Snapshot & memories: Well-dressed for first day of nursery school

That's quite the amazing outfit I'm wearing inside the house on Mulberry Street in Montoursville, Pennsylvania. The photo is captioned "First day of Nursery School, Sept. 3, 1974" — nearly 51 years ago. I am about 3 years and 9 months old in this snapshot.

Groovy fashion maven Wendyvee comments: "Moms of the mid-1970s — always dressing their boys as if they were cosplaying 'Junior Executive in Business Casual at a Team Building Retreat Weekend.' Winning the side hair part and mischievous smile game, though."

I'm also thinking what an amazing fireplace that is. That was an amazing house, overall; I wish I remembered more of it. Thank heavens for a few stray snapshots that still exist. I'm sure it would seem impossibly small if I went inside today. Even my hazy memories tell me the upstairs was very cramped, and I was tiny then. Here's another shot of the interior and another great Chris outfit.

(If I had access to the Mulberry Street house, and if that fireplace is still there and if I could find similar clothes at a vintage clothing store, I guess I could try to recreate this photo for the side-by-side effect. But it wouldn't be pretty.)

I have very few memories of my two years of nursery school, though I wrote about it a little in this 2018 post. I did eventually launch me on my successful public school journey, though!

Other snapshots and memories          

• Adorable little me on Mulberry Street
• Kitchen at Willow Street house in Montoursville
• Me and Pop-Pop in the kitchen
• Commodore 64 corner
• (Missing) snapshot & memories: Thanksgiving
• Me & Cyrano
• Me in a Star Trek shirt
• All kids do these days is play video games
• Posing with a Saturn V in 1982
• The Phillies are hot, and so was I
• Relocated fire engine in Montoursville
• Family outfits of 1972
• Our little bookstore

"Stress the help. Not detention — help."

One of my current reads is Our Children's Children, a 1974 novel by pastoral sci-fi author Clifford D. Simak. As the story opens, thousands of humans from the far future are streaming into present-day Earth using portals of some sort. This is causing an immediate crisis for world governments, because what are you supposed do with all of these newcomers in need of basic human resources and care?

I began reading more closely, considering parallels with our current moment.

Here are some passages from the opening chapters:

• "They count upon your sufferance," said the man. "They are refugees."
• "An invasion, you might call it. but not a warlike invasion. They are coming emptyhanded. They are quiet and peaceable."
• [U.S. president speaking to Secretary of Defense] "Use every resource at your command. You have inflatable shelters. How about transportation and food. ... You'll have to handle it on an emergency basis until we can settle on some plan. Don't worry too much about procedures. If you have to bend a few them, we'll take care of that."
• [U.S. president speaking to White House press secretary about informing the press] "Tell them we're trying to find out. The situation is under study. You can tell them the armed services are moving rapidly to help these people. Stress the help. Not detention — help. The guard may have to be called out to do the job."
• "Children of our children," said the President, "many times removed. If they're truly from the future, they are our descendants. We can't turn our backs on them."
• "Just ordinary people, sir. Far as I can see. No different from us, except that they got a sort of funny accent. They dress funny. ... But they are polite and cooperative. They don't give us no trouble."

So we'll see where the tale goes from here...

I did peek ahead to some of the comments and reviews on Goodreads, and this excerpt from Cheryl in July 2020 stuck out: "I love stories with 'no bad guys' ... I mean, yeah, there is a threat, but all the people from both eras are just doing the best they can. I'm glad Simak didn't live to see our divisiveness that enabled the election of Trump. I do note that southern Wisconsin, Simak's home, voted for him, but they were desperate for jobs iirc and believed the charm of the businessman. I wonder if we'll ever have the kind of world, or even country, that Simak saw as a possibility."

50 years ago today: Crazy curl perms & "Crazy Mama"

Just for the halibut, here are some headlines and advertisements from the Friday, July 25, 1975, edition of the Worthington (Minnesota) Daily Globe:

• Main story on A1: Yellow gas knocked out astronaut
• House rejects lifting ban on sale of arms to Turkey
• Voting rights act extension passes; Ford plans to sign
• Americans pay more than ever for beef
• CIA reveals how it monitored U.S. mail
• Dairy, swine judging held at Osceola County Fair
• Ford presented Mayaguez wheel
• Accused rapist will press charges against avenging feminists