Twenty Years Gone - Part One

What with Christmas and all, the latest Round Robin Photo Challenge has kind of snuck up on me. The topic, "Past Vs. Present", comes to us from Connie, author of Windswept - Connie's Country Life.

I had some fairly ambitious plans for this, but I'm sick with "digestive inconveniences," and I just spent two hours editing a photo I'm not even going to use tonight. So I'm going to keep this entry simple, and make a second pass at the topic tomorrow night.

The past year I've selected for comparison purposes is 1986.



I'm not quite sure whether this Christmas photo was taken in 1986 or 1987. It could be either year. This was taken in our living room/den on Grannen Road in Tucson. 1986 was the year we moved from Columbus, Ohio to Tucson, Arizona, with a couple of months of traveling in between. The house on Grannen was the first one John and I ever owned, and we loved it. Next to the fireplace on both sides was a huge picture window overlooking the yard, the desert, the city and the mountains. The fireplace worked, and in the winter we used it often.

The dog in front of the fireplace is Princess Guinevere of Westcott Street, better known as Jenny Dog. She was the first dog I ever had, and the best to date: smart, friendly and fearless. Around 1988 she was diagnosed with Cushing's Syndrome. She died in 1989.

2006. This gas-fed fireplace in our current house has never been used in the 12 years or so we've been here. John painted the fireplace white years ago, covering up bricks discolored by old smoke. Unlike Jenny, who hung out in front of the Grannen fireplace on her own, Tuffy had to be lured and coaxed to pose for this. She got two pieces of turkey for her trouble.

One thing you probably can't tell from the photos is that each dog had her own stocking. Also, the ones marked John and Karen are the same ones in each photo, but they look very different twenty years later. Each year we add something to the outside of each other's stocking - a spangle, a button, a pin, a mini-ornament. After 20+ years of being filled to bursting, they are not in great condition. I've had to sew them up repeatedly and I'm not good at that. This year the white top of John's stocking tore away from the red part. I used the buttons and pins to reattach it, but it's clear I'll need some professional sewing done if these stockings are going to last another 20 years.

Tomorrow night I'll tell you more about 1986 vs. 2006. Meanwhile, check out the other Robins:

Linking List:

Connie
Windswept: Connie's Country Life
http://journals.aol.com/maxsox5/WINDSWEPT-CONNIES-COUNTRYLIFE/

Karen- POSTED!
Outpost Mâvarin
http://outmavarin.blogspot.com/

Carly - POSTED!
Ellipsis... Suddenly Carly
http://ellipsissuddenlycarly.blogspot.com/

Janet - POSTED!
Fond of Photography
http://fondofphotography.blogspot.com/

Julie - POSTED!
Julie's Web Journal
http://www.barrettmanor.com/julie/journal.aspx

Suzanne R - POSTED!
New Suzanne R's Life
http://newsuzannerslife.blogspot.com/

Steven - POSTED!
(sometimes)photoblog
http://sepintx.blogspot.com/

Brad - POSTED!
We Is
http://we-is.blogspot.com/

And yes, of course: you're welcome to play too!

Karen

Technorati Tags: Photos, memes, Past, Present, Round Robin Photo, Past Vs. Present, Personal, Tucson