Category: Photographs

Tower

~ oneletterup ~ 9 Comments

This post inspired by Frank at Dutch goes the Photo

The prompt: Tower

On March 13, 1994 – the hottest March 13th on record for San Francisco – my husband and I climbed Coit Tower in Telegraph Hill. All 210 feet. To reach the observation tower at the top – with its 360 degree view of the city.

We had just arrived in California for a much anticipated weeklong vacation. Jet lag hadn’t set in yet.

The long climb…well worth it.

 

coit tower
Coit Tower
Telegraph Hill
San Francisco, CA

 

(FYI: that’s Christopher Columbus standing guard….)

Acceptance

~ oneletterup ~ 9 Comments

This post inspired by V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #50:  Acceptance

“There’s release in knowing the truth no matter how anguishing it is. You come finally to the irreducible thing, and there’s nothing left to do but pick it up and hold it. Then, at last, you can enter the severe mercy of acceptance.”

Sue Monk Kidd
The Mermaid Chair

 

grasses

 

Acceptance…may mean making peace with an overwhelming, ugly truth. Living with it in your head.

My head.

The new raw reality nudges me. Breaks my concentration on a bright sunny day. I take it out. Examine it. Until a familiar gnawing sickness in the pit of my stomach makes me look away. I put it back before it drops from my shaking hands and explodes.

I’m a member of a club I never asked to join. But was accepted into anyway. I don’t belong here. But it turns out I do. Surrounded by the nameless who also lost their pasts. Exposing ragged edges of grief. Struggling to reach a place of resignation in a stark new reality. Healing measured in tiny steps.

Get over it Move on Let it go…well meaning, but frantic pleas from those who care, but…they aren’t in my head with the unimaginable truth. How could they possibly get it?

So for those of us who struggle to accept what life has thrown up on us…for those of us with battle scar tread marks on our backs…we yearn to be accepted…frailties, brokenness and all. In order to be whole again.

Not easy for them to accept the changes.

Even more difficult for us to go it alone.

 

 

 

 

