TIME PASSAGES

Quite often on Facebook, someone will post a photo of a place taken years ago, with a revisit to this exact location in a side-by-side comparison pic. Some of these “then-and-now” photographs can be funny or sad, others are touching, yet occasionally, a graphic one comes along.

The funny shots usually involve a group of guys or gals with old and new pictures. They try to replicate their exact look in the vintage photo, and in some cases, successfully pull it off except for being a bit more weathered in the face, arms, and legs.

An old black & white photo showed a family gathered around the Christmas tree with unopened presents. The children were small, with dad and mom in their late 20s or early 30s.

Four decades later they tried to duplicate things, but unfortunately, the artificial tree, professionally wrapped presents, and physical appearance of each individual didn’t cooperate. Even so, it was still a cute and touching comparison.

Another photo group I came across has a young couple standing in front of their recently purchased 1956 Chevrolet. In 2014, they still owned the vehicle, and some 60 years later, they reenacted the same pose with big smiles.

One of the most popular Facebook shots involves Main Street in Oatman, Arizona. I’ve encountered several 1920s scenes with Ford Model T and Model A vehicles coming and going, and recent ones having rows of shiny Harley Davidson motorcycles parked in front of stores. The unchanging Black Mountains are prominently in the background of each shot.

Al Stewart wrote a classic song in 1978 titled, “Time Passages.” It’s a tune about thinking back to the past while wanting to return home and hopefully relive things as they were. I have to assume he looked at a photograph album while writing this.

In his song, Al longs for Christmases of long ago and the associated memories. Sadly, for so many of us seniors, that’s no longer possible. A good number of those family and friends in our vintage pictures are no longer with us.

We can still return to the past though, because in so many photographs of the places we visited, things haven’t changed at all. A good example of this would be posing in front of the Grand Canyon 40 years ago for a photograph, and standing there now. Replicating such makes for a great comparison.

Ten years ago, I hiked up a hill near Sara Park In Lake Havasu City, with my wife in tow. The reason for this short expedition was to have Joleen snap a photo of me, with a picturesque background that could be used for writing projects. I especially needed an outdoor shot to go with my short writer’s biography. Now a decade later, I wanted to replicate that same photograph.

I still owned the original North Face backpack, the same hat, sunglasses, shirt, and Ocotillo walking stick used in the 2014 picture. The toughest part was for me to line up in the same position, with a specific mountain on each side of my head.

With the glaring sun above us, it was tough for Joleen to align things perfectly on our digital camera, but she pulled it off as best she could. What we couldn’t change no matter how many times we hiked up there was the lighting. It was always different.

Thankfully, nothing had changed geographically in the two images, yet my face is another story. As to be expected for someone who doesn’t use Oil of Olay for beautification purposes, there are more lines and wrinkles than 10 years ago.

Our goal is to hike back up there in 2034 and do it again. I recently placed my somewhat faded clothing and other items in a safe place just for that occasion. There’s nothing wrong with long-range goals, with this one perhaps keeping us above ground.

The one thing that I have no control over, is by that time, will city planning and zoning have allowed storage units and condos up there? If so, it won’t be quite the same posing in front of either!