Woods and fields, earth & sky: that’s the way it was, the summer of ‘73

Isn’t this a nice view?  It’s an aerial photograph of my childhood home, taken the summer of 1973.  Recently I was browsing a vintage photography site that included aerial shots of the rural parts of Greene County where I grew up.  It contained roughly 4000 images, and I was happily surprised when one of them turned out to be my family’s farmhouse.

No date, it simply said “Greene Co PA, Summer 1973”.   If you look closely enough, you can see my Dad’s white music van, to carry equipment when he & my Uncle Mike performed on the weekends.  It had Donovan Morris & the Country Rockers painted on both sides. 

We also had a giant blue Oldsmobile at the time that I liked to pretend was the Batmobile.

I looked through my mom’s old photos for pictures from the same time frame that aerial photo was taken, here’s one from July 1973

That’s me, Dad and my older brother Duke in the back; Steve, Shawn & Donda-Lin in front

It’s such a curious thing, that aerial photo.  I used to look through our old family albums so much, I could easily identify the month & year the picture was taken without having to turn it over.

(My mom always wrote the date on the back of each photo). 

Duke’s 10th birthday cake, May 1969.  Mom and our youngest sister Courtney coming home from the hospital, July 1975.  But that aerial picture above… I wonder what was going on at the time? 

Our car & van were parked outside, so we weren’t away on a family vacation or visiting relatives or swimming at Ryerson Station.  Where was everybody?

Most likely, us kids were outside hiking the surrounding fields or woods, or exploring the old sheds and barns that dotted our countryside.  Perhaps my older brother Duke was upstairs in his room, reading one of his countless sci-fi paperbacks (which he kept in neat stacks atop his bedroom dresser). 

Our brother Steve was either at his favorite fishing hole or our neighbors the Gordons, and if it was a Saturday morning, my sister Shawn & I might be in town, spending our allowances at Murphy’s (a Five & Ten store) or the weekly matinee.

Our neighbors the Gordons; this is a pretty early photo, they were considerably older when we moved to the country in 1970

My brother Steve spent so much time at their farm, I’m surprised they didn’t try to adopt him!

I don’t really have anything of importance or interest to share here, besides that top photo.  I know I have a tendency to take a lot of strolls—more like lonnnng walks—down Memory Lane, but seeing our old farmhouse again after so many years, on a bright summer day in 1973 no less… 

The recollections & wonderings it inspires is just too much to resist.

Here’s one more photo, my sisters Shawn & Donda on their bikes, June 1973.  For all I know, that plane taking the aerial pictures was directly overhead!

   Happy Fourth of July Everyone