Shoes: Times Past

~ oneletterup ~ 22 Comments

Irene Waters’ Times Past challenge prompt for May is: Shoes

Have you any memories of shoes? A particular favourite pair, one that caused you pain, embarrassment or made you feel on top of the world?

~~~

I grew up in the USA suburbs as part of the baby boomer generation…wearing shoes my mother deemed practical and sturdy.

I was a very active tree climbing, kickball playing, jump-roping child. Sturdy was a good idea. Sneakers would not have lasted long on my busy feet.

Shoe shopping was carefully planned. Piled in the car with my siblings, my mother would drive me to “Kate’s Brothers,” the downtown shoe store. Shoe polish fumes hung in the air as a salesman measured our feet with a tool called the Brannock Device.

What a fascinating place…

I loved the machine (a fluoroscope) I could slide my feet in…for a quick x-ray.  Looked in the viewer…and saw my bones!  I don’t remember this questionable practice lasting very long and probably for good reason. It was, however, a fun way to wait while salesmen searched in the mysterious “back room” for our shoes.

Play shoes. Party shoes. Sneakers.

Play shoes were always leather – definitely durable – with laces or sometimes a strap. Color choices limited. Usually brown, navy blue or the occasional black and white saddle shoe. My go-to footwear for outdoors. Quickly scuffed and dirty, they withstood what I put them through.

I have no idea why I am wearing them with my red dress.

play shoes
Play shoes

 

Party shoes were black leather or shiny patent leather with a strap. Often called Mary Janes. I wore them to parties, holidays and Sunday School. The patent leather ones could be shined up with Vaseline petroleum jelly.

party shoes 2
Party shoes at a party

 

Keds or P.F. Flyers were the only brands of sneakers available. White or blue canvas with white laces. Only allowed for gym class. I was very jealous of my one and only cousin – 5 years older than me – who was allowed to wear sneakers All The Time. My mother thought she was spoiled. I thought she was incredibly lucky. Sneakers were much more comfortable than tight laced up leather shoes. Better for running faster and jumping higher.

When I was 11, we moved to a neighborhood with no trees to climb or woods to explore. My active outdoor play life came to an end – for better or for worse. I didn’t need “play shoes” for hanging out with my girlfriend listening to Beatles records or 77WABC Top 40 hits on the radio.

What did girls wear in junior high?  Loafers! – sometimes with a shiny new penny inserted in the slit atop each one.  Earning them the nickname Penny Loafers.

They were my first slip-on shoes. Usually brown. Since they were flats, I could be comfortable and stylish at the same time. At 5’7″ in the eighth grade, flat shoes were a definite bonus.

Still leather…but without laces or straps.

I felt very grown up.

loafers
Loafers & a camera
Family day trip

 

 

 

Endings

~ oneletterup ~ 3 Comments

Nancy Merrill is hosting a photo challenge. The theme this week: Endings

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO (OR MORE) THAT SHOW ENDINGS OF ANY KIND.

 

Two and a half years ago, I stood in the attic above our 2 car garage.
Not quite believing what I saw.

attic copy

The sun spilling in…
Lighting up bare plywood floors.
Newly swept clean

After years of sheltering…

My babies’ wooden crib. Their toys. Books. Polly Flinders dresses. Cloth stuffed dinosaurs. Plastic dinosaurs. Rubber puzzles. Little Tykes table. Wooden blocks. Little red wagon. Doll beds. Art projects. Grade school dioramas. Paper maché dinosaur. Legos. Candy Land. Operation. Finger paintings. Luggage. Book shelves. Beds. Christmas dishes. Basketball uniforms. Flexible Flyer. Textbooks. Beckett Monthly magazine collection. Barbie clothes. Babysitter’s Club books. Lincoln Logs.

And…so…much…more.

The next day I backed out of that garage for the last time.
Headed toward a new home.

The end of one very long chapter.

 

Memorial Day

~ oneletterup ~ 9 Comments

What was Memorial Day originally called?

…The weekly trivia question at the local dry cleaners. Written on a large chalkboard near the cash register. If answered correctly, you earned a 15% discount on your incoming order.

An interesting question, but…trivia?
I don’t think so.

flags

Memorial Day is celebrated in the United States today: May 27th, 2019.

The last Monday of May is designated as a federal holiday…to honor and remember the men and women who have died while serving in the military. Sacrificing their lives for our country’s freedom.

Flags are lowered to half-mast. Parades are held in cities and towns. Services and solemn moments of silence are observed.

The original date for Memorial Day was May 30th. The tradition began after the Civil War, when graves of fallen soldiers were decorated with flowers and wreathes.

It’s original title? Decoration Day.

~~~

Memorial Day earned one small front page article – below the fold – in today’s local newspaper. My iPhone Apple newsfeed?…I had to scroll almost to the bottom to spot one tiny link to a NYTimes article about Memorial Day. I found no mention of today’s holiday in my New York Times “Today’s Headlines” daily email.

However, apparently today is the best day for sale prices on large appliances and mattresses. “Red, white and blue” sales are everywhere….as enthusiastically reported on television’s “Good Morning America.”

Really?

 

Vista

~ oneletterup ~ 5 Comments

This post inspired by Frank at Dutch goes the Photo

The prompt: Vista

 

During a cruise to celebrate our 30th anniversary, my husband and I visited St. George’s, Bermuda. We spent a wonderful day exploring the town and a gorgeous nearby beach.

We enjoyed views from the ship and during our walk around town.

 

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
View from the ship

 

 

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
View during a walk

 

 

My First Car

~ oneletterup ~ 13 Comments

Inspiration: Ragtag Daily Prompt – Memory

 

My First Car
(A slant six engine will last forever!)

 

Fresh out of college in 1976, I was hot on a search for the perfect car.
My first car.

The budget: under $4000.

The dream: a shiny, new, reliable, 4-door ORANGE set of wheels (this was the ‘70s after all). It needed to hold all my stuff; which remarkably – back then – fit completely inside a car.

