Windows on the past
Mom and Paul
Sometimes I like to rummage through old photographs and look back. Pictures are so important. They are windows to the past. As I found out sometime ago, memories are very slippery, unreliable things, prone to flights of fancy.
I remember going back to Akron some twenty years after graduating from high school. I went to my old neighborhood with fond memories of how we used to play football all day in the neighbor’s yard. It was, in my memory, huge! Nearly the length of a regulation football field, some 300 ft long, or 100 yards! In reality, the lot was probably more like 100 feet long, or 33 yards, with 20 feet occupied by the house! We had a lot less room to play than I thought!
I knew that we lived in a small house, but not this small! 
Here is the actual description for the house that I grew up in. I took it from the tax records. My brother now lives in and owns this house:
DESCRIPTION: COLONIAL FRAME 2 STORY WITH 432 SQ FT GROUND FLOOR LIVING AREA AND 864 TOTAL SQ FT LIVING AREA, BUILT ABOUT 1918. IT HAS 5 TOTAL ROOMS WITH 2 BEDROOMS, 1 FULL BATHROOM, A FULL BASEMENT, HEATING IS CENTRAL AND THE OVERALL CONDITION IS FAIR.
It’s funny, I lived in it all of my life and it never felt small. Now, there are 3 of us and we live in a 2,600 sf house. We consume so much! Oh well. When I go back to Ohio on July 13th, for my aunt’s 80th birthday, I’ll have to stop by the old house and take a picture of it and the neighborhood. I don’t have any.
In the above picture, I was about 10, my mother was 47 at that time. That was about 35 years ago. Sometime around 1972. I was probably in 5th grade. I remember that one of favorite pastimes was to watch the birds and to feed my ‘pet’ squirrel in the backyard. This squirrel used to come down this huge maple tree that we had and take peanuts from my hand. I was disappointed to find that the maple tree had been cut down long ago. It provided great shade and a nice place to play, although it also provided a heck of a lot of work in the fall! I had to rake the leaves, but the reward for the big pile of leaves was that I and all of my friends got to jump in the pile!
I also had a small garden in the backyard. I used to take beans, corn, and whatever type of seed that I could get my hands on and plant them outside. I had a kind of a random harvest of things that the bugs or birds didn’t get, but life was simple and fun.
I was never the sports kind of guy, but was more into reading, learning, experimenting, and observing; however, as my third grade teacher said, I was ‘gregarious’. I used to get in trouble for talking in class. Hmmm, I guess that Tony gets it honestly. That’s the only problem that we usually hear about: “He is very social”. Well, mom, I had one just like me!
Butch and Paul
As long as I can remember, I’ve always had a dog. Here I am with Butch. He was a part Siberian Husky and part Norwegian Elkhound. I had him for long time! Probably from the time that I was 8 or 9 until I left home at 22. It hurt to leave him, but he was getting old. He was a great dog and wonderful companion. He stayed outside, but I used to go to the backyard to play with him a lot. Notice that in the picture, I have no shoes on. It’s my normal mode of operation. I don’t do shoes unless the rules require it. I think that in the summer time, I went for the entire summer without shoes. I’m a country boy at heart.
Of course, back in those days, I didn’t own a camera, except a Polaroid. Even then, that wasn’t mine, it belonged to my father, but I used it whenever he would let me. The film was pretty expensive, about $1.00 per shot, which was quite a bit back then, so I didn’t get to use it a lot. These were copies of Polaroid pictures that I made around 1982, or so. I used Kodak Tech Pan 25 to copy them and make negatives, which I just found today.
I’m happy that these have made along in my journey over the 25 years, across 3 states (Ohio, Texas, North Carolina), and thousands of miles. These pictures are windows to a past that had an important part in forming who I am today and I am happy that I have the opportunity to share them with you.
More nostalgia tomorrow.
Parting shots
Well, thanks for spending the entire week at the beach with me! Here are a few parting shots. All were taken the morning that I had to leave. My only morning spent there, actually.
Conversation
A couple of fellas having an early morning talk. Hey! It’s summer, might was well get up early, go to the beach, and hang out under the pier!
