My Old Stomping Grounds
I used Google Earth for the first time tonight and was able to (somewhat) focus on the house I lived in from the time I was 10 until I joined the Navy, and then I was there a couple more times later (though only briefly.) It's actually part of a small hamlet of about 35 houses and a couple of other buildings.
My old house is one of the buildings the inside the pinkish circle. When I was growing up the entire triangular field was our playground (and the lot that cuts into it, along with the house on that lot, was not there so we had the entire thing.) We launched rockets and drove mini-bikes. For several years we had a regulation little league baseball field complete with backstop in that field. It also included a copse of trees at the western tip of the triangle of land my dad owned and we built forts and clubhouses there. Also in that copse of trees was a small pond complete with frogs, tadpoles and a kind of shrimp that resembled fairy shrimp, all of which we loved to catch when we were kids. It's up for sale now, a long with a lot of memories.
Sigh. My old house as viewed from outer space.
My old house is one of the buildings the inside the pinkish circle. When I was growing up the entire triangular field was our playground (and the lot that cuts into it, along with the house on that lot, was not there so we had the entire thing.) We launched rockets and drove mini-bikes. For several years we had a regulation little league baseball field complete with backstop in that field. It also included a copse of trees at the western tip of the triangle of land my dad owned and we built forts and clubhouses there. Also in that copse of trees was a small pond complete with frogs, tadpoles and a kind of shrimp that resembled fairy shrimp, all of which we loved to catch when we were kids. It's up for sale now, a long with a lot of memories.Sigh. My old house as viewed from outer space.
posted by shoprat at 9:18 PM
13 Comments:
It's incredible how much things change in 30 or so years.
Happy Thanksgiving, Shoprat, while you're looking back and down.
:D
Happy Thanksgiving! Very cool to see your old stomping grounds from space.
Heck, I wish I had a good enough connection to even be ABLE to pull up Google Earth! My dial-up is at its worst ever performance, just in time for the holidays.
BZ
Absolutely amazing what technology can do now-a-days!
I have used Google Earth to look at almost every house I have ever lived in.
Why is this kind of thing so important to us?
I love doing it, and have even spent time looking at the house I now live in, even though I see it every day.
Must be the excitement about possible Big Brotherism.
Or something.
google earth is a great place! and looking up the ole homestead is always fun!
ps - (with apologies) you've been tagged. see my blog for details.
When I first got Google Earth the very first thing I did was look up the house we live in now, but I never thought of looking up houses I lived in as a kid. I wonder if any of them are still standing.
I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, Shoprat!
Sounds so idyllic it almost brings tears to my eyes..THAT is America...tadpoles, the field, little league, clubhouses, a safe neighborhood....all up for sale, in more ways than one.
Beautifully written, Shoprat...."my old house as viewed from outer space"...when you're born and raised in LA, trust me, this look back might as well be from outer space, though we did have safe neighborhoods in those days, too!
Beautiful.
Happy Thanksgiving Shoprat!
That's really cool, man!
Looks like you had a great stomping ground!
I grew up in an area much like the above, right here in Northern Virginia. Perfect for an active kid!
Northern Virginia isn't like it was back then. Now, kids are pretty much all cooped up.
All Thanks for your patience while I was away.
Post a Comment
<< Home