Week 3: Childhood Memory

 

Week 3 is supposed to be a "Childhood Memory." I struggled a good bit with this topic because I don't have easy access to my childhood home, which is where most of my memories occurred. I didn't really want to put someone else's child in my photo, and so it really came down to objects. This teddy bear was my constant companion when I was a child. It was a birthday gift when I turned 5. I slept with him every night tucked under my arm, and he still sits on my nightstand 29 years later. He's as flat as a pancake, his eyes are all scratched up, his nose is threadbare...all signs of the love that I had for my "Teddy." I took the photo with a low aperture setting, but I deleted the image from my memory card before I was able to record all of the exposure settings I used.

Runner up photos:

I also took the photo below of the Sunday comics hanging over the edge of the couch.  When I was very young, every evening, when my mom came home from a long day of work, we would lay on the couch together and she would read the comics to me. It was my favorite time of day and was so special to me. I think this is also one of the things that gave me a love for reading - although I didn't get beyond the newspaper strips in the comic genre (much to Brandon's dismay).

 

I took the photos below at a friend's birthday party today. The kids were playing in the yard between the pool and sandbox. The sandbox photos remind me of specific moments in my childhood when we went to Swan Lake and played in the sandbox on the playground there. Usually, it was me and my cousin Greg and we would have a good time playing until we made each other angry over something. In my memories - that is sort of the way it always went down until we got older. The photo of the kids in the water just reminds me of the joy and carefree feeling that I had as a kid - especially in the summer. We always had an above-ground pool in the yard and it was always full of kids in the summer time.

Same photo, but I can't decide which I like better. The color version is bright and really reminds me of the kids that had just deserted the sandbox. The B+W version is much more dramatic though - I like the contrast in this one. Either way, please make note of the mud pie that had been prepared with love and care by the young girls that were playing here.

 

I just love this one...