Tag: memories

old rockers never stop rockin

Ian Hunter1 Comment

I saw ZZTOP in concert yesterday

my sixth time of seeing them live

the original band members now in their mid seventies

Still sporting long beards and outrageous outfits

most of the 3,000 people in the audience were of similar vintage

the band still play a mixture of southern hard rock and boogie

playing a gruelling 51 shows in their 2025 Elevation tour

celebrating 51 years of playing live music to their fans

they certainly don’t act like tired old men on stage

I can remember so well discovering their music in the late 70’s

I have carried it music with me through good and bad times

every song they played last night brought back razor sharp memories

taking ZZTOP albums to late night boozy college parties

driving my young kids around while playing ZZTOP very loud in the car

loud ZZTOP headphone weekend therapy escaping the stresses of corporate life

mopping while rocking to ZZTOP to liven up boring house chores

wild nights seeing ZZTOP play at packed venues

this was my sixth time seeing them play live

their music is still buzzing in my ears

Thank you ZZTOP for all the fun times

ROCK ON!

53 years of hiding in the garage

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I thought about going for a bike ride

then the rain started

She brought out her honeydo list

the rain came down heavier

after a while I got near the end of her list

It was still raining hard

she added more things to her list

the heavy rain continued

a flash flood alert on my phone

the heavy rain continued

never-ending honeydo alert in my mind

suddenly the rain stopped

the back yard was flooded

the flash flood alert was extended

too risky to take a drive into town

the rain started again

I went into the garage for some tools

It was real stay in your man-cave weather

I turned on the TV in the garage

70’s rock videos drowned out the sound of the rain

I decided to sit in her Mini Cooper S

the yard flooded more

My first car was a Mini back in 1972

I turned up the TV volume

Led Zeppelin took me back to my youth

I don’t remember it raining so much back in those days

the sun shone all summer long

I drove my Mini everywhere back then

it was my little 70’s chick magnet

finally the rain stopped

steam started rising from the roadway

the flooding out back started to subside

memories flooded my mind

Deep purple sang “Smoke On The Water”

I was eighteen when that song came out

the garage door opened and she stood in the doorway smiling

how long have you been hiding in here? she asked

Since 1972 I replied

it must have been raining for 53 years

Don’t throw away all the memories*

Ian Hunter1 Comment

his wife was complaining about all his stuff in the attic

he reluctantly decided to go through all the old boxes

stuff that had been put away for years

obviously not needed but for some reason never been discarded 

he sifted through the contents of the first small box

a tin box full of foreign coins

memories of his traveling days flooded back

places he had visited on business trips and vacations

images flashed through his mind for each coin he touched

an old watch that no longer worked

it was of no value except it belonged to his father

he wound it up and it started to tick

he could hear his father’s voice again

he missed him so much

a notebook from many years ago

containing wish lists of things to do and places to see

they had written it when first married

he read off each item slowly

pausing to recall the joys of each achieved wish

trying to remember why some never happened

bunches of keys from previous dwellings

he held a front door key tightly

remembering opening that door many years ago

seeing his young children run to greet him

they are grown now with kids of their own

a big old bulky calculator he used in college

reliving the hours he spent solving problems with that

the stressful times of exams

he could remember all those long hours of study

he did find some bits and broken pieces

and a collection of old pens and pencils

he carefully put them in a paper bag

before closing the box

he had removed less than ten percent of the contents

over dinner that night his wife cornered him asking if he had cleaned out everything in the attic as promised

he hesitated before saying he had cleared some of it from one small box

she pushed him harder wanting to know why he was keeping all that junk

he insisted that it might be a small box of stuff but it contained a lifetime of great memories

she could see he was getting upset and gave him a big hug

whispering to him softly “I am so sorry, please keep your boxes full of memories”

he replied “thanks, I did clear some space for us to make a few more memories”

Rock on

Ian Hunter2 Comments

I like rocks

they are good to hold

rough ones are originals

bits of broken mountain

carried around by ice age glaciers

abandoned when the glaciers melted

buried in soil for thousands of years

a time capsule waiting for you

collect enough and you could 

rebuild that old mountain

smooth ones have been shaped

by centuries of tumbling in rivers

pick one up and examine it

feel the history in your hands

telling stories to your fingers

put it to your ear

listen to that ancient music

of roaring rivers and babbling brooks

collect a bunch of them

listen to them all together

have a rock concert

Forest whispers

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I walked through a forest

Carpeted with leaves

Shimmering in the soft sunlight

Glowing faintly like fireflies

I paused beside a tree

Images flooded my mind

My mother stood beside the tree

My grandmother was beside her

I saw myself as a young boy playing nearby

These were not my memories

They were the tree’s memories

As we had all passed by there many years before

I picked up a handful of the golden leaves

Carried them home

Put them in a basket

They whispered to me daily

Stories from my grandmother

Sage advice from my mother

Silly murmurings from my young self

It was haunting so eventually I had to do something

I took the leaves back into the forest

Paused in front of the same tree

The tree said its time for you to move on

I nodded and dropped the leaves

Covering my ears as I ran away

I reached the edge of the forest

Looking back at the carpet of leaves

I called out to them

But I could only hear a whisper in reply

I was very tempting to go back

But I never did

My torque wrench talks

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yesterday I need to fix something around the house

