Don't Take Any Wooden Nickels

So here it is, the first blog for Wooden Nickel - which just so happens to also be Memorial Day. Kind of a little ironic with the blog title, but it truly is just a little coincidence as wooden nickels were so prevalent in the Depression era just before wartime. By the way, I got the idea for the title from the many conversations with my dad, who at the end of every phone call, email or live conversation says "Don't take any wooden nickels." He grew up in the era of The Great Depression which again is similarly another irony at the timing of the beginning of this blog - as our our nations current recession is in full bloom. Anyways, if you are not familiar with the term Wooden Nickel - it was an actual wood coin token issued after the Great Depression from banks or merchants that were redeemable for various items. The actual saying "Don't take any wooden nickels" is more of a jocular reminder to be cautious in one's dealings.

I hear in the news about how Americans are trying to budget and save money, for instance like staying home over Memorial Day weekend. I must admit that my memories of my own Memorial Day experiences cause me to chuckle a bit, only because those memories are of the family packed in the car with several dozen flowers in the trunk and placing them on the gravestones of relatives and friends of the family that passed away. Both my sister and I hated it, we fought as all young siblings do in the backseat of the car, as we begrudgingly went along just waiting for the afternoon to end so we could get home and play outside in the sunshine. In hindsight I must acknowledge that I do in fact have some admiration around the respect and tradition that my parents had for the meaning behind this holiday. They were paying tribute to those closest to them that had passed away through both war and other tragedies. The understanding of this stems through knowing that my parents grew up in a different era, through tougher times (the Great Depression) and living past it to the other side witnessing our very modern and different time in this nation. I guess driving around and putting flowers on the graves for those who experienced such pain and tragedy is a small price to pay on my part. It makes me realize how fortunate I really am - hence the symbolism of the posted picture of the kittens playing - that we are free to run, play and express ourselves ...freely. So on that note, enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend, remember how fortunate we are ...and "Don't take any wooden nickels!"