©1974

Love this building, always have.

In the late-1970s my father lived in the house that used to be to the right of it. There was no heat in the house. My dad used to roll my brother and me up burrito-style and lay us in the bed to sleep. I'd wake up shivering to the tip of my frozen nose at 3am, and he'd still be up reading the book he'd bought when we walked to The Hobbit Habbit earlier that day.

He baked fish for dinner on a cookie sheet lined with tin foil. He doesn't remember this; he says he doesn't like fish, but I distinctly remember the bones.

I remember him proudly showing me the sourdough pancake batter that was slowly, slowly rising in the fridge for Sunday morning. We ate them with honey. He says he doesn't remember doing this either.

His American flag backpack, the serious kind with a metal frame, hung on the back porch, always ready to go. Because sometimes you had to be on the road in the 70s. It was that kind of decade.

Sometime in the late-80s or early-90s they tore down the house and the beautiful church to the left of this building (the church steeple remains, but it eluded my lens). They built an apartment complex in the area behind it. You can view the above photo large, if you like.

***

Click if you'd like to read more stories about my childhood.

Comments

[ELK]

maya the photos have so much life to them within the bricks ...I think it is
such a unusual shape as well..you are so talented to document these shots.

[Bella Casa]

Hi Maya,

I love this story, it's so gritty and oh so the reality of the 70's, at least the way I remember them, growing up in a big city with a single mom.

I wish I had more pictures of the buildings from my youth.

I remember one old apartment building that we lived in...it had an incinerator in the middle of the hallway, probably the only modern convenience of my youth ;) The landlords were from Korea and always had pickled cabbage in huge garbage cans in the basement where we did laundry. It smelled so bad, but I wish I could smell it just once more.

The summers were hot and we lived on the third floor, the top floor, so it was even hotter. I would put the fan in front of the refrigerator to get some relief until my mom would catch me and make me put it back in the window to blow more hot air on us.

Wow, I don't know where all of that came from! It's amazing how much a photo and a touching story like yours can spark memories that you hadn't thought of in a long, long time. Thank you.

Bella

[Bella Casa]

Stumbled :)

[Amy]

I love that building too. And I can just feel the 70's vibe when you talk about your father. It's almost like I can see the plaid.

[Nora]

Makes me want to grab my copy of On The Road, or even Bohemia. Love it! Love the building too and as always, amazing photography.

[kim]

Oh, my - must try to make something in those colors today!

[Lori]

loving your photos!

[Gayle]

maya, as always, I love to listen to your childhood stories. That building is very neat. Is that a door on the second floor?

[robin]

hello maya. gosh it has been so long since i have been to visit i just don't know where to start! i love the extreme colors of this building and it's raggedness, the broken windows, the lack of stairs to that doorway above... and i have said it before you are a master storyteller!

[Shealynn Benner]

I love old buildings! So much history. :)

[Toni]

Beautiful captures of this great old building. The intensity of color is fantastic! Love the door to nowhere, although you can see the line where a porch roof/deck once stood. Love your story, too. =)

[Teresa]

I loved that little story! It's funny how memory is so subjective...

[Terry Kearns]

Maya, where is this building?

[Alexis]

I would surely love that building too!