Saturday, October 5, 2013

LIFE'S A BLUR...

 Sepia Saturday presents its challenges, to be sure.

We’re often scurrying, scrambling for shots that qualify for the week’s call for submissions – and this week was no exception: “blurred, scratched, undefined, and plain boring...less than perfect.”

So here it is...and it certainly qualifies!

This is me.
Really.

This is me in the late 1960s: a long-haired hippy, young and lean and blonde and quite possibly a little stoned, but...it’s definitely me, upside down – just about to do a headstand on the front lawn at the farm.

It was probably on a Sunday afternoon when we all had a few hours of free time: after morning chores and Sunday meeting, after dinner and dishes but before evening chores began at 4:00 or so.
I had been playing my guitar (you can see an open capo in the grass beneath me), wearing my favorite shirt – one of those open-collar shirts from India that were so popular back then; gray and maroon stripes, shapeless. It fell below my hip and was incredibly comfortable; a remnant of my Cambridge days.

I’m no more than 23 years old – that alone is astonishing to me.
And, my goodness, look at all that hair!

For some reason, I’ve saved this photo for nearly 45 years; a split second of time in my life captured on 35mm black and white film. I’m not the same person I was back then, of course, but I like to think that moment is part of me forever, that I’ve carried it within me for all these years.


Whenever I look at it, I smile; I guess that’s reason enough.

24 comments:

  1. Aw....those were the days for sure. I liked that era, I was in my mid teens, I also liked the comfort of the clothes worn back then. Your photo made me smile too!!

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    1. It was a great time, wasn't it? I suppose everybody says that about their own generational "era," but I think it's true! Nice to see your name in my comment section, Rosie -- hope you're having as beautiful weather as we are!

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  2. Great picture!!
    You wouldn't be who you are now
    if you hadn't been that person back then.
    Part of your personal evolution.
    While I am critical of certain periods of my life,
    I wouldn't be who I am today without them;
    and I like who I am now.
    :)~
    HUGZ

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    1. I'm with you, my TB -- 100%! All those parts add up to our wholes, and I wouldn't discard any of them!

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  3. It's strange how a photo can be such a blur, yet the memory associated with it can be so clear -- and I love your sharing of the memories. I think it's interesting that someone chose to photograph you about to do a headstand, and that it's a close-up!

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    1. Ahhh -- he was a special guy in my life; we are still, after all these years (and a horrific break-up), best of friends!

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  4. So evocative. I can understand why you would keep it. I love it!

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    1. Thanks, Alex -- glad you like it. I keep thinking that, should I try that headstand now, I'd probably be grateful for Medicare...

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  5. We gotta be who we have to be, and this really looks perfect for our blurry theme, and what a fun time you must have had!

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    1. Yes...and there was this song, too: "I gotta be me, I gotta be me..." etc. It was a fun time, but the here and now is also fun!

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  6. The sixties were a wonderful time for so many reasons. There won't be another decade like them for a very long time. And I'll never apologize for my flowered bell-bottoms, fringe, leather, & headbands! They weren't exactly practical nor even comfortable all the time, but gosh, they were fun!

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    1. Wonderful and, you have to admit, pretty dreadful, too -- what with Vietnam and Civil Rights, etc. Exciting, important; we changed things, didn't we, headbands notwithstanding!

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  7. I'll bet there is still a little something of that girl in you! Great shot!

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    1. Oh, yes! I'm not sure I could still do it, but the thoughts are still there! I just can't take myself too seriously, especially as I get older...and older...and older!

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  8. I must admit I had trouble working the parts of you out, except that arm in a striped shirt but you told the story behind the photograph so beautifully. Lovely to read your memories of the time.

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    1. I know, Sue. My body parts seem totally out of whack (and they are), but once you get the basic position, it all becomes clear. I think the next step is to get your knees up onto your elbows...does anybody remember how to do this?

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  9. Amazing that you can remember the colour of that shirt Deb:)

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    1. I absolutely loved that shirt -- wore it until it disintegrated, I think; the colors are imprinted in my mind. No color shots, though -- that was when it was still cool to use black and white!

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  10. The story explains why this photo is worth preserving. Now I wonder what stories are behind the bad photos passed down to me.

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    1. They all have stories, don't they? This picture just reminds me so much of when we were young, a little foolish and terribly in love; we both still smile over it...

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  11. Yes it made me smile too............even before I read the text, which made me smile even more.

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    1. Was it because I said I was probably a little bit stoned? Remember...that was during the summers of love, back in the 60s!

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  12. I lived through the sixties vicariously, through my older sister (born in 1950). That shot evokes images for me, too. Thanks for the memories, as Bob Hope used to sing.

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  13. Vicariously (or not), the 60s were pretty amazing...glad you found something there in that image. I'm sending good thoughts to your sister, too, who's only about 4 years younger than I am!

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