I reached into my toolbox

my trusty old torque wrench caught my eye

for those of you who are not gear heads like me

let me explain what a torque wrench does

it controls precisely how much you tighten a bolt

to get the designed compression in the joint

I bought my torque wrench over fifty years ago

its initial use was rebuilding the engine of my first car

there is a sequence in tightening the cylinder head bolts

the wrench goes click when you apply the right torque

I learned a lot about cars back then

I spent more time tinkering than driving

I took classes in car mechanics and studied hard

determined to learn how everything worked on that car

I just had to dismantle every part and reassemble it

friends and family brought their cars to me

to service and repair

I learned how to fix bodywork and spray paint 

it became a part time business when I was seventeen

I figured out how to rebuild engines and tune them for extra power

a few years later I joined a local car racing club

I met a very enthusiastic race car owner

who loved to drive his racing Mini Cooper very fast

he knew absolutely nothing about the mechanics

an instant partnership was formed

I taught him how to tune his Mini Cooper

we travelled all over the UK to race meetings

he let me drive the car during practice sessions

eventually he moved on to open wheel race cars

he sold me his racing Mini Cooper and trailer

I became a one man race team owner driver and mechanic

my trusty torque wrench often went click late into the night

I spent two seasons racing that mini at race circuits all over England

it was hard work but so rewarding to race a car that I maintained myself

I retired from race car driving to focus on my career

that torque wrench remained in my toolbox for decades

just holding it brings back memories

click click

The plough

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Jimmy walked the same trail every day

a short loop through the woods next to his house

it was wide and well maintained

today was cool and showery

something caught his eye behind a tree

he went over to investigate

an old rusty metal plough half buried in the ground

he wondered how it came to be there

and why he had never noticed it before now

miles from any open fields in a mature wooded area

he came back the next day to dig it out

with a couple of makeshift skids

he towed the old plough home with his 4×4

it was badly rusted but cleaned up well

a nameplate read property of Kelsall Farm 1957

there was a family with that name not far away

he took some photographs of the plough and went to see them

old man Kellsall lived there with his wife

he recognized the old plough from his fathers farm

it brought a tear to his eye

recalling how he used to ride the tractor as a boy

the farmhouse was destroyed in a fire in 1965

his father passed away soon after

the plough was the only remaining evidence of the farm

Jimmy towed the plough to the Kelsall home

he set it on a platform in their front yard

old man Kelsall smiled from the window

as he ploughed through all his childhood memories

Remember remember the 5th of November

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Bonfire night

There were two special days in my childhood

Christmas day because of all the presents

Bonfire night on November 5th with fireworks

There was much anticipation for both days

But much more action leading up to bonfire night

First a bit of history for those of you who were not born in the UK

In 1605 England was ruled by the Protestant King James VI

Catholics were oppressed and a small group decided to overthrow the monarchy

Their plan was to blow up Parliament and kill the King

Gunpowder barrels were smuggled into vaults beneath the houses of parliament

Their plot was leaked to the authorities who searched the building

Guy Fawkes was guarding the gunpowder barrels and was arrested on November 5th

He was tortured to reveal the names of his conspirators

They were rounded up and executed for high treason

The King pronounced that bonfires be lit all over the land to remember that Guy Fawkes had failed to blow up parliament

So fast forward about 360 years later

The tradition of lighting bonfires on November 5th lived on

My gang of kids spent weeks collecting wood and anything else combustable

It was hidden to stop rival gangs stealing it

We stuffed old clothes with straw to make an effigy of Guy Fawkes

We wheeled him around town shouting “penny for the guy”

The cash was spent on fireworks

A few days before November 5th we would start to build our bonfire on waste ground in our ‘hood’

Somebody had to stand guard to prevent rival gangs from stealing our bonfire material

If left unattended it would disappear in an instant

The bonfire pile would grow bigger on the day by donations from families in our street

The final thing put on the bonfire pile was our Guy Fawkes

To be burned ceremonially on the evening of November 5th

Fireworks were lit to fill the sky with sparks

Not an organized firework display

Just a bunch of kids setting them off randomly

Its a miracle we did not blow each other up

We would all sing around the bonfire

Remember remember the 5th of November

Time was going fast then it slowed down

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Moving home is always stressful

So many things to do and the list keeps growing

Time seems to go faster as the moving date approaches

Its hard to look forward to packing all those boxes 

Just the thought of it fills me with dread

I imagine a condemned man feels the same way about his approaching last meal

There is however some comfort in the inevitability of moving

The boxes will all get filled even if it takes all night

Stuff will somehow get moved on the day

Friends will show up unannounced to help

New neighbors will greet you with gifts of food

You will wake up the day after moving behind a wall of boxes

You will feel overwhelmed at the amount of stuff you have collected

You will vow to declutter and get rid of all your surplus things

Then you will stuff them all in drawers and closets to be hidden until your next move

Moving can also involve unplanned moments of pure joy

While tediously sifting through the contents of a drawer to be packed

I stumbled upon the watch that my mother bought for me many years ago

As I held the watch I could hear her soothing voice

I saw that beautiful loving smile on her face when she gifted it to me

The watch started ticking in the palm of my hand

Reminding me that her love is still alive and ticking inside my heart

Time slowed down when I held that watch

Movie memories

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I just watched the latest Avatar movie

The theatre had reclining seats and a button to order food and drinks

A wide selection of hot and cold food, cocktails and wine

Special effects and 3D make the movie stand out as ultra modern

But the story line was not new

Bad guys chasing good guys

The Avator forest people rode flying dragons

Families under threat

Kids disobeying parents to join the fight

Plenty of modern weapons in the fight scenes

Interestingly the animated forest people also used bows and arrows

When the main characters ran out of machine gun ammunition

They resorted to an old fashioned fist fight

It reminded me of the first movies I went to see as a child

Saturday morning matinees in the local cinema

We called it the flea pit

Crackly projection movies

With Indians chasing cowboys

There was no 3D back then

Nor could you order food and drink from your seat

You had to buy snacks from a lady holding a big tray near the front

You could buy either chocolates or orange juice

But the story line was the same

The Indians rode horses back then

Arrows flew into bad guys

The heroes had a good fist fight to win

The story lines have never changed much over time

The movie theatre menus have evolved though