Just rewatched The Sound of Music 50th Anniversary edition and I’m an absolute mess.😭
That “Do-Re-Me” sequence with Julie Andrews spinning through Salzburg with those seven kids is pure sunshine bottled on film. The way she turns scales into pure joy… no one else could have done it.
And then the ending—watching the von Trapp family sing their hearts out at the festival, knowing they’re literally minutes away from hiking over the mountains to escape the Nazis—hits so much harder as an adult. The real-life Captain von Trapp, Maria, and the children, actually did have to flee Austria, after the Anschluss in 1938. The movie takes some liberties (they actually left by train, not over the Alps on foot 😂), but the courage it took is 100% real.
Julie Andrews + those kids + “Edelweiss” + climbing every mountain = one of the most perfect films ever made.Who else is sobbing over here? 🏔️🎶❤️
#TheSoundOfMusic #JulieAndrews #DoReMi”
“The Float that Floated Away”
“The Float That Floated Away”.
It was December 1988 in a snowy little Oakville, in Ontario, Canada. The annual Christmas parade was in full swing: marching bands blaring “Jingle Bells,” elves tossing candy canes, and the Boy Scouts’ float—a massive plywood sleigh pulled by a pickup truck disguised as reindeer—gliding down Lakeshore like Santa’s own ride.
Little Jonathan Siemko, age 7, was one of the Scouts perched proudly on the float, dressed as a pint-sized elf with a pointy hat that kept slipping over his eyes. His dad, Bob, had promised to scoop him up right after the parade ended at the town hall. “I’ll be there with hot cocoa, buddy—no sweat!” Dennis had said, waving from the curb.
But as the float chugged along, disaster struck most innocently. Jonathan, distracted by a flock of kids waving from the sidewalk, leaned over to toss a handful of fake snow (aka shredded paper). Whoops—his elf boot caught on a loose rope, and in a puff of glitter, he tumbled right off the back of the float… straight into a snowbank!
The parade didn’t stop. The Scouts didn’t notice (they were too busy singing off-key). The float kept rolling, leaving Jonathan who was buried up to his neck in fluffy white stuff, blinking in confusion. “Uh… Dad?”
Meanwhile, Dennis was circling the town hall parking lot in his red Honda, muttering under his breath. “Where the heck is that float? Traffic’s a nightmare!” He honked at a guy in a Santa suit blocking the road, circled again, and finally gave up. “Kid’s probably already home with his mom. I’ll swing by later.”
Back at the Siemko house, Gail (Jonathan’s mom) was elbow-deep in cookie dough, humming along to Whitney Houston on the radio. The phone rang. She wiped her hands on her apron and picked up.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Mrs. Siemko? This is Troop Leader Dave from the Boy Scouts. Quick question—has Jonathan made it home yet?”
Gail froze, dough dripping from her fingers. “Home? He should be with the parade! Dennis was picking him up!”
A long pause. “Uh… ma’am, the float just pulled in. All the kids are here… except Jonathan. We thought maybe he hopped off early with his dad?”
Gail’s eyes widened like saucers. “HE’S MISSING? FROM A FLOAT? IN THE PARADE?” Gail’s voice hit Mariah Carey’s high notes. She dropped the phone (literally—it clattered to the floor) and started hyperventilating. Visions of Jonathan lost in the snowy wilderness, befriending reindeer, or worse—hitchhiking with carolers—flooded her mind.
Dave on the other end: “Ma’am? Ma’am! Stay calm! We’ll send a search party!”
Cut to hilarity ensuing: Gail bolts out the door in her flour-dusted apron, yelling for neighbours. “MY BABY’S LOST ON A CHRISTMAS FLOAT!” The whole block mobilizes—Katie Kenzel from next door grabs her binoculars, and Mr. Patel revs his snowblower like a tank. Dennis finally shows up, clueless: “What’s all the commotion? Timmy’s probably—”
“PROBABLY WHAT, BOB? ABDUCTED BY ELVES?”
Meanwhile, back at the snowbank… Dennis had dusted himself off, giggling at his own clumsiness. He trudged the two blocks home, boots crunching, arriving just as the search posse assembled on the lawn.
“Mom? Dad? Why’s everyone yelling? I fell off the float, but I walked home. It was fun—like an adventure!”
Gail scoops him up in a bear hug, tears mixing with laughter. “You… you little elf! I thought you were parade roadkill!”
Dennis scratches his head: “I drove around for 20 minutes looking for a float that was already done.”
The Scouts call back: “False alarm, folks! Kid’s a trooper.”
That night, over hot cocoa (extra marshmallows for the survivor), the family, including the baby brother, Addison, retells the story with belly laughs. Jonathan gets a badge for “Independent Navigation.” And from then on, every Christmas, they reenact the “Float Fiasco”—complete with Gail’s dramatic phone-drop impression.
