Simply Col

I find I often leave Anvilcloud’s blog feeling inspired.  This visit was no exception.  His post on  A Short Story Made Long reminded me of how our Christmas Present is so forever intricately interweaved with our Christmas Past.

In no time I found myself leafing through my own too small accumulation of vintage Christmas photos, finding more than one forgotten treasure and quickly losing myself  in the cascade of attached memories.

I think my favourite is this one.

My first Christmas with my first dog, Bing.

I must have been about 8 months old in this photo and I do appreciate  how  the memory that I carry is in truth an interlacing of the act of looking at this picture a zillion times and listening to the words of my mom and dad’s related stories.

“Tell me again about Bing, Mom… please, please.”

And mom would once more tell the story of how, when she was very pregnant with me… just weeks before I was born, Dad walked into their home with this humongous dog in tow.

Dad loved dogs!

Mom had never owned one in her life.

Both Mom and Dad  made light of this in their stories, but it must have been quite the adjustment for Mom… pregnant, setting up a new home… and now the proud owner of this monster of a dog.

But there must also  have been a grain of  truth in  the telling of  how  Mom quickly came to love this  big goof of a dog  because for all the years that  followed,    a sleeping dog  (Bing long gone) could almost always be found at my dad’s feet.

Another favourite… a little bitter sweet.

Me (the oldest at three) and my sister (must have been about 18 months)

The years have brought some strife to our relationship.   I look at this picture and I  know I must do my part to mend this.

And then there is this one.

The three sisters, each of us busy, busy and very into our Christmas loot.   I so remember that cowgirl outfit… I loved it.

My dad was a cattle buyer by occupation and in the eyes of his little girls, a true cow boy.   Now here was I… just like my dad.

I am thinking that this post has evolved into being about photography as much as it is about Christmas.    It seems to me that it somehow demonstrates the power and value of old photos and the role they play in keeping otherwise forgotten moments alive and remembered and treasured.

So here is my simple wish for you…  the merriest of Christmas’s and the best of New Years.   May  you  carry both the warmth of the past and present  close to your heart.

And if you get the chance in all the hustle and bustle that is Christmas,  I hope you find the time to snap a Christmas photo or two.   I’ll just bet ya, that someday and to someone… that captured moment will bring a smile and spark a memory.