July 3, 2015

Dear Readers,

It’s a sweet morning in Cramer Hill.  Birds are singing and are making a racket.. Everyone in my neighborhood is off to work or in the house doing chores. No one is cutting grass yet.

My husband went out for a bit and I’m home alone with Finn, my Sint Maarten dog. I had to throw his plastic hot dog in a roll for about twenty minutes, but he’s about a year old and lively. I have to indulge my funny boy even on this peaceful morning.

I get the weekend New York Times delivered and, oh boy, it’s here!

I love to slide the paper from its plastic wrap and to check the front page headlines. Sometimes, I regret looking at the headlines, but today’s front page is fairly cheerful.    At least, I’m only going to check out the cheerful news: young people on the A train headed to the beach for the Independence Day weekend, the new book by Harper Lee coming out, Katy Perry, two nuns and a developer walk into a real estate deal…   I’ll ignore the rest.

How about you? Do you like to open a real newspaper? Hold it out wide? Hear the sound as you turn the pages or fold it?   Mmmmmm.   Delicious.

My parents loved reading the paper and they did the crossword puzzles. I didn’t realize that they were teaching us that reading the paper and playing with words provide enjoyment. They never said it and probably never realized it.

Reading a newspaper makes me recall getting the Sunday papers for my mom and dad.   After Sunday School and services at State Street Methodist Church, my brother, Bill, and I walked to Frank’s Pharmacy at 5^th and York Streets in North Camden. We bought the fat Philadelphia Bulletin and Philadelphia Inquirer. Twenty cents each for the papers. Five cents each for candy.. Oh, the joy! Hershey Bar? Good ‘N Plenty? Bonomo Taffy? This was the fifties, in case you think I’m kidding.

After we changed our clothing, we’d dive into the pages and pages of comics—Prince Valiant, Dagwood, Snoopy. And, Dick Tracy, Lil Abner, Family Circle.

Did you have a favorite? How about Little Nancy?

I liked the magazines included in the Sunday papers and as a little girl read articles intended for adults. Some were light entertainment pieces and others serious.   I can’t forget the time that I was lying on the itchy wool rug in our living room and reading about Adolf Eichmann and the atrocities of the Holocaust. I had to be about ten years old and I felt sick with horror on that summer day.

Sunday papers made for leisurely Sundays with homemade ice tea, both in North Camden and Cramer Hill.  I didn’t know how lovely they were.

The morning is flying by so I better say good-bye now and grab my opportunity to read the paper.

Thanks to my readers who comment. It’s great to hear from you. You can follow my blog if you wish. There’s a little place to press that says FOLLOW.

Have a great day!

Love from Cramer Hill….

Marguerite Ferra