Back in the Day, Part 1

This is me back in, oh I don’t know, maybe 1973. I couldn’t have been no more than 4 years old at the time.

This one picture is perhaps one of my most favorite childhood photos. In fact I’d go so far as to say that, aside from the few with Dad, it is my favorite and there are a number of reasons for it.

Media: It’s a Polaroid print or quite possibly, a shot taken with a Land Camera. Hey, my memory’s a bit fuzzy after living in a house coated with lead paint, okay? That aside, the scan doesn’t do the original justice. You see all those white specks on the print that look like I haven’t cleaned the glass on my scanner in ages? That isn’t dust; it’s on the print itself, apparently where the color dyes didn’t get smooshed well enough. Then there’s the classic border which no iPhone or Android app can simulate no matter how hard they try.

The Toy: I got that tractor one year for Christmas and although I may have only been 3 in this picture, I certainly remember it. I rode that thing until it practically fell apart and being a child of rather large girth, it didn’t take too long but I remember it like it was yesterday. The expression on my face tells you exactly how much I loved playing with that thing.

Color: I tried to simulate the color of the original print but there’s no way that Photoshop can come close and believe me, I tried before posting. It’s got this kind of greenish-cyanish tone that just screams 70s and when you look at the original, it actually looks almost tilt-shifty with me in as good a focus as cameras of the day would allow and the background being very soft.

The House: That’s the house I grew up in back in Wilmington, CA. All of my childhood Christmases, birthdays, everything happened within the walls of that house. It was also the home where Dad lived and then, after one fateful phone call, would never return to.

And when my time comes, I can’t think of a better picture I would want enlarged and set next to me while I’m on display.

Yeah, I know, kind of morbid but man, it’s something we all need to think about sooner or later.

Oh, and I’m sorry for not posting an April Fool’s topic this year. I honestly couldn’t come up with any ideas. Really, I couldn’t! Maybe next year…