Under the pier
Naturally, with the nice, long pier, I had to take a shot! Cliche? So what!
A pickled pair
These two women, even though it was about 6:30 AM, were certainly drunk! They were very nice, but very pickled. The one in the green could barely figure out how to work her point and shoot. It was quite comical. I spent a few minutes talking to them, upwind from them. Standing downwind would have given me a contact high! 
The collectors
Mother and daughter out on a morning stroll to pick up those prized seashells.
OK, now back to reality. It’s been almost a week and I haven’t even started adding keywords to these photos. Luckily, I only have about 250 from this trip … let’s not talk about the other 800+ from previous outings that I haven’t done! Hey, a thousand behind ain’t so bad! Sigh! My ‘work’ is never done!
Tower 8
It was 5:20 AM and I had just arrived at Wrightsville Beach. I thought for sure that I’d be the only one there at that time of morning. As I approached the beach, I saw this lifeguard tower. I just loved the graphical nature of this shot. The deep blue tones are from shooting with my white balance set to daylight, which is where I usually keep it, and the fact that in the early morning and through night, most of the available light is in the blue wavelength. I didn’t add any color at all. This is how it came out of the camera.
As I made it around the tower, I found that I wasn’t alone. There was an amorous couple on the beach who thought that they were alone, too!
I happened to look up into Tower #8 and happen to see that it doubled as a high rise, low-rent room for the night!
Oneness
Life is now. There was never a time when your life was not now, nor will there ever be. — Eckhart Tolle
As I was walking back down the beach after a no-show sunrise, I saw this man bobbing up and down in the water. He had, from my point of view, not a care in the world. He was at peace. He was one with the universe. He was in the moment.
This image was a reminder to me, both at the time that I took it and each time I look at it. For a while, after reading The Power of Now, one of my favorite books, I was living, for the most part, in the moment. Recently, my mind has begun to run hither and yon, thinking about past wrongs, etc., or futures that might be not what I want them to be. I’ve picked up the book again to center myself and to again reach that quiet place that is so very fulfilling. I’ve also realized that I’ve not been taking my few minutes of quiet time each day, which seemed to help me immensely.
Looking back at my beach pictures that I’ve taken, most of them are peaceful shots, or what represents peace to me. Sometimes I wonder if I am capturing the peace that I seek, or that I already have. Sometimes, I just don’t know.
Baywatch! Not exactly …
No, this is not a shot from the TV show Baywatch. Pamela Anderson was nowhere to be found. I looked! Perhaps she’s in Finland planning to open her chain of strip clubs, called Lapland! Heck, she even has a blog … if you take it!
These are real lifeguards, responsible for keeping the public safe along Carolina Beach. Safe from the ocean, as well as themselves! Take a close look; they’re all KIDS! Well, who else would have the endurance to be a lifeguard? I’m getting old!
They were getting ready to race each other. In this race, timing was everything. They had to be quick to get out of the sand, turn, and race to a set of sticks and pick one up. Each time, a few more got eliminated until there were only 2 left. It was fun to watch.
Dedication
Before I left on my one day trip, my son, Tony, said something to the effect: “Man, you’re going to drive all the way to the coast to take pictures. That’s dedication!”. That may not be a direct quote, but it’s close enough. I see it as no more than his practicing basketball nearly every day. He loves it, so it’s no problem.
While I was in Wilmington, NC, I met 3 other individuals who had a serious dedication/passion to something.
- Debbie – She is devoted to spreading the gospel of her religion, Church of God. She’s so dedicated that she moved from Charlotte to Wilmington to minister several times a week to surfers on the beach. She told me that she’s physically disabled and that she believed that it was only for a time, as she thinks that God will heal her. She’s spent some time sleeping in the state park in a tent when funds were low. She said that she’s also slept on the beach when funds were even lower! However, the only thing that matters is that she gets out the ‘word’. Debbie and I talked for a couple hours. It was an enjoyable conversation.
