Here's a shot from the early days of the farm. This may be the summer of 1976, which would make me 8 years old. Removing the olive green walls was one of the first things my parents did, but obviously not before we were already canning vegetables and milking cows (and serving the milk in tins). My parents still use this table and chairs.
From the late 70s, in front of my grandparent's house in Des Plaines. That is not our dog; Snoosh belonged to our Aunt Margie who may have been in high school at this time.
This must be from the early 80s, in Cloverdale, after the master bedroom was converted into the great room. Judging from the attire, it looks like we're just pausing for Christmas. When the sun rises there will be cows to milk and wood to split!
Any tree could be firewood for us, no matter how rotted. This should be the summer of 1984.
I bought this flat-black 1973 AMC Gremlin in 1984 and ran out of gas on the way home. It would be a very fun car that would get me through high school and college (including a summer in Georgia) and then finally to my first apartment in Syracuse where it rapidly degraded with a smoking habit from some kind of oil leak in the engine. I signed away the title in 1991 rather than pay the towing fee. I miss it. Black was not the car's original color...that was orange and turquoise. Oh how I miss it.
With help from my dad, I painted the Gremlin red and black. It was a bit too warm the day I painted it, so it developed an orange-peel texture. I didn't care. I liked my red car that my uncle Mike called a deathtrap. Indiana didn't have automobile inspection requirements then (or now!) so things like mirrors really were optional.
The Gremlin had a 21-gallon gas tank.
I think I gave my bike a bath that day too. That's Mary helping in the foreground.
This would be late 1985 since Jonee is a baby. Mom could be our sister, couldn't she?
I was a geek who liked his math in front of spartan walls.
I don't remember what I'm dressed for. Church? Senior prom? Dad is way more relaxed than I am. I remember thinking that the 80s feathered hairstyle was very cool.
1985.
My graduation, May, 1986.
