Monday, August 6, 2007

the strongest form of magic



i remember this me well; awkwardly adolescent, dreaming grand , assuming small, dauntingly mixed 'n' matched, sporting silly slippers but no self-confidence
whatsoever.
i don't remember the curls - i fear they were concocted for that 1962 christmas - but i do achingly recall that homely hi-fi, and the snap-swish-slap of falling 45's, and the sweep of a soundtrack i would later regard - from cliff richard through manfred mann and beyond - as totally, and specifically, and wonderfully mine.
"return to sender" was number one when this photograph was taken. "good vibrations" was number one when we waved the homely hi-fi adieu, and moved home to canada.
both songs - and all those in between - can carry me, unerringly, back, so that i relive as purely as i remember.
i can almost - cross my nostalgic heart - feel those pompoms jiggle.

6 comments:

  1. Now I'M awash in nostalgia for our years in France but NOT for the housing that resembled cell-blocks, and the furnishings identical, and truly awful, in every apartment.
    But the magic of those years ..
    never to be forgotten.
    love - mom

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  2. This touches the heart of anyone who looks back at being 12 - there are jiggling pompoms somewhere in all memories - a tactile moment, negligible and never forgotten. As always words and image compliment each other perfectly and say so much.
    J

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  3. I must have been conceived at that time. Seriously: I was born on September 24 1963.
    I think we had just about the same stereo. I didn't have those slippers though. They do something for you, they go with the time.

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  4. I love this I wish I had shots of me in 1962...wonderful

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  5. oh my gosh ~ you are so freaking cute :) i love this, those wonderful lamps and that great hi-fi ... wow ...

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  6. Look at you!!! :) Aren't we lucky to be old enough to have experienced Hi-Fi's and 45's?! ;)

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