Then and now

I'm working on a project here in Salida...to go through my boxes of slides from the 60s and 70s and convert some to digital form and throw most of them out.  A discovery is that the ones to convert are most often those of people: friends, family, even myself.  And out go the scenery shots except where they add context to what we were doing as people. 

In this case, sitting around on the front porch with my roommates, Lee (left) and Ron (right), in Corvallis, Oregon in the sunshine of the spring of 1970.    I was 26.  After coming home from teaching in Ethiopia (Peace Corps) the previous fall, I was studying agriculture at Oregon State.  And trying to find my bearings back in the States.  

You might notice the cast on Ron's leg.  The result of a ski accident.  At the time, it never occurred to me to go skiing...didn't even register as either a desire or a possibility.   From the photo, it looked as if I was just concentrating on being serious.   Funny now to think I am the one doing the skiing.  And I wonder about Lee and Ron.   Hmmmm....

So perhaps being on the road is just as much about going backward in time as it is going forward in space...and somehow maintain the links between the two.