Recently my brother sent me a bunch of long lost photos I took in the late 1970s when our family still lived in Virginia. When I took the photos, we were in the process of moving to Maine and I wanted to take a photo of everything about our life in Virginia. I got pictures of the stream where we built canals and dams, our chickens, all sorts of random trails through the woods, special plants like the bloodroot that came up in the same place every spring, dogs long dead, horses, and lots and lots of pictures from various angles of our old house. I had a hard time choosing 'just' six for this blog entry. It's not everyday that we get to revisit our childhood from the 'eye of the child'. I just wish I had been a better photographer!
There's my mother taking in the laundry off the line before a thunderstorm hits. The horses and donkey in the barn. My sister took care of the horses - I was in charge of the chickens. My mom's garden - I remember stealing and eating raw beets, also lots of weeding and carrot thinning. One year my mom grew yellow tomatoes and us kids refused to eat them. My mom added chicken manure to the compost - hence the garden that would not stop growing. That's my little brother Andrew with his skates at the Shand's pond. We used to check out all the local ponds and skate at the one with the best ice. Finally, there is the house and inside the house by the fire my brother Andrew, Mom, and the dogs Ceasar and Mini. Ceasar used to balance on the stool to get up to the fireplace's height. My mom is probably reading the Washington Post.
I bet Northern Virginia does not look like this 30 years later! And I know the ponds do not freeze and Virginia gets no where near the amount of snow we used to get in the 70's. I live in Alaska and I'm impressed by the snow in some of those pictures! Patrick
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