These Days

I’m scanning some old slides which is something I’ve been meaning to do for a long time and I’m up to 1978.  My 21st birthday in fact.  The photos were taken on a Pentax K1000 SLR which unfortunately was stolen in a burglary in around 2001 and was a present from Mum and Dad for my 21st.

What has struck me looking back is the number of people who have now died – family, friends – some way too young.  And it is also funny to look at these images from so long ago through eyes that are way different from what they were then.  Older and wiser – maybe.

Certainly I had no idea at that time how things were going to unfold and what direction life would lead me in.  Despite the porn star moustache, I did not become an actor.  I am glad that tight turtle neck sweaters are now way in the past because, whilst I’m not as bad as some, the roof over the tools shed has grown a little since those slim and taut days of the 70’s.

There were some things that occurred on that weekend that I had totally forgotten about until I looked again at the photos.   In this one, take not of the envelope on my mates lap.   It says “Ërection Instructions” and I was greatly amused by that at the time I got the slides back and realised what it said.    All of my mates had banded together and bought me a hiking tent and we had spent that afternoon erecting it.

I used that tent a fair bit over the years.  I never actually did a lot of hiking but we did camp every year and that was the thing we used until kids came along and we needed something bigger.

And in the next photo you will see a blanket hanging on the clothesline.  That was from my bed and it had been washed because a mate of my Dad’s got blind drunk, was put to sleep in my bed and he wet it.    I know why I hadn’t thought about that incident for years.   It was the middle of winter and pretty difficult to get the mattress dry.   That wasn’t the thing that turned me off drinking but it helped keep me from it.

I’m scanning some old slides which is something I’ve been meaning to do for a long time and I’m up to 1978.  My 21st birthday in fact.  The photos were taken on a Pentax K1000 SLR which unfortunately was stolen in a burglary in around 2001 and was a present from Mum and Dad for my 21st.

What has struck me looking back is the number of people who have now died – family, friends – some way too young.  And it is also funny to look at these images from so long ago through eyes that are way different from what they were then.  Older and wiser – maybe.

Certainly I had no idea at that time how things were going to unfold and what direction life would lead me in.  Despite the porn star moustache, I did not become an actor.  I am glad that tight turtle neck sweaters are now way in the past because, whilst I’m not as bad as some, the roof over the tools shed has grown a little since those slim and taut days of the 70’s.

There were some things that occurred on that weekend that I had totally forgotten about until I looked again at the photos.   In this one, take not of the envelope on my mates lap.   It says “Ërection Instructions” and I was greatly amused by that at the time I got the slides back and realised what it said.    All of my mates had banded together and bought me a hiking tent and we had spent that afternoon erecting it.

I used that tent a fair bit over the years.  I never actually did a lot of hiking but we did camp every year and that was the thing we used until kids came along and we needed something bigger.

And in the next photo you will see a blanket hanging on the clothesline.  That was from my bed and it had been washed because a mate of my Dad’s got blind drunk, was put to sleep in my bed and he wet it.    I know why I hadn’t thought about that incident for years.   It was the middle of winter and pretty difficult to get the mattress dry.   That wasn’t the thing that turned me off drinking but it helped keep me from it.