Mary and I just completed a home remodeling project. An arduous undertaking over three plus months. One by-product of the work was creation of a small ‘studio’ space to which I could move my paints and other art materials. I also moved the steel case cabinet which contains the bulk of Dad Porter’s binders, notes and related items.
In the course of unpacking the cabinet and then repacking it, my attention was caught by an envelope, recycled of course, from which a wad of snapshots threatened to tumble. I did not remember looking at this material before, so I carefully removed the pictures in order to handle them.
The bulk of the twenty-nine photos fell neatly into topical clusters. From oldest to newest, there were four from Oak Ridge Tennessee where we spent the summer of 1956. There were four from Nelscott in 1957 and another four from a beach trip which may also be Nelscott. There are also four pics from Road’s End probably in 1959. Another four pictures are from the summer of 1960 when we relocated to Hawthorne House in Corvallis while Dad worked on his master’s degree. Lastly there are four pictures taken in the summer of 1964 when Mama put some of us on the bus to Aunt Harriet’s in Visalia. Two of the pictures are from the long drive back in the station wagon with Dad. Another five pictures are either duplicates or unclear as to where they fit. I did not scan them.
I’ve scanned the images by location and time as noted. A substantial number of the pictures are of Beth who was very small in most of them. I am hopeful that Susan and Nick might have memories stirred by some of these images.
I have segregated the snapshots into the categories and marked each group with a folded paper label. They are back in the envelope and will be returned to the ‘to be done’ files in the cabinet. For now, they will be available on Porterville.
Oak Ridge Tennessee 54. “Farmerette” Beth on tractor. Susan and Beth after the ice cream man came by. David with Mardi Gras mask for an apparent party at a nearby school. Susan and David on steps of our barracks. In the previous post about Oak Ridge, I had tried to find a photo of our building. I had a picture in my head of what I thought it looked like. The building in the picture doesn’t fit the memory at all.Four pictures around ’59, I think in Nelscott. The background shore in the Beth jumping picture matches the shore in the next set. Susan and Nick at surf’s edge. Mama with Beth and also Beth ‘jumping waves’. Susan, Nick and maybe David? The picture of Beth and Mark Leipzig (back note) at the railing says this is Nelscott which would make sense in ’57. David digging in the sand, Nick and Susan petting a dog, and Susan walking the beach with a headless man all fit. Note the seawall in the picture of Dad and Susan. Did Mama intentionally decapitate Dad in that photo?
Pictures from Summer 1960. David and Nick in front of Bompop and Grandmother’s Roads End beach house. David with balsa airplane in Corvallis. Beth astride “Chica” a horse in Corvallis and a picnic in Corvallis. Nick, Susan and Beth. Brian in a blur. Mama is pregnant with Bruce. Maggie Byrne and the starfish is at the top of our stair. The Byrnes stayed in the rental just north of us which may be the visible building. Beth at the foot of the stair in the ‘sand fort’ recalls hours spent building driftwood things and tunnel or castles. The great picture of Susan is atop the point I think. The print date says December but the picture appears taken in a warmer season. Last is the picture of Dad with one of the boys and perhaps David in the surf. These last pictures are a jump forward in time. The back yard and pool at the Manchesters’ house in Visalia. Nicoli Anne is sitting in the chair. Mama is standing with Nick, and Susan and Beth are also sitting facing Nicki. It is David with the surfboard. At that age he was fixated on surfing (Beach Boys, Jan & Dean) and Mom and Dad agreed to stop in Santa Cruz where he could rent a surf board and experience surfing. They were kind. It was an underwhelming experience for him. The picture of the family group on the rocks is labeled “Susan’s Birthday” and I assume we celebrated it on the side of the road on that California trip.
