May Day

I think May Day means a disaster now but earlier it was when you made pretty paper baskets and put in flowers and sometimes a piece of candy and hung the baskets on neighbor's doors and hid. The spirea is in bloom and it was perfect for May baskets. I know when our daughter Susan was ill we had a group of Girl Scouts who brought her a May basket and I have had grandchildren bring me May baskets. Sometimes the tulips were still available and you could add that but I think they have already bloomed this year so it is back to spirea.

Other cities in Johnson County

I forgot some of the cities in Johnson County so want to add them. Two have Mission in them--Mission Hills and Mission Woods. The other is Westwood. How can you forget Mission Hills when it is where all the rich people in Kansas City live? It has a lovely city hall and everything. Now Mission Woods does not have a city hall. If it does I don't know where it is. Westwood has a nice city hall and is the area three of my grandchildren attended grade school. A wonderful school called Westwood View. All three areas have beautiful homes and are close to the state line between Kansas and Missouri. I thought of these in the middle of the night and if I remember any others I will let you know.

Names of cities

I grew up in Topeka and we early learned that Topeka was an Indian name meaning "a good place to dig potatoes." They grew lots of potatoes on the banks of the Kaw river than Topeka was on. Now I live in Shawnee and know it is named after the Shawnee Indians. My daughter lives in Fairway and I think that got it's name from all the golf courses that are in that city. Mission is from the Indian Missions, Overland Park for all the wagon trains that went through there. Olathe is an Indian name meaning Beautiful. I'm not sure about Merriam so expect it was named after an early settler who lived there. I know Merriam had a lot of history as they even had an amusement park there that President Teddy Roosevelt visited so it had an early train that use to go to the park to visit the Bear Pits with real bears. My father's parents lived in Scranton, Kansas which had a lot of soft coal and was names after Scranton, Pennsylvania. Now if you go south to Wichita it was an Indian name. We have a busy street named Quivera Road which was named after the exployer who never got furthur north than Wichita. I think Prairie Village was because there were very few trees and lots of open country.

Hopscotch a game

When I was growing up we loved to play hopscotch. In my present neighborhood they do not have sidewalks but do have driveways. As I remember the rhyme that went with it after you drew the game frame was 1,2 button your shoe, 3,4 close the door, 5,6 pick up sticks, 7,8 lay them straight. 9.10 the big fat hen. Then we turned around and went back to the first. Do kids still play hopscotch or has it gone the way of the past? I use to get pretty good at it. Much better than I did at tag where I was generally the first one caught.

TV audiences on Game shows

One of the many activies Ray was involved in was the Kansas Lottery commission.
One thing they had was a show where they gave prizes and Ray being the local commissioner where the show was held gave out the prizes. His mother and I any grandchild who was available attended. It was held on Channel five in Fairway and was fun. We sat as a group and a man stood in front of us and told us when to applaud and when to shout and when to be quiet. We always minded and yelled when he told ua. The show was okay but nothing too exciting but we yelled and clapped anyway. I think most game shows do that.

Easter egg hunts

When our children were growing up until they got too old for such thing on Easter morning they ran around the house with baskets looking for nests with eggs in them. Since there was a difference in ages after they were thru we put everyone's together and balanced them, Steve always wanted the Jelly beans so when it came to picking he always got a lot. Then they were put up and doled out for a week after meals. Now they go in for plastic eggs and have the hunts outdoors but we never quite reached that as the outdoors is not recommened if you have a dog or a yard that has lots of squirrels and rabbits. They do not like plastic eggs so you are safe there. Now I decorate sacks with my grandchildren's names and fill with eggs. I sample a few on the way to be sure they are good. Eggs have improved over the years and think Cadabury eggs win the prize for the best. I was glad Hershey bought the company after they went bankrupt because they had a good recipe and it would be a shame if it was lost. However Russell Stover has some good flavored eggs.

Hot Cross Buns

It is Good Friday and one thing I use to love was the Buns we got to eat that day. "Hot Cross Buns" I tried to make them without success and found that bakerys did a much better job. It was one thing my mother could make but mine came out bad. I think my daughter Susan probably could make them as she is good with that sort of thing. I hope I get one someday.