The archives arrived in the mail today (BIG Thanks, Sam and Alisa!!)…and here are the fruits of my
labors first few scans.
There’s a LOT of work to be done, not the least of which is simply going through two boxes of old stuff, the contents of which are in NO earthly way…ummm…organized.
And then there are literally hundreds of slides that have to be reviewed, a major project in and of itself.
So. I’d best get started, eh? In the meantime and with no particular reason in mind, other than these shots were among the first pics “out of the box,” literally… I give you:
Dad, Mom and I around 1949 or so. I was but four years old, Dad was still in his Army Air Force tans (he’s a 1Lt here), and Mom was lovely.
The Second Mrs. Pennington and I, at my retirement ceremony in February 1985. That’s my commander with his back to the camera, shaking my hand immediately after pinning the usual, customary, and reasonable Meritorious Service Medal on me. A bitter-sweet day, to say the very least. (and a damaged photo)
Three motorcycle pics, beginning with the first formal pictures of the RD-400, taken in the back yard of my house in North Bend, Oregon in 1979. These pics are followed by a shot of my RD-350LC, taken the day I sold it in late May or June of 1983. My tee shirt says “I ride the world’s fastest production 350cc motorcycle…Yamaha RD-350LC.” Note the pallor of my skin. That comes after living in Ol Blighty for three years.
More to follow…including some embarrassing sorts of photos, like this one from 1975. And yeah, I
was in the Air Force...but I was on leave. SN1 on the left, SN2 on the right. Note my cool specs. We called these RPGs back in the day...as in “Rape Prevention Glasses.” They sorta worked, too.
As ever...click the pics to view the larger images.
Dad, Mom and I around 1949 or so. I was but four years old, Dad was still in his Army Air Force tans (he’s a 1Lt here), and Mom was lovely.
The Second Mrs. Pennington and I, at my retirement ceremony in February 1985. That’s my commander with his back to the camera, shaking my hand immediately after pinning the usual, customary, and reasonable Meritorious Service Medal on me. A bitter-sweet day, to say the very least. (and a damaged photo)
Three motorcycle pics, beginning with the first formal pictures of the RD-400, taken in the back yard of my house in 
lol...great stuff Buck....Sargent Hair on leave...I wore my almost that long when stationed in Griffis, New York....but don't think I could have gotten away with the beard.
ReplyDeleteDon't you wish you still had those classic bikes? I know I would like to have the ones I have passed on/wrecked.
Like you, I had "issues" with AFR 35-10, Pat. I reported in to my next duty station with hair and beard intact, btw. My sponsor and my new NCOIC met me at the plane at Haneda airport in Tokyo (I flew commercial, not military) and my NCOIC said to me "Oh, shit. Are we gonna have problems here?" He was a good guy, though. I got sorta cleaned up before my first day at work, losing the beard. But I was told to go get a second haircut, coz the first one wasn't good enough.
ReplyDeleteThe RD-400 is still in the family...SN2 has it. And rides it, too.
Have fun being holed up in the RV with the boxes of memories!! These winter days are the perfect time to sort thru them all (not to mention that all the hard work will pay off someday for your kids/grandkids. Now they won't have to sort and scan them all when the boxes are passed down to them!).
ReplyDeleteYou're another one that should do a blook dude!
ReplyDeleteYou have some much to write down before it fades away like all those old photos!
We called those types of glasses BCs--Birth Control glasses.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in Navy basic training, our graduation weekend we were allowed to have liberty with our families. One girl asked if we were allowed to wear our civilian glasses, and the company commander's response was, "Please do!"
Those glasses are so funny and the names for them are better. Why did the military restrict what kind of glasses you wore? I wonder who picked them out. Obviously some one who needed glasses.
ReplyDeleteWhen i was in the 2nd grade i needed glasses. When i went to pick them out i could not see the glasses or how i looked in them. I of course picked out the nerdiest ones. I asked my mother how they looked. She (not wanting to hurt my feelings) said they looked fine. She did not know i could not see them. The pictures still haunt me;)
I like the pictures.
Yup, I've always heard those glasses referred to as BCGs: Birth Control Glasses. I'm sure you could make some sort of inference about PCness requiring that rape no longer be in any way associated with humor, but in any case, my experience with BCGs has so far been limited to FT. While down there, those of us who wore glasses were allowed to wear our usual civilian eyewear, albeit with a retention strap, because although needing some sort of safety with regard to the glasses, we were future officers, in the USAF no less, and would not be caught dead in BCGs. Of course, there was one kid who just thought he HAD to wear BCGs...man, he stood out like the proverbial sore thumb.
ReplyDeleteI love the photo of you and your parents - such the handsome family. The motorcycle photos show your true love. The long hair and glasses, well, it is just showing the true you (minus the BC glasses). SN1 and SN2 are too cute to be boys - I was confused at first.
ReplyDeleteJenny: You're absolutely correct about this time of year being the perfect time for an indoor project. I managed to make it through the boxes yesterday and came to two conclusions:
ReplyDelete(1) I'm not near as good a photographer (nor is TFMP/TSMP) as I thought I was, and
(2) There's a lot missing from the archives.
So the scanning project might not be as large as I first thought. I won't scan blurry or poorly framed shots unless they're seriously important.
Mushy said: You have some much to write down before it fades away like all those old photos!
The problem, Mushy, is that most of the memory has already faded away. That, and the lack of notes associated with the pics. I looked at some shots yesterday and thought "Where the Hell was THIS taken? And WHO are those people?" all too often.
Becky: re: Please Do! That's funny! Those glasses were horrid, especially the women's versions.
Ashley: TSMP has pics of herself in those pastel-colored Cat's-eye glasses from the '70s...and she has an "active dislike" for those pics, too. The things our parents do to us...
Keep in mind... those were military-issue glasses. Lowest bidder, and all that. But one would think you could do cheap and stylish at the same time, wouldn't you?
Mike: There's more than likely an element, however large or small it may be, of PC-ness at play in the terminology. We were a LOT less PC back in the day.
I wore my BCGs with a sort of weird and displaced sense of pride. They were SO geeky and SO ugly they were the essence of "anti-chic." That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Lou: Wait until you see some of the other pics of SNs One and Two. Keep in mind...it was the late 60s ~ early 70s. Lotsa long hair on males, of all ages.
I like your "read" on the pics. Thanks!
Great RD photos. Classic stuff.
ReplyDelete