I found just what I wanted at a Plymouth dealership in Nanuet, NY one blistering June day.

A bright orange Volaré complete with its famous slant six engine, real vinyl seats and AM/FM radio. It practically had my name on it. And it was under budget.

Sold!

Picture2

I signed up for a “how to take care of your car” class. I learned how to change the air filter, spark plugs and fuses. I waxed it until it practically glowed, even in the dark. It was easy to locate in a parking lot.

My Volaré lasted 12 years and over 106,000 miles. It took me to my first hospital job. From the church to my wedding reception. To Chicago for my college roommate’s wedding. Home from the hospital with my newborn daughter safely secured in her first car seat.

I even won a free sunroof in a radio contest in 1986.

In 1988 it was time for a new car. The evils of rust were starting to win the battle. After I negotiated a fair price on a Corsica at the local Chevy dealership, the salesman mentioned that I could probably get $400 wholesale for my Volaré. He also mentioned the slant six engine.

Good idea!

The next day I returned to the dealership. Late afternoon, around 4pm. My son and 6 year old daughter came with me. She waited patiently in the showroom with a book. My 6-month-old son, balanced on my left hip, accompanied me to the car lot to meet with the salesman…

Who no longer thought $400 was fair.

He called for the sales manager to join us.

Sales Mgr: I’ll give you $100 towards the new car.

Me: It has a slant six engine. Those last forever! Please take it for a drive! I was told it’s worth $400.

The manager drove it around the lot.

Mgr: Okay, $200. Look at the mileage!

Me: Maybe I don’t need a new car after all. This one runs great. It even has a sunroof.

Manager walked around it again. Salesman stood behind him.
Mgr: Alright…$300

At this point my son was getting more and more squirmy. He looked straight at the manager. And blew really loud raspberries.

Me: See! We both know this is a great car!

The salesman and manager went inside to talk to The Senior Manager. They both came out and walked around the car again. Went back inside the showroom. My son and I followed.

The sales manager finally returned…to where I waited with 2 hungry and cranky children. He shook his head, looked at me…okay $400.

Me: You’ve got yourself a deal!

As I was signing the paperwork, I heard a voice call my name. It was the Senior Manager sitting behind his big elevated-on-a-riser desk. In the middle of the showroom.  I looked in his direction…as he continued…

“Hey! Anytime you need a job, just call.”

Gadget

~ oneletterup ~ 19 Comments

This post inspired by V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #49: Gadget

Tell (or show) me about those gadgets in your life, or better yet, put on your creative caps and invent something new.

 

 

magnifier 1
flashlight magnifier

 

It is right here on my desk.

A gadget of sorts that I tossed in a drawer over 25 years ago.
Thinking…I can probably use this thing once in a while. If I ever need it. Someday. Maybe for teeny tiny print on a label…

Teasing my husband – who is a year my senior – you’ll probably need this before I do. 

Little did I know….

The truth is…I kept it because it was Oma’s. My grandmother, who ended up nearly blind from macular degeneration, viewed life through a blurry haze. Despite the thick glasses she was forced to wear in the last few decades of her life.

When Oma moved to an assisted living facility near me after Opa died, I arranged for her to have cataract surgery – with amazing results. Honey I can see colors!  At 84, the blurry haze was finally in color.

Many years earlier she had gone to the Lighthouse for the Blind in New York for help. Which is where she got this flashlight magnifier. A marvelous invention.

It turned out to be more than a gadget. It was her pathway to reading greeting cards, letters from family and friends. Reader’s Digest. Restaurant menus.

She died at the age of almost 87. I saved her letters. Her photographs. A few pieces of her jewelry. The hand mirror that emits a laughing sound when you pick it up. And the Lighthouse for the Blind flashlight magnifier.

It has been dusted off and put to use a few times over the years. However, the older I get – and the more I have to reach for those DARN reading glasses – the more I switch on Oma’s gadget instead…

So handy when I examine Opa’s color slides…checking for dust…before scanning them for this blog.

It works like a charm.

I think of her every time I use it.