FATHER’S DAY
Backwoods Blog;
in the woods and on the road…
George Hutchinson sitting at the kitchen table (1961)
Since Father’s Day is coming up this weekend today’s post is a tip of the hat to my Dad. As mentioned in earlier entries, my father was 50 years old when my sister and I were born in 1960 and my parents weren’t even expecting twins until the day we arrived (that was quite a surprise!). For more on that story check out Backwoods Blog #47 or click here https://backwoodsblog.com/2021/05/05/isolation-blues-47/ I went through some old photos and found this picture of my father seated at the kitchen table and then found several others where he was wearing the same shirt, so I surmise they were all taken on the same day. My mother’s polaroid camera case is in front of my father so she must have been the photographer. My childhood memories start to kick in around 4 years of age, which is true for most of us. It’s the stories that we hear about ourselves and the pictures that we see of ourselves that help fill in the memory-gap. While these old snap shots may be blurry, bent and faded, the moments that they capture more than make up for it. I find myself looking at old photos more than ever (and taking new ones as well), noting the associations and thoughts that accompany them. In his later years, my father spent more and more of his time going through his old photograph albums and newspaper clippings. Oftentimes, for Father’s Day I would buy him a book with historic photographs of places he knew in Maine or of classic farm machinery or diners. When I looked at them later, I noticed he had scribbled comments in the margin or sometimes on the photograph itself. While his personal additions may have diminished the resale value of the books, they’ve provided “added value” to those of us who knew my Dad. Dig out some of your old photo albums (or scroll on your smart phone) and revisit photos of your father. The memories are still right there.
In the woods,
Dave
June 14, 2023
Father and twin #1 (David)
Father and twin #2 (Debbie)
Father showing his son the wonders of bacon.
Everybody in a pile…
First time behind the wheel.
Very nice story, Dave. Your father, looks, in the pictures like a really caring, wonderful father. Regarding family pictures, I fear that unless Martha and I get motivated to get organized, any family pictures we took after 1995 or so will be lost in Cyberville. Fortunately, we have a lot of traditional printed pictures from our own childhoods and our early lives as parents, but since the advent of digital cameras and now, worse, the iPhone, we have nothing tangible to show. And it is so much easier to pick up an album or a handful of pictures than it is to try to find something in 15 years of digital snaps. Just another way that digitization has ruined the world.