March 26, 2007

Suburban Photo Op

I was at my neighbor's taking pictures of the migrating ducks. They visit semi- annually to rest in her swimming pool. She feeds them, stating unequivocally that ducks prefer plain white bread over wheat or rye. I believe her.

The duck photos didn't turn out very well, but I did snap this bit while I was there. It's my friend Tina's hand, circa 1971. She was eight years old and lived then where we live now. Next to her hand print in my neighbor's concrete walk are three other little hand prints belonging to my neighbor's children.

I love stuff like that. A moment frozen as time rolls on, each print a story unraveling still.

Here's to my friend Tina. I like being part of her story.

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11 comments:

Middle Girl said...

very cool pic. :)

SassyFemme said...

How cool for Tina to have such a history there!

WenWhit said...

I doubt her hand is any bigger now...

Anonymous said...

wendy is a brat!

Anonymous said...

Ok..I have a rather gruesome story about something like this. Ready?

My parents bought our house in 1976. Technically there have only been two families who have owned this house. The other family - the ones who lived in it when the house was built until 1976 - put their footprints in the driveway. Those prints are still there today.

The youngest boy, Richard, was murdered, along with his pregnant wife and his in-laws, in 1992, in a house about a mile away. The murderer was the adoptive brother of Richard's wife. It was all over the local news at the time. I remember seeing Richard's parents on TV and remembering them from when we moved in. We still, to this day, receive mail for that family.

The man who murdered Richard, his wife and his wife's parents was put to death a few years ago.

About 10 years ago one of Richard's brothers came by the house on a notalgic trip. I let him in the house and he told me all kinds of stories about the house - there was a hole in one of the closets he and his brother made to spy on other people. He showed it to me, I never noticed it before.

I asked him about his brother and showed him the footprints. He was completely blown away by the moment frozen in time.

Gina said...

Ok, ahh, recovering from eb's story there.

I'm sure Tina likes you being part of her story as well!

Teresa said...

It's true. Four out of five ducks surveyed say they prefer white bread, ideally Sunbeam, to any other kind. The fifth, undoubtedly gay, duck knows this great deli in the East Village where you can get the most delicious challah.

Unknown said...

Wow. That was so eloquently put. What a wonderful memory for you and Tina to always have. YAY!

tiff said...

Is it just me, or does the handprint seem to rise from the surface rather than sinking into it?

I wonder from time to time if the people that bought our old house painted over the heights of our children that were marked against the laundry room door. I sure hope not, I'd love for my kids to be able to go back there are show their children how tall they were at 6 or 7 or 9 years old.

Anonymous said...

tiff...I also thought the hand seems to rise from the surface.

agoodlistener said...

We have our kids' and our kids' friends' and our grandson's heights measured on the door frame by the back door. I can't imagine painting over them, though there is one guy who was a bad influence on our youngest...I wouldn't mind eliminating him. Of course his is the highest height posted.

Anyway, I posted about our cruise if you'd like to check it out.