Sunday, March 7, 2010

7 March 2010 - we've come a long way baby.. I think

Today started out as another great day ... the sun came streaming in the easterly windows of the cabin very early. What a great way to wake up and get going. The door has been open all day ... storm door closed, however..... providing natural warmth to the main room here. It is paperwork time so my butt is still plastered to the oak chair. but I do take breaks. A couple hours after breakfast I had some fruit ... there it is.... then split for a walk. It is so fine to be able to take a break and walk in the countryside.... especially when the weather is so pleasant and the scenery picture-postcard perfect.








Today I walked south on old 395 ... not to worry ... 2 runners; one bicyclist; one harley and 2 cars ..... it's like having the street all to oneself. I was probably out there an hour or more. the shot is looking eastward out over the vally. The mountains sure look huge... and they are if you decide to hike up there. I'll be doing that... a little later.


Friday I picked up the mail in Gardnerville took some things to the shed and picked up some things from the shed. It just happened to be about dinner time so Kollina set up a place for me ..... I felt so grateful... always a gormet meal at Kollina's.

When I jettisoned all that junk in Florida there were always a few things that surfaced that were small, light and impossible to throw away. Pictures are some of those things. How can a photographer throw away pictures? There was a great time lapse between my taking pictures long ago and the present. Has anything changed much? There I am....... thinking I am living a healthy life..drinking juice :-)  .... well...I was tying anyway.... and look at that outfit..... not much change there either... I think I still have those clothes and I think I wear them when Kollina is not looking :-) ........ but you know, I was visiting Baron in San Francisco last month and dang...  he was wearing a hat that could have been that same hat. He has never seen this picture before.




Why are all these pictures coming up? Well to rescue them from the the trash I tucked them in with my reciepts and bookkeeping records. I'm working on the books today ... and LO... there they come...rising out of the billowing dust as it puffs out of the boxes. there's the accordion that I bought when I was 15. I just decided one day that I would like to play the accordion... went down and signed up for lessons and bought this one.... jumped in way over my head... it took me years to pay for that thing ....working odd jobs; collecting pop bottles and sellig them for the 5 cent deposit;  and delivering the "Shopping News". I played that accordion for years. In college I played for many sing-a-long parties, picnics and Bar-B-Q's. I still have it. Probably haven't played it in 40 years but it is still here in it's original case.

Back in 40's my dad designed and built this house. He was way ahead of his time. He was very "green" taking advantage of the sun... the large windows faced south....to collect the warmth from the winter sun.... in the summer time the overhang shaded the windows to keep the house cool. The roof was flooded with water during the hot months to help keep it cool inside. The walls were made out of cement blocks. The windows were aligned so that there was good air-flow during the summer, also.



Hey, baby... have we come a long way...... my dad's grandson became an architect and built him a house using some of the same principles.... ahhhh... but I think we have greatly improved on the ideas .... his granddad would be very proud. Amazing... notice the south facing windows... the overhang for shade in the summer....walls constructed of blocks.....great windows that roll up letting in the fresh air.  Thanks to the reknown Reno photographer, Asa Gilmore , for the foto.





This is where I lived in Pasadena in 1957-1958-1959 ... one of the fine old houses on Orange Grove Blvd. I worked at the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena in those years.... amoung other things.


Then there was my 32 Chevy.... when I bought it, that car was over 20 years old but still chugged right along .... oh... you don't believe me... you think it's one of those "walking 5 miles to school in waist-high snow" stories, eh


Well, on the spur of the moment a bunch of us hopped in the ol' bus and went down to New York city to visit Niel's uncle Posner who was the producer of the Jackie Gleason show..... there we are in front of his posh apartment house pretending it no longer ran    :-)      Posner liked that a lot .... he sent us to a hotel many blocks away....he got us front-row seats at the live Jackie Gleason show. We had a great time in NYC..... and the ol' bus got us back up to Springfield Ma without any problems...... it took us a while ... I never was a fast driver... probably a good thing seeing what we were driving.


So... how much has changed?     ... my 1989 Ford aerostar van is 20 years old .... I drove it down to San Francisco ...stayed at the Ritz Carlston... and had the valet park it... "hey, be careful with my van.... it's almost an antique, ya'know... and no smoking it it either!"

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