Mixed emotions? Unbelief that a simple pickup turned into a town-wide panic. Hilarity? The image of a tiny elf self-rescuing while adults lose their minds. Classic 1989. This is a true story that wasn’t funny at the time, however; all these years have passed and now I can comfortably chuckle.🎄😂
Merry Christmas to everyone of my friends and family.
It’s a Snow Day Memory
It’s been a while since I last wrote, and one new thing is that Winter has started early in full force, with over seven inches of snow and gale winds. I am looking out my back window seeing a blanket of snow with no more disconcerting leaves strewn across the lawn, and darn I was going to get out there too. Not enough snow to make snow angels but enough to make snowmen with the neighbourhood youngsters. My children are too old now to do so, but the memories I have of them are very long and happy ones. We would bundle them both up, with long johns, then their bulky snow suits, boots, mittens attached with strings and hats under the snowsuit hood. It took a lot of hard work bundling them up, first Jonathan with his leg brace, which took the longest. Addison was last and didn’t take so long as he didn’t squirm and followed orders quite well. As soon as this was all accomplished, the proverbial words came out of Jonathan’s mouth, “Mommy, I have to go to the bathroom”, and then before we even got one step outside, I was undressing them both to use the lavatory or bathroom to go pee. These little memories happened more than once, it seemed to be a ritual with these little guys, and every time we started to get our snow gear on this would happen. You would think I would learn my lesson after all these years, however, I would go through the same process every snowfall, with two eager boys ready to make a snowball and begin the annual trek into the beautiful white background. After two failed attempts, you would think I would learn my valuable lesson, but no it was not to be. It was something in their cherubic faces that always kept us going, and despite the cold, we enjoyed the weather making snow angels, snowmen and snowballs galore.
After an hour of cold and icicles hanging from their gloves, it was time to come inside to warm up and drink hot Ovaltine with marshmallows, sitting by the fireplace. A hot bath was always in order then warmed up clean clothes afterwards, with a few favourite videos for easy viewing by the fire. After an early lunch, they would all be so darn tired that a nap was needed for all three of us. As per usual, the boys would nap for a minimum of an hour, then scoot downstairs with each other in tow. Always trying to escape the watchful eye of their Mother. At this time, my rest time was over and it was time for their favourite television shows after playing in the kitchen with all of the different toys and games we had available. Some of them were imaginary games which we made up, such as The Wizard of Oz, and both Jonathan and Addison took turns being their beloved characters. Jonathan was the Tin Man, and Addison was the Scarecrow. I was Glinda, the Good Witch and played the music from The Wizard of Oz by FRANK l. BAUM. This imaginary game took over an hour with many different characters coming into play. The boys would both take much glee in being The Cowardly Lion, The Little People, “Lions, Tigers, and Bears, Oh, My”. They each would delight when I was the Wicked Witch and a stuffed animal playing Toto. We all walked around the house and adjoining rooms to “Follow The Yellow Brick Road”. This is when the winged monkeys would approach and we would all fight them off. Then we pretended to fall asleep when approaching the poppy-filled field on the way to the Wizard of Oz’s castle. That’s when the Wicked Witch flew over and wrote in the sky “surrender Dorothy”. We all walked around and marched in unison to the castle, where Dorothy proceeded to knock on the door, along with the rest of us and let us in to see the Wizard of Oz. After much bravado and two hours of singing, it was time for dinner, so The Wizard of Oz was coming to a close. We sped it up a bit and Dorothy, along with all of her new friends, could attend the meeting of the Great and powerful Oz. This is where certificates were issued to every member of the crew, after finding out that The Wizard wasn’t really the powerful and great individual he professed to be. Toto had pulled the curtain back and Dorothy saw him for what he really was. After an emotional and exciting day of play, my two boys were finally tired and it was time for cleanup. I scooted them up to the bathroom and gave them a fun time in the bath with their toys, then nightclothes, brushed their teeth, and read four library books. Jonathan and Addison call this the 4B’s, and to this day they both still remember this. I hope they will always remember the days we played long and hard, outside and inside. Imagination is a valuable tool.
Blue Jays Memories
It’s been a month since I last wrote, but some exciting things have been happening and I wanted to share in my excitement and gratitude. I have been a Blue Jays fan for over forty years and have always followed their meteoric rise in their standings. They have been up and down like a toilet seat for many of their decades, yet my love of the game has never wavered, I have always followed their passion for the game and enjoyed it immensely. I attended many home games with my hubby and family. We have been staunch supporters, wearing all of the gear, waving individual flags and paraphernalia. We would fill up the car and take off for Toronto with as many happy individuals packed in as possible. On game day, each one of us had our royal blue caps on, with the beak properly tweaked at the front to keep out the bright sunshine. Inspired by all of the hype of our favourite players in the lineup for the day, brought out much more adrenaline that I could contain in one vehicle, so the songs we chanted were loud and strong “Let’s Play Ball”. On more than one occasion, we had difficulty in finding a parking spot, so it was my job to scout for our rows and locate all of the appropriate washrooms, along with delicious foot-longs for two hungry boys. After being seated, the boys were munching on their snacks, the Rogers Centre became alive with unbelievable enthusiasm, and the noise levels were astronomical. That’s when the players were entering and being introduced to all of the home teams then it was time for the challenging team to come on. After a brief first pitch, it was first inning per usual, and the chanting started with much embellishment on behalf of our four family members. What a day we all had. It was only for a few hours but those memories last a lifetime. To this day I can still remember and recall, what each one of us wore. Where we sat, and how ecstatic my sons were at being present. The year was 1992, and the Bluejays were playing at their finest, much like ten years ago and again this year, 2025.
We are a true baseball family and no matter what else is going on, we take the time to gather together for our beloved games. Even though my sons are not always physically together, they share the love of the game and communicate that regularly.
Recently, we were watching, animatedly at our beloved getaway home in Thornbury. Enjoyed watching all of the ALCS series with the Mariners, both in Toronto and Seattle. It had us on our proverbial seats. Watching how our Bluejays lost a game, then won then lost, our hearts were in our throats. Then it was time for the Mariners to lose two in a row and we jumped off the sofa into the air each time one of their excellent hitters missed a pitch, we couldn’t believe it. So many nights this performance happened in a row. We were all yelling, vocalizing our beliefs about how well our team was killing it. Some of the Blue Jays players were running so much faster than they had ever run before, manufacturing runs and home runs right before our very eyes. It was so amazing, you could see their legs move so fast and speed along. It looked like they had wheels. After the last night when we finally won, I think we all screamed so loud that we woke up the neighbours. It didn’t matter, as our beloved team had clutched the playoff to the World Series and that’s all that mattered. We were still up, yet exhausted from all of the ALCS series, but looking forward to tomorrow night, when we start playing the Dodgers at our home plate advantage.
Baseball has played a huge part in our collective lives. I am overjoyed to say that it brings much joy.
Here’s to the World Series and much more appreciative activity in the Siemko household while being entertained by the finest. We have our caps and memorabilia ready for tomorrow’s game, and all of the Bluejays will be rested and in their finest form to take on their opponents.
#bluejays #memories #ALCS #WORLDSERIES
#ADayInTheLifeOfGail
I remember learning how to dance on my Daddy’s feet, to the tune “Shall We Dance?…..from Anna and the King”.
I was Deborah Kerr and Daddy was Yule Brenner. This was a glorious time for me as every Sunday we would play the old show tunes and I got to sing along and dance with my father.  My father and I always danced on Sunday morning before breakfast and before he went outside to perform his weekly chores it was a time that I look back on as being very special and hold dear to my heart. To this day I still dance with both of them but I don’t have poker parties where they can get money off the floor, no they have their own jobs, however while young, when they performed duties and received allowances.
It is something that I have done with my sons too to this day. I still dance with both of them but I don’t have poker parties where they can scrape money off the floor. No they have their own jobs; however, while young men they did perform duties and receive allowances.  Getting back to my childhood, my job on Sunday mornings was to clean up all the coins that were left on the kitchen floor from the evening’s numerous card games. Saturdays were always a card event in my parents’ home. All of their friends would take their excess coins and throw them on the floor, it was up to the individual or a person designated at the beginning of the morning, which was me, to clean up all of the coins and the area. On some occasions, it was quite a lot of money especially for a five-year-old. I made enough money to purchase an extra milk carton for school and a freezie (triangular shape) and always with enough money to take to church on Sunday. This was something I did every Sunday, going to church with my good friend #ElaineJacob. Put on our Sunday best, then I’d meet her across the street from the church, go for about an hour and when that was over we would scoot either to her backyard or head back to my place and bring out all of the equipment to play with. Some of our activities included hopscotch, jump rope, dress up, and walking along the picket fence to get to the roof of the garage. After running around which seemed like forever, we were called in for our lunch by my mother, who was a good cook and made something delectable and always served a treat such as peanut butter cookies. We were always anxious to help out and do the dishes, that was our chore and then my mother would ask us to run an errand to the nearby Glow Grocertia, probably for another jug of milk or her favourite pack of cigarettes, which we did gleefully as there was always a penny in there for Candy.
That’s basically how our Sundays worked with Elaine and me. I think we both learned a lot from our weekend chores and playdates along with the fact that if it was to be, it was up to me to do the right things that both of our parents encouraged in us. It’s been over sixty years since we were both carefree and running around, up and down the old neighbourhood but we both have our own families and still stay in touch with each other. I think that our upbringing has instilled in us many wonderful qualities that we have in turn passed down to our children.
Memories are everlasting and I can always bring back the joyful sounds of our times together by just thinking about what we learned when we were five.
#warmwishes #childhoodmemories #gailsiemko #elainejacob
Gail Siemko 