I walked in the park this morning, before it got too hot, and while I walked, I remembered how the park was years ago, when I first started going there, about the time they first fixed it up. It was nice then and it's nice now, but I was noticing how the trees have all grown. I was especially looking for a particular tree, but I can't tell which one it is anymore. The more I thought about it, I realized that I remembered this particular tree because I stood beside it 30 years ago yesterday, July 19, 1975.It was my sister's wedding anniversary (first husband) and I had told her that I would take the baby out for a few hours so they could go out to dinner. But I had a secret plan. My best friend's boyfriend was a very good amateur photographer, and the three of us took little J1 to this park for a photo shoot. I dressed him in one of my favorite little outfits of his, Chris brought tons of film, and he and Mindy and I pretty much just followed little J1 around the park, here and there and everywhere, while Chris snapped and snapped and snapped. He shot only black and white, and later that week, he showed me the contact sheet with about 150 shots on it; I picked out the ones I liked and he developed and printed them in his darkroom.
My sister's gift was an 8 x 10 of this one:
So that's the tree I was looking for. I think that now, at 31, if we could find the same tree, he could stand under it in exactly the same position; it's grown along with him.
This was my mother's favorite:
And this, along with the first shot, was mine:
Yes, that's me, July 19, 1975, 30 years ago yesterday. I was 22 years old. I'd guess that I weighed about 109 pounds. Man, I loved that striped top.
Well, he was the sweetest baby ever, as you can see, and had the personality to match. He's still 100% walking personality, just tuned to a different channel.
It is ghastly out there today, although it wasn't that bad when I walking. After I came home and showered and stuff, I went out to do various things and found myself with an ocular migraine (like the spot after a camera flashes in your eyes, but it doesn't go away for an hour), and over-sensitive to sound (I had to take off my hearing aid in a store), and unable to cool off, even in an air conditioned store. It wasn't until I got home and drank something cold and took off a layer of clothing that I realized I was just overheated. The humidity is better today, so I hadn't felt as hot, but I guess I was baking out there.
They've announced a date and place for the Psycho's farewell party, in the fall. Oh please. I am only going if there's a hope of someone telling her off. If everyone just gets up and says how wonderful she is, at least I won't have trouble sticking to my diet, because I will, as they say, blow chunks.
