Sunday Selections was originally brought to us by Kim, of Frogpondsrock, as an ongoing meme where participants could post previously unused photos languishing in their files.
The meme is now continued by River at Drifting through life. The rules are so simple as to be almost non-existent. Post some photos under the title Sunday Selections and link back to River.
Like River I usually run with a theme. It is winter here - and I am loving it. And remembering winters gone by. So I have dug out an old photo album, scanned a few photos and am presenting a few shots from a wonderful winter day probably forty years ago.
I was a school girl and a few friends and I had a day at the snow. Remember black and white photography? And only taking a few photos because processing them was sooooo expensive? The quality of these photos is not wonderful - but the day was.
That is me with my behind in the air - and I still remember the bruise when I landed. Spectacular - and painful. And worth it.
My feminist self was starting to emerge. I said that I was tired of only seeing snowmen and insisted that we create a snow woman. So the Snowslut was born. I have shown her before - but she still makes me smile.
The meme is now continued by River at Drifting through life. The rules are so simple as to be almost non-existent. Post some photos under the title Sunday Selections and link back to River.
Like River I usually run with a theme. It is winter here - and I am loving it. And remembering winters gone by. So I have dug out an old photo album, scanned a few photos and am presenting a few shots from a wonderful winter day probably forty years ago.
I was a school girl and a few friends and I had a day at the snow. Remember black and white photography? And only taking a few photos because processing them was sooooo expensive? The quality of these photos is not wonderful - but the day was.
That is me with my behind in the air - and I still remember the bruise when I landed. Spectacular - and painful. And worth it.
My feminist self was starting to emerge. I said that I was tired of only seeing snowmen and insisted that we create a snow woman. So the Snowslut was born. I have shown her before - but she still makes me smile.
The Snowslut looks like me!!
ReplyDeletefishducky: Bragger.
DeleteThe photos are wonderful! I wish it snowed here. I'd certainly make Snowslut 2.
ReplyDeleteMyrna R.: It rarely snows in my city, though we can often see snow on the hills. Mind you, it is only 60 miles or so to the nearest snow fields. I should go back. Soon.
DeleteI wish it was winter here right now! A great blast from the past! Love your snow woman!
ReplyDeleteKaren: Winter is so much kinder to MS bodies and minds isn't it? I hope you aren't melting too badly.
DeleteAs a child I used to ride down dead man's hill where there were two hills with bumps in them. my sister and brother and I flew into the air over those so many times. once we ran into a metal clothesline pole and had the bejeezes knocked out of us.
ReplyDeleteLinda Starr: Sometimes I am amazed that we survived our childhoods - but didn't we have fun!
DeleteI saw the little thumbnail and thought, "EC and snow! In Australia?!" So, I looked it up. My goodness. And, every winter sport known to mankind. In June, no less. I guess I'll never think of June as winter, anywhere.
ReplyDeleteWonderful pictures. I've seen a few Snowsluts gracing lawns here--in winter.
Joanne Noragon: Oh yes, we get snow. In a very few places. And I always love to see it.
DeleteI have troubles with your white christmases. Christmas here is always hot. Sometimes very hot.
White hot, so almost a "white" Christmas.
DeleteAll these photos made me smile EC, the one of you mid bum bump and the snow slut. Such a hoot!
ReplyDeleteDeniseinVA: It was a wonderful day - and I still smile remembering it.
DeleteI just love SnowSlut!!! Yes, I remember b/w pictures and the flash bulbs that went with them. I have an editor who wants an old picture...but alas, it is hard as my mother's house burned taking almost all them a few years ago!!!!
ReplyDeleteBookie: I am so sorry. Photos are some of the hardest things to love. Photos and other mementos with no monetary value - and a HUGE emotional one.
DeleteThank you for sharing yourself so beautifully and openly with us! ♥
ReplyDeleteCloudia: I am so glad you enjoyed my trip down memory lane.
DeleteMemories are not unlike the seasonings we add for flavour.
ReplyDeletedinahmow: And there are so many flavours to mine...
DeleteWhat fantastic photos! Especially with the one with your butt in the air (great timing) and the Snowslut :)
ReplyDeleteWendy: It was very lucky timing wasn't it? I am not sure which of my friends took that one - but her timing was immaculate. It was probably the laughing loon pictured in two of the other photos.
DeleteI think I can honestly say that's the first time I've seen a snow-woman! lol
ReplyDeleteIt's a little nippy up here on the hill at the moment, too...and I love it, as well. A very nice change from the stifling heat of our summers. I love being rugged up for a change, and my two furry rascals snuggle in even more.
Great pics, EC...there's some special about black and white photos, I think.
Have a great week...keep warm. :)
Lee: Yet another area where women are ignored? I don't think I have ever seen another snow woman (in the flesh as it were) either.
DeleteA good frost here this morning and the cats went out - and came back in very rapidly saying 'sod that for a game of soldiers'. I hope you and your furry tyrants have a wonderful week.
Lovely snowslut you did, and brilliant of you. 40 years ago.
ReplyDeleteBob Bushell: She was fun wasn't she? And I am pleased to be able to enjoy her still.
DeleteWonderful memories and great B&W images. Thank you for sharing. I can feel the happiness in this post.
ReplyDeleteCarol in Cairns: It was a wonderful, wonderful day. Huge smiles and lots of laughter. And I enjoyed going back in time to it as well.
DeleteThis was my first introduction to SnowSlut! She is simply... the best. Thank you, EC. And yeah, I'll bet that bruise was a shiner. :-)
ReplyDeleteDJan: Snowslut has charm doesn't she? And yes, it was a very, very big bruise. And the bruise is long gone, and the memories of a very happy day remain.
DeleteSnowslut - you have coined a new term!
ReplyDeleteAlex J. Cavanaugh: My politically correct self wouldn't call her that today - but that is how she is labelled in that old photograph album.
DeleteHey! I know that snow-woman! She's French, right?
ReplyDeleteJ Cosmo Newbery: I don't think so. I don't think she is stylish enough - or thin enough...
DeleteTerrific photos. You were clearly having great fun. The Snowslut is very inspired.
ReplyDeleteAndrew: We were, and forty years (at least) down the track I still smile remembering that day.
DeleteOh, I love the snowslut! Often I wish that digital photography had been around 60 years ago to get more pictures of my mother and then again to get more pictures of my children. I had 20 rolls of color film I could never afford to process, so all that is lost of my children.
ReplyDeletePractical Parsimony: I have no pictures of my grandparents (on either side) or of my parent's families. And would love them. And rather a lot of rolls of film never got developed by me either. It was so expensive and the results so unpredicatable.
DeleteJoy!
ReplyDeleteAlexis, Baron von Harlot: And bliss.
DeleteB&W reminiscences have a certain appeal don't they?
ReplyDeleteLove your snowslut - she's sexy, brazen and out there, like she don't care :)
I can imagine someone building a snowman not too far away, with a carrot (or zucchini) placed where you don't usually see one ;)
Vicki: Still chuckling. And I would have loved to have seen that snowman...
Deletethose snowy pics are cool breeze to my sweaty feet....thank you:)
ReplyDeleteand THANK you for the sweet encouraging invite you sent me last crazybusy week! I was so pleased to meet new friends....thanks so much
for being such a community builder. I had my kids all home.....first time since Christmas day. It was so sweet, Sue:) (((((Big glad hug and sorry I couldn't come out to play)))))) big love, Jennifer
Jