The LITTLE HOUSE in the TINY FOREST

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"Are you comin' in for supper? 

Or are you goin' to stay outside all night playin' with 

that dang camera?"

SITTIN' with granny

What gets me most about this vintage snapshot is that this woman was probably younger than I am now. I feared as I turned into an "old" woman I'd be wearing the flowered dresses with an apron on over the top, sensible black shoes, and support stockings. It is at times like this that I'm glad I'm time traveling to the past and not living there. I just don't think I could have rocked a flowered dress and apron.


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LOOKING BACK on a friendship and summer

Why is it summertime brings back such vivid memories? I think more so than other times of the year. But then, maybe it's just me.

I don't know the story behind this house or the two women sitting on the porch. Perhaps it wasn't even taken in the summer. I have my reasons for guessing that this might actually be Florida which means it could be just about any time of the year. They can have windows open all year long. Of course, with the weather changes everywhere, I can remember having my doors and windows open in February this year.

So, if the warmth of the summer is what helps to make memories so vivid, does this mean with global warming we'll be getting more memories throughout the year?

It's okay, I ramble like this sometimes. I'm not in need of medical attention. It's just the heat and the memories I'm making.


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A dog AMID THE SUNBEAMS

GUFFAW if you must

Well, that pretty much ruined the shot. This is why I've wondered if the photographer took another. Or were all of these people surprised when they got the print and saw dear sweet Grace with her finger up her nose? That's Harold sitting next to her. Harold who was in the moment of the shot. Grace was in her own moment, far removed from what she was supposed to be doing. A quick guffaw should have been heard when you saw this.

And now we close with the entire group in place. Living a hopefully nice life, no family feuds too hard to overcome. Frank, the grandfather, probably teased Grace, the granddaughter, for many years to come about picking her nose in the portrait.

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Wish I knew where they lived. Was this taken at a house in the country or city? Right now I'm going with city. Why? Because they have a lock on their mailbox! For some odd reason I think of locked mailboxes as something from today, not the sweet gentle past...which of course was not sweet and gentle.

Did they have marauding droves of drunken teenagers out on Friday and Saturday nights beating up mailboxes with baseball bats? It's still done in my neighborhood. I have a lock box. A large communal lock box which someone recently pried open with a crowbar. Even my junk mail isn't safe anymore.
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Tattered and Lost volumes 1 to 7 available at Amazon.

The lady with NO NAME

This is...haven't a clue, but I'm guessing a daughter of Em. I'm also thinking that perhaps Fern is a daughter of Em. And it's slightly interesting that this woman is wearing a piece of fabric around her neck with stripes. Basically looks to be the same fabric Em is wearing.

"Oh mother dear, please let me have that excess fabric from your blouse. I will wear it as a tie."

"Yes, of course... ummm...what was your name again?"

And I can tell you there is a third person wearing stripes. Possibly more of the same fabric, though it's more difficult to see. That is the person who will force a guffaw from you. A quiet guffaw followed by, "I waited this long for this? It's nothing more than a Seinfeld episode!"

FRANK likes to lean

This is Frank. Frank is a leaner. Do you know about leaners? Have you seen pictures of leaners? My best friend and her whole family are THE leaners. You know, like Frank, they lean in to make sure they're close to their loved ones, in the frame.

I believe Frank is also possibly a grandfather. He looks like a nice one. Very calm, content. Which woman do you think he's married to? There's still one more, so if you're pickin' from what's been shown you might be wrong. But I'm tellin' ya I think he's leaning into her.

Two more photos left. So if this has been painful to watch it will soon be over. Do stick around for the punch line. I think it's worth it.

FERN is the cat that ate the canary

This is Fern. Another one of the people whose name begins with the letter "F" in this group. There are actually 4. Doesn't that seem like a lot? Frank has yet to make his appearance. Frank is very casual. You'll like Frank.

Fern is the only one smiling in the shot. Okay, maybe it's not a smile. Maybe it's gas. Something she ate. She does look like the cat that ate the canary.

She's dressed very nice, as are all of them. But Fern is the only one carrying a purse. Was Fern hoping to make a fast get away as soon as the shot was taken? Or was she just passing down the street when the family said, "Fern! Fern! You must be in our family portrait. Come along now. Just set yourself down here next to Mister. We don't know his name. He's just Mister. You'll like him Fern. Really, you will. He's rich...in spirit."

Then again I'm also thinking she might be married to Fred. They are sitting near each other and they somehow look like a couple. She would be better with Fred than Mister. I don't think anyone was with Mister. Okay, I don't see her with either Mister. Mister Smith or Mister old gray beard.

EM is sitting on a step

This is Em. That's the name written on the back. So just like Floyd will forever be Floyd, Em is now stuck with Em. I wish it had said Emma.

Strangely, what I'm most curious about is her blouse. What color is she wearing? Pink and white? Blue or light green and white? I know, I know...not important, but helps me fill in the pieces. Gives some life to the photo and the woman. I want to know if it matched the skirt. I want the details. Okay, you know it already...I want to be there. I want to know where they all went when they broke up from this shot. Were others taken because the photographer was worried that it was risky to take just one because something might show up ruining it? Voila! Something does show up to ruin it. I will save that for the last post. It's nothing bad, it's just something that makes it come alive. Something to make you, dare I saw it, guffaw. Yes, you will guffaw. A quick guffaw upon seeing what went wrong. But that's still 4 days away. So just enjoy Em. Today's vernacular photography star.

MISTER SMITH on the porch

I call him Mr. Smith. He is one of the people whose name was chopped off the back of the photo and all that remains is "Mr" in brown ink. So why name him Mr. Smith? Because of Smith Brother cough drops.

When I look at him I think of sneaking a cough drop during class. Trying to hide the box from the teacher...and fellow classmates. Really, the teachers were usually okay, especially if you'd been out sick. They'd rather you suck on a cherry cough drop than sit and cough and cough and.... But the other kids were merciless. They'd start hittin' you up for one as soon as they saw the distinctive white box with the faces of the old gents on the front. What were you to do? Little annoying brats. Too often it was kids that didn't even like you, maybe they were popular and used that as leverage. They'd act like maybe they'd let you into their precious group if you'd just give them one ruby red drop. Then their other annoying friends were right behind them with their hands outstretched. After a few times of dealing with this I became very stealth at getting a drop out of a box. That plus I just became steadfast in saying, "No, my mother said I'm not to give them away." I mean, I was already considered one of invisible ones. Not hated, not loved. Just not there. Keep your hands off my ruby red cough drops.

I can't resist posting the following found at Wikipedia about Smith Brothers. Little did these men suspect what they had wrought upon sick little kids everywhere. Then again, I can recall happily eating them when well, willing to deal with the bullies. I can also recall every so often finding a fuzzy cough drop in the bottom of my purse covered with whatever refuse had managed to stick to it. If it didn't look too bad I can tell you there were times...yup, there were times when I actually considered just picking off the fuzz and downing it.

The Smith Brothers were makers of cough drops.

William Wallace Smith I (1830-1913) and Andrew Smith (1836-1895) were the sons of James Smith (c1800-1866) of Poughkeepsie, New York. James' family had emigrated from Fife, Scotland, in 1831, and James had emigrated from St. Armand, Quebec in 1847. In New York, he opened a small restaurant, ice-cream parlor, and candy business, called "James Smith and Son". James Smith bought a cough drop recipe from a peddler named Sly Hawkins. In 1852, James developed lozenges and advertised them in the Poughkeepsie paper selling them to those "afflicted with hoarseness, cough or colds". William and Andrew inherited the business after their father died in 1866. The brand was then named "Smith Brothers Cough Drop". In 1872, to prevent drug stores from selling generic lozenges, they developed one of the first factory filled packages with trademark branding. On the packaging the word "Trade" appeared under the picture of William and the word "Mark" under that of Andrew, they were then incorrectly referred to as Trade Smith and Mark Smith. Andrew died in 1895, and William continued as president of the company almost up to his death in 1913. William was succeeded by his son, Arthur G. Smith (c1875-1936), who continued to expand the company by adding menthol drops (1922), cough syrup (1926) and wild cherry drops (1948). Arthur G. Smith had two sons: William Wallace Smith II (1888-1955) and Robert Lansing Smith (1891-1962). The trust funds that owned Smith Brothers stock in 1963 merged their company with Warner-Lambert. The last Smith Brothers Cough Drop manufactured in Poughkeepsie was made in 1972. They were thereafter manufactured by F & F Foods in Chicago, Illinois.