- Dave – Debbie introduced me to Dave. Dave was another missionary spreading the word of his church. I never did find out which church that was. He and his wife, Kathyrn travel all over the world spreading their faith. What was interesting about Dave is that each morning that he swims 2 miles along the shoreline. My best guess was that Dave was close to 60! From where I took the picture of a couple sitting on the beach, to the pier, where the lights are, is about 1-1/2 miles! He said that he just loves to swim!
- Unknown recycle lady! – I only spent a few minutes with this woman. I noticed her go over to a trash can, turn it over, and start sorting through the trash. She was recycling. She methodically took out potato chip bags, emptied them for the seagulls, put them in one plastic bag, emptied soda cans, put them in a different bag, and emptied plastic containers and put them into yet another bag. She said that this is her passion. She loves to recycle and that she would make her way all the way down the beach every day doing this. As you can see, she’s got a ways to go. She said that she used to work in a recycling plant. She would sort through trash all day in the top level of what looked like a barn, no air conditioning, and exhaust fumes from the earth movers operating beneath them. The used the earth movers to push around the tons of paper that they had to recycle. She said that she no longer works there and that the beach is a much better venue to do her sorting.
Regarding the last person, I’ll admit that I’ve been known to pick up the occasional piece of trash while out photographing, but have never gone to this level! I really liked her lack of fear, too. She didn’t care what people thought. She was just doing what she thought was important.
I’m finding that I really like to meet passionate people. I like meeting those few individuals who are not just wandering through life asleep at the wheel. They believe in something. It’s rather refreshing. There’s more to them than just their ‘job’.
While the cat’s away …
You know the saying: While the cat’s away, the mice will play! Well, the cat is away this weekend. My wife is with her best friend in New York, so I’m left this weekend to my own imagination. I just didn’t feel like I wanted to stay home this weekend, so, I planned a small (200 mile) excursion. I decided to go to the beach of all places. I need to get a life!
We’ve been living in North Carolina now for 3 years and have yet to go to a North Carolina beach. Every since my wife discovered Seabrook Island, SC, it’s been our only destination for the beach. She’s pretty sold on Seabrook. So, since I never get to see much north of there, I decided to go on a mission to see Carolina Beach for myself, low budget style. Naturally, I offered to take Tony with me, but he declined and preferred to spend the night over a friend’s house, which was fine by me.
So, I was on my own. I booked a room at the Sleep Inn for the night, and took off about 2:00 in the afternoon. Some 3 1/2 hours later, I was in Wilmington. After I arrived, I checked in and headed for Carolina Beach, some 17 miles from my hotel. There’s another beach, Wrightsville Beach, that was closer, but I decided to go to Carolina Beach first.
I got to the beach around 6:30, just in time to see the umbrella guy coming around and collecting his umbrella. Not much shade needed now! I went for a walk along the beach and saw the usual signs of summer: people tanning, kids building sand castles, kids playing in the water, and of course, adults playing in the water. Just a normal day at the beach. I even saw a young man trying to catch a few tasty waves. The water was a little rough, so fairly decent for surfing.
Naturally, I met someone to talk to. A lady approached me, asked what I was taking pictures of, and we talked. I had to go back to my parking lot twice to put money in. I had only placed in one dollar, and it was a dollar an hour. We talked for about 2.5 hours. She invited me to sit on her beach bench with her. Her name was Debbie and she did ministry to surfers! Interesting. Anyway, we talked about all manner of things: Art, people, real estate, beaches, etc. See told me that she was staying at a on old fashioned bording house called Wanda’s. Wanda was way old school and only charged people $169 week (tax included) to stay at her house!!! She’s practically on the beach! I’m paying $129.00/night at this hotel!
Anyway, Debbie and I talked until it got to dark to see and then we parted company. It was a nice conversation. I can ALWAYS find someone to talk to! Near the end, I went and got my tripod and took pictures while we talked.
There’s more to tell about today, but if I tell you everything, why would you need to come back tomorrow?
Sunday’s adventure: I plan to awaken at 5-ish, had to the beach for the sunrise, then head up town to the historic district, take some pictures, then check out of the hotel before 11:00 M, and then back to Charlotte I go! More pictures to follow during the week!