after seeing the parade yesterday. Seems like a fun bunch!!
    :)~
    HUGZ

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  21. Love the post. So interesting and a glimpse into your life.

    cindy

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