LALEA with her feet firmly planted on the ground

This is the very stunning Lalea. She looks so elegant, beautiful. The more I look at this photo the more I wish I could step back in time and be there. I want to experience the day, the moment. I want to hear the sounds, the voices, the birds, the crickets. I want to know what they were talking about, why they were gathered. Was it a wedding, an anniversary, a birthday? Or did this group of people simply dress like this each Sunday for church? Is this a Sunday afternoon gathering? Seems too formal for that.

Somedays I just feel sad when I look at old photos because I want to know more and know I never will. I want to understand the relationships, what did they do with their lives? Yup, I wish I had a time machine. Wish I could scan a photo and punch in some data and say, "Take me there. Take me to the moment this photo was taken." I have to satisfy myself with closing my eyes and imagining a story, adding all the textures to make it seem more alive.

Now I hope when you click on the photo of Lalea Picasa comes up with a larger shot. If it doesn't work let me know and I'll reload it at Flickr and add the html link.

MEET FRED sitting on the porch

Meet Fred. Fred is sitting on the front porch while several others sit on steps. Three people got chairs and sat on the porch. Two stood. The rest sat on the steps.

Fred has his legs crossed and seems ever so slightly comfortable in his position as the center of the photo. Fred looks suspicious of the photographer. He is analyzing the moment, the situation. Was Fred himself a photographer about to say something highly critical of the person taking this shot? Or was Fred just suspicious of this particular person? Or was there something behind the photographer that worried Fred?

Though Fred does not wear a wedding ring I have to wonder if the woman in front of him is his wife. She is the only one smiling. Her name is Fern and you will have to wait to see her. Of course it is possible Fern is his sister. I haven't a clue.

But today Fred gets his moment in the spotlight. It's Fred Day all day.

Come on Fred, lighten up. It's your day! Smile darn ya, smile!

FLOYD standing on the front porch

It says "Floyd" on the back of the photo. I know, I know...that just doesn't make sense, but I have a female relative on my mother's side that was related to my grandmother named Floyd. I do not recall what her full name was. But she was Cousin Floyd. Of course in this case it's always possible she's not Floyd, the person who wrote the names just wasn't very good at flipping the photo over and putting the name in the approximate place on the back to correspond with the person on the front. But let's make it easy. She's Floyd. She will now always remain Floyd.

Of course...there's always the possibility that she is a he named Floyd. I seriously doubt it. This is the reason you must be very very careful when writing names on the back of your photos. Get it right or someone down the line might be really embarrassed.

Anyway, I think Floyd looks very stylish. Interesting chain around her neck. I sort of expect to see glasses hanging from them. And I see she has a handkerchief clutched in her right hand. Hot day? Getting over a cold?

I can tell you there is only one person in this group shot who is really putting forth a smile. Floyd is not that person.

Tomorrow...Fred.

Part 1 of SITTING ON THE FRONT PORCH

Once again I'm going to deconstruct a photo so we can focus on the individuals. Together it's just a group shot. Nothing really special about it. Separately we're looking at individual lives separate from the whole.

I don't know if you enjoy these or not, but for me it's too easy to simply look at the whole and not notice the details. You know how much I love details.

There is some writing on the back of the card which seems to correspond to specific people. So when I can I will give the names. Unfortunately some of the names have been cut off. The photo is mounted on board and at some point trimmed down to the outer edge of the photo.

For today we unfortunately have no name. He is one of the people whose name has been cropped, though it does appear as if it began with "Mr". This leads me to believe he is not family, merely a friend. I'm thinking a fairly pious man from his body language. Or perhaps hellfire and brimstone. I could go either way.

And you should be able to click on him and go to the larger image. This photo is being kept at Picasa. I've never figured out why sometimes it allows photos to be clicked on and other times nothing happens. Thus the reason I usually use Flickr. Picasa is too often a problem.