tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post50170073465656872..comments2024-03-27T03:19:11.216-04:00Comments on Assistant Village Idiot: Nostalgia Isn't What It Used To BeAssistant Village Idiothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-70359700811774564362021-03-22T13:44:17.919-04:002021-03-22T13:44:17.919-04:00You remind me of me. Truth is, I just like driving...You remind me of me. Truth is, I just like driving.stevohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12393254273631852865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-32762448956901818572021-03-20T21:12:31.793-04:002021-03-20T21:12:31.793-04:00This post prompted me to look up the first address...This post prompted me to look up the first address I remember from childhood. It is the most interesting house I ever lived in. It was built in 1912 and we moved there in late 1959 or early 1960. It had a coal-fired furnace in the basement with the chute for coal deliveries in the driveway which did not connect to the separate garage. That was accessible only from the alley behind the house and had likely not been updated since 1912.<br /><br />We lived there when zip codes were introduced and area codes started to become important and that's probably why I remember both the address and phone number. We were there when JFK debated Nixon, when JFK was shot, when the Beatles were on Ed Sullivan, and it's where the idyllic part of my childhood took place. I walked home from school for lunch every day and smoked candy cigarettes. I had birthday parties in the backyard and everyone wore frilly party dresses. My Dad built a bomb shelter in the back yard. <br /><br />Online photos show the house looking very much the same from the street except the lawn has suffered horribly. The screened in porch still had a swing in the same location, the fence is in the same location, the huge autumn leaf generators are the same. The 1912 garage is gone, replaced by a 2 car garage where the bomb shelter was. I'd love to know if they filled that in or did serious reinforcement before building on it. Donna B.https://www.blogger.com/profile/16771075314473811594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-85015291251857355322021-03-19T22:29:10.471-04:002021-03-19T22:29:10.471-04:00It's not the same, but when I want to look at ...It's not the same, but when I want to look at the old homes I lived in as a kid, I get on google earth, type in the address and I can get a view of the places as they are now. Both houses were in San Diego, CA. The first house, which is still there, we had to move because of imminent domain so they could build the 805 freeway. We were told the right of way was going to take half the property.<br /><br />Slide over to the corner of Home Ave and Spillman drive, where the little league fields used to be. Some kind of professional development is on that spot now. Across the street was the 7/11 on one end of the building and our neighbor's bar, The Gateway Inn, all gone now, replaced with something else.<br /><br />Our second home, before we moved to WNC, was below a couple of schools separated by a 10' chain link fence, on one side, grass and pavement in the play areas, for the special needs and mentally handicapped kids and on the other, an elementary school with the ubiquitous sand and gravel play area. Now the schools have been combined together and the house we lived in, has bars on the windows and the Olive tree in the front yard is gone as is the Fig Tree in the back yard.<br /><br />I wouldn't mind going back and visiting Balboa Park for the museums and the zoo, but really have no care to look at the old homes.Mike Guentherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13760305520055214986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-67365976468539601072021-03-19T15:39:13.857-04:002021-03-19T15:39:13.857-04:00The place my parents rented until they bought thei...The place my parents rented until they bought their house when I was 3 years old, burned down in the 1970s. As they took many slides of our stay there, the house remained in my memory. Through the decades, during visits back to my hometown I'd drive by the place where the house used to be. In my most recent visit several years ago, I drove down the road but couldn't locate where the house used to be. Memories fade.RichardJohnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07490819511630683969noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-8806848228779000582021-03-19T11:25:39.741-04:002021-03-19T11:25:39.741-04:00I bought my first house in '75. Second was in...I bought my first house in '75. Second was in '78, just before I got married (it was behind the first house). Third house in '80. Fourth was a rental, and fifth was in base housing. Sixth I'd bought and rented out, and moved there in '86. I'm in <br />#7 now (new wife's dream house.)Sam L.https://www.blogger.com/profile/00996809377798862214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-37048113994770347402021-03-19T11:15:22.980-04:002021-03-19T11:15:22.980-04:00Actually I can fully relate to your morning musing...Actually I can fully relate to your morning musing AVI. I lived a number of places growing up - SE Mass, Shenandoah Valley, near Villanova College, and in central NJ before by family returned to Mass when I was finishing up Jr High. In years past I have revisited all of my former residences and enjoyed the nostalgia very much. But of course my younger family members enjoyed those trips much less, and had to humor old Dad. At this age I wouldn't mind seeing some of these old haunts again - but I don't need to. Sponge-headed ScienceManhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12914014641719908195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-8868780653290465652021-03-19T11:08:21.987-04:002021-03-19T11:08:21.987-04:00"If you don't know where you're going..."If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there."Sponge-headed ScienceManhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12914014641719908195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-37580897668383597812021-03-19T10:22:40.593-04:002021-03-19T10:22:40.593-04:00I should probably get a list of all the addresses ...I should probably get a list of all the addresses I've lived at and see what they look like now. Some I know suffered hurricanes, war, and/or redevelopment. Everything wears out--I don't look the same anymore either.jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01792036361407527304noreply@blogger.com