Halloween 1972

APE MAN!

Halloween 1974

Halloween 1974

Three of a kind.

Giraffes and Iguanas

M-I-C...see, it sticks to my nose!

New Specs

Swing Shift

Belated Birthday

Bathing Beauty

Minus Eight

When 115 was 107.

Papa Bates Old School 4:20

Hog legs in the smokehouse.

a fish in the hand

I mean, seriously.

Four Instant Selves

all in the details

So what was the motivation? New shirt? New belt?
Whatever the reason, it's all the details surrounding that recognizable mug that truly bring shots like this to the next level for me.
The 'bookcase' is a metal 'doll-house' that I had starting around 4. Evolving through several iterations, from Fisher Price Little People Condo to bookshelves, it eventually ended up in his garage storing a plethora of nuts, bolts, nails, fasteners and other greasy sundries. The paneling...well, it's 1970's paneling. At once tacky as hell and comforting. Also good for hiding the evidence of smokers in the home. The icing on the paneling is the faux gold switchplate with some hellish filigree that hurts like hell when you rake your knuckle across it in the dark.
The big kicker though is not the haute couture, but instead the Star Wars collector cards taped to notebook paper. Not to showcase the fantastic pictures of spaceships, aliens, heroes and villains in a galaxy far, far away, but applied backwards so I could read the story and the trivia bits. I'll let you, the educated reader, deduce the outcome of Scotch tape and the glossy side of those little wonders.

something to look forward to look back on

No, not so much wayback on this one. Yet.
Scanning in all the old family photos, Nathan leaned in looking at all the Polaroids and Instamatic prints and said, "Wow, you have a lot of good memories."
Man, talk about hitting deep.
I explained to him that I have just as good memories, if not more, with him. Only the presentation is different.
An eight-year-old's observation as critique on technology.
As much as I'm motivated to finish putting together memory books, printed on demand, I'm also motivated to put together an old school photo album with black photo corners barely holding in the cherished Polaroids. Shake it.

wide open spaces

Looking North from the backyard is a completely different scene now. From here you can see to West Fifth Street (where I'd eventually live for a short time). The eave on the left is from the garage, which at that time was separated from the house and more of a rec room. Look closely to the right and you can see the gas meter. Probably the same gas meter they're still not reading right.

Creepy

Sometimes I worry about the things my kids are exposed to. Then I see things like this and life comes full circle.
Do not taunt Happy-Fun-Ball.

sit on it

Brian poses in a traditional 1970's sequined istructional tee shirt.

Hold it, that's perfect! Don't move!

Mom, Uncle Bert and Papa attaching the first aerial to the house at 115.
Funny to think he was a safety supervisor at Shell.
This was photographed from the back of the house looking south.
So much has changed, not the least of which is the standard for ladders.
The window behind the ladder would eventually be knocked out, wall and all, to make way for dad's add-ons in the '70s.
We used to have a dining room table in front of that window, and I remember sitting there the night OJ and Beverly (and family) showed up after dark, standing outside staring at me like some scene from The Devil's Rejects.
But I digress.
I have a feeling some of those wires are still dangling around the house somewhere.