Monday 15 April 2013

Those Were The Days



Spring, 1935 by Kuzma Petrov-Vodin 
The MAG 164 provided by Tess Kincaid

when boys and girls 'walking out'  really did go for walks together.  Do you remember summer days when your heart beat faster because the two of you had escaped from parents and friends and he led you to the quieter parts of the local park? Did you have a favourite park bench for those daring bits of dialogue so embarrassing in retrospect?

It was a long walk to the town woods but getting there was definitely worth the effort. My boy and I thought ourselves fortunate if we found the little pavilion overlooking the lake empty. Open on three sides, roofed and with a stone bench running along the rounded back wall, the little ‘temple’ was the perfect place for assignations. Once a pair of lovers was installed inside, nobody else entered while they were there. Sometimes families occupied the space and teenage couples slunk away into the woods, waiting their turn. It was the town’s hardier teenagers' favourite place for a rendezvous. Because of the long walk there, the cold stone bench to sit on and the draughty sides, nobody lingered for very long. The boy, being a gentleman, stretched his arm out behind the girl, so that she  could rest her back on it rather than the unyielding stone wall and if his hand should stray and squeeze her shoulder, well, she was ready for that. Cool lips met in chaste kisses and by and by both his arms encircled her and she lent into him for comfort, heart beating wildly.

How sweetly innocent it was.

'The Deuss Temple'

Would today’s young couples ‘walk’ out together? Could they walk?  There they are, she poured into her skin-tight trousers, tottering on 4” stilettos, holding his hand for safety rather than romance, while he has a job keeping his jeans decent and is barely able to lift his feet in boat-sized, dangly-laced trainers. I always feel I should post a letter in that strip of bumcrack or perhaps stick one of those little plastic flags in it, suitably at half-mast. And I admire her bravery: sitting down in those trousers for more than a few minutes must be hell, not to mention the danger of splitting the seams.


image: block couponsherpa

Yes, I know, I am showing my age. Perhaps these kids are just as tenderly in love as we were all those years ago. Perhaps it’s only ever the fashions which change, not the feelings.  But do pull your jeans up, young man, before I forget myself and do something we might both regret.


50 comments:

  1. The flag at half mast sounds like the perfect solution, Friko. And possibly younger youngsters still have those tender feelings we remember, but by the time they're this age, it's all old hat (like the one on his head).
    K

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  2. All is not lost. My granddaughter and her boyfriend came to stay with us just after Easter. They were an absolute delight to have, Trainers and hoodies on young man but no bum cleavage showing and grand daughter looked lovely in her outfits too.

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  3. This is priceless, Friko! I'm hoping feelings are still the same, in spite of the 'new look.' For us, it was an abandoned barn ~~ where we lingered a bit longer than we should have.

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  4. Not sure the yellow vest would have me racing my man to meet the parents either!

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  5. Our grandchildren are still so innocent - not yet in their teen years. Surely, not all young people must be sexually explicit /active in modern times. I'm hoping mine will be old-fashioned in both dress and manners. I've always been naive! In my college days - ancient times - if we had a male caller, we sat with them in the parlor under the watchful eye of the Dean of Women. One of the "rules" was that there had to be a foot of space between us.

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  6. Fashion goes through many faux paux and we endure. Young and new love does not seem to change much.

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  7. A guffaw of laughter escaped as I read your line about posting a letter in the young man's bum crack. What an image!

    Not all of today's young people go about in such a way. These are the more obvious youth that make us older folks shake our heads and wonder where society is headed. But then there are those who dress modestly, do volunteer work, care about others, and are polite - but they rarely make headlines.

    Young love is sweet throughout the generations.

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  8. Hahaha, I can't look at one of those circular pavilions without a Sound of Music flashback ... but I wonder how many teenage couples of yesteryear, upon finding a family installed in 'their' pavilion, were more than happy to slink away to the woods?!?!?!

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  9. Those bumcrack jeans reek always to me of unhygenia, you know?

    I don't want to see it or feel it or, yeah, hear it.

    Fuddy duddy. Proudly.

    XO
    WWW

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  10. Danke für diesen wunderbaren Ausflug in die Erinnerung.

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  11. I cannot imagine what you are talking about because my father, being from the middle-east really and with the attitude, I was not allowed to meet any boy until I was past a teenager – not allowed alone out of the house much, even though we were in France. But then I had to laugh at your but crack jokes – it is true – how can they find that style attractive?

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  12. Park bench for me and my boyfriends. It was indeed a more innocent time. And somehow, I think that made it all the more enjoyable...

    =)

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  13. I like the gradual change of young love over time. I think it's the same thing but perhaps not as innocent today. I love the young gentleman you portray in your first short story. So sweet!

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  14. Beauty being in the eye of the beholder? The Scout's Disco was a big event in our village and the beach was the romantic destination of choice. I still hate sand!

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  15. Friko, I dearly love your appreciation of cultural history and your sense of humor.

    What do you think your young couple's glad rags tell us about evolution? Or putting it another way, what's next?

    xo

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  16. Go for it with your half mast flag! I'll stand your bail.
    The only place I could meet anyone of the opposite sex pre university was in the library.....so at least they were literate!

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  17. Even though the fashions have changed, I don't think "young love" has changed much. Innocence, though has gone and more is expected than a few kisses.

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  18. I've never understood those drooping drawers. I remember being told the style emulated prison wear, though I may remember that totally incorrectly. Not appealing, but then, it's not meant to appeal to the likes of me, is it? Of course, one might take issue with the attractiveness of paisley bell bottoms, too . . .

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  19. if his hand should stray and squeeze her shoulder so sweet ... and then bumcrack. Ha ha. I have never heard that expression before. Your first two paragraphs I really felt transported... and I agree with everything you say in the third (half mast!!) You are very funny.

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  20. Well done, Friko! You made me laugh, and at the end of a long day, that is a treat!
    I think there may be some of that sweet innocence left, but I am highly doubtful. Clothing aside, there is an awful lot of physicality with very little sentimentality.

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  22. Sentimental & Sassy to wonderful effect; that's our Friko!



    ALOHA from Honolulu
    Comfort Spiral
    ~ > < } } ( ° > <3

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  23. Oh Friko, I'm with you - my sentiments exactly.

    PS: The photos in your previous post were just beautiful.

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  24. It is said that a woman's heart is an ocean of secrets and I will let you know about one of mine that I have never told anyone.

    I remember as if it happened 5 minutes ago. I was out walking with the first boy I ever had true feelings for. I was 16 and he was 17. It was a really warm day and we went to the back of a school yard and sat in the shade together. The grass was cool. We held hands and kissed. It is a wonderful memory that I hold close.

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  25. The pavilion sounds rather chilling, but still a very romantic setting! One wonders whether the architect had young (and less young) couples in mind when it was designed and built. He must have been young and in love himself at some stage.

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  26. It's said we all experience "second childhood" Can I have a "second teenage" instead, please? Lovely writing, Friko.

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  27. ja maar als je nu jong was ,wat zou je dan doen.?

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  28. That is a lovely pavilion.

    I think fashion changes, but teenage love is the same.


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  29. You'll not catch my jeans at half mast...

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  30. I'm with you on the bum crack horror...

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  31. You're right, Frico, we are getting older.. but the young people are not as we were, they have other desires, musings, values, views on their lives.
    'everything flows, everything changes'

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  32. I think you might be right about fashion changing more than feelings. But boy -- it's not looking good, is it? I know not all show such a lack of taste and style, in fact, most I see here don't look like that! Which is a good thing. But yes, the whole idea of slipping off to a Pavilion -- one with rules and rules that were respected. I love it!

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  33. What a laugh I had over this one, Friko! That picture tells the tale of... fashion that I will never understand. I'm showing my age, too. :-)

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  34. Hi Friko - I do love your idea of "minding the gap" - in your unique style ... and yes I'd be there goading you on ... trouble is we probably couldn't get away any faster than they would totter round to see 'what-a-hey waz goin' on' ....

    Loved it ... and yes there were a few walks to the woods ... those were the days - cheers Hilary

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  35. I used to take long walks in the city at night with my now husband when were teenagers, it was so peaceful, we talked about everything, held hands, danced around in the deserted streets it was really special =) I am not sure about modern romance or fashion either lol

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  36. It is only fashion, after all...the feelings are just the same...

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  37. Mind you , I seem to remember shocked reactions to mini dresses , too .
    And a real trawl through my fading memory drags up coffee bar assignations or sitting in the back row in the cinema . It all seems so innocent now !

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  38. I think the feelings are probably very much the same, even if the world teenagers now live in has changed almost beyond recognition from that of our youth. But why must he wear his jeans at half-mast? Sigh....

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  39. I've always wanted to slyly sneak a chocolate button or two into those cracks.........

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  40. I don't see many of those half mast pants, thank goodness. I would always have the tendency to pull them all the way down. It must be very difficult walking in them and having to worry about them falling off. I do wonder how they keep them up at all?

    As for the girl, I wear tight skinny jeans myself, but they are the stretchy kind and I move very comfortably in them. If you are the right size, they make you feel quite good, but you should definitely not be overweight, which is something you also see.

    Teenagers nowadays are sexually much more advanced than we were, but I don't know if they are any wiser. It's the romance that makes it exciting after all, isn't it?

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  41. What a lovely telling of a sweet memory Friko!
    And those cracks - ha, I love the idea with the chocolate button...

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  42. Hallo Friko,
    so etwas erleben wir momentan Live bei unserem großen Mädchen (21). Alles streng geheim. Die Eltern dürfen nichts mitbekommen. Wir wissen nur, dass er Thomas heißt und als Pfleger im Krankenhaus arbeitet. Laut seinem Autokennzeichen kommt er aus dem Oder-Spree-Kreis bei Berlin. Bis das Sommersemester in Freiburg begonnen hat, hat unsere Tochter riesige Zeitanteile mit ihrem Thomas verbracht.

    Grüße Dieter

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  43. This was very funny, Friko, and I laughed out loud. On the other hand, there's a poignant note as well, and the painting at the top of your post expresses that so beautifully. Thank you.

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  44. Someone over here has written a book, The End of Sex. Apparently, kids are growing weary of current practices. Dianne

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  45. Haaaaaa on that last part. I've had the walks & hikiing in the hills too. But often when I hear about good old days they seem unimaginably luxuriate, & do not stand the accuracy test. Like we must be inside a dream to access that feeling, with the dull & unexceptional parts filtered out. What you have represented though, it does have the real of it down. ~Mary

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  46. My son, who is 19, wears his pants the right way. He and his girlfriend are a sweet couple, although they may be more intimate than teens were many years ago.

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  47. You are more kind to those kids than I. They are ridiculous, and I absolutely think their externals indicate something about their internals--perhaps an inability to find and commit to a viable, wondrous relationship.

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  48. Your story took me back to a time when heart raced just at the thought of the walk!

    Fashion changes - pulse rates don't!

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  49. I so agree with you about those dangling jeans that guys wear these days! And those skinnier than skinny pants - well, methinks they are stitched on the sides after the person gets into them! LOL!! :-D

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