Walked under the River Tyne where pedestrians and cyclists get separate tunnels. As a kid in the 1950’s, this was exciting especially after a friend of my dad’s told me they’d found a leek in the tunnel. Back then, shipyards lined the Tyne, and 20,000 people a day crossed here.
Category: Now-and-Then
The Reckoning
Back in the 1950s, the store on the right sold knitting supplies, and the owners lived upstairs. When I was in grade school, the little girl who lived there invited me to her birthday party. At the party she selected who would be invited the following year. I didn’t make the list and was OK with that.
A Piece of the Past
Dwight’s uncle was posted to Kyoto at the end of WW2. Today, I walked around his old stomping ground trying to reconcile some of his photos with today’s Kyoto. When I matched this 1946 photo I must’ve reacted: people started to gather around me and were excited to see the old photo. More…
My First Workstation
Sent photos of my 1950’s adjustable cantilever table to a furniture restorer who will come up with a plan to fix the much-abused surface. As a kid, I did homework on it; as a college student, I typed thousands of pages on it using a manual typewriter.
Our Elopement Timeline
1987 May 30, 1987 We met at a birthday brunch at Rudolph’s Bar-B-Que in Minneapolis. He sat across the table from me. It was a buffet, so whenever he left the table to fill a plate, I had a chance to ask mutual friends about him. I think he did the same thing when I… Continue reading Our Elopement Timeline
Butler Square
Nosed around the Butler Square building on a Downtown walk. In 1978, as part of an interview for my first American job, I had dinner here. I was appalled the men’s room had a floor-to-ceiling window: I could see everyone while doing my business, uncertain it was a one-way mirror.
Standing at the Edge of Creation
October 1983, Hawaii Big Island: I stand against an expanse of blackness, some of the newest terrain on Earth. I set the self-timer on my Canon AE-1 film camera, then dash into the field of view for a self-portrait. “Selfies” would have to wait until the 21st century. I walk around nearby Halemaumau Crater as… Continue reading Standing at the Edge of Creation
The Time I Visited a Moonie Commune
San Francisco, March 1977. I had just finished my first business trip to the USA, and was now spending a few days walking around San Francisco. I loved the place to the point that I had changed a flight so I could stay an extra two days. At Fisherman’s Wharf I chatted with a couple.… Continue reading The Time I Visited a Moonie Commune
The Time I Visited a Moonie Commune.
Posted The Time I Visited a Moonie Commune.
Perches Above a Rail Yard
It’s 1906. A man looks down from his perch high above a rail yard and the flour mills it serves. The caption for the stereograph simply reads “Huge flour mills where grain crops are made into food for the world, Minneapolis, Minnesota.” From our temporary Minneapolis Mill District home, a rented condominium, I love to… Continue reading Perches Above a Rail Yard