limited visibility

 

This very blurry picture is one of those "limited visibility" shots that the delete button usually takes care of.

Not in 1964 though, apparently. 

No, then you took aim, counted your money, mailed away the film and waited. 

And waited. 

You expected a few limited visibility shots. 

I don't remember this picture being taken. 

I don't remember...oh wait....a flicker.

I sort of remember those dogs.

I think at least one of them belonged to my friend Evelyn, who is the little girl on the far right.

I'm the little girl on the far left hoisting a dog of my own. Such an armful. It may have been our own dog although I feel doubtful about that. 

See my little feet, so Mary Poppins? Kind of reminds me of my Gramma. Heels together, toes out.

The little boy beside me was my dearest friend. Literally the boy next door. 

My older sister, also happily clutching a dog is in the middle. 

It's Blue River so of course there is snow. 

Snow, dogs, friends and an obliging photographer. No wonder we are all smiling.

worth the effort

It is equally important to remember the bumps in the road as it is to remember the perspective gained from them and so I offer a disclaimer with this story. I offer it because 2021 is still fresh and new, like a field of snow with no footprints, while this woeful tale unfolded way back in well trampled 2020.  

The happy hum of voices changed and I could hear my granddaughters quibbling. Is there a sound that is sadder to the ear of a grandparent than the sound of their grandchildren quibbling? The Younger One began to cry and was soon recounting the Human Rights Violations of her older sister, not so much in that moment, but as a past pattern in her perspective. The Older One seemed determined to placate and negotiate but to no avail. The past and the present have a way of being viewed as a single force when the chips are down. Thank goodness the unkindness of yesterday is not written with indelible marker. It takes a bit of scrubbing sometimes but its worth the effort for the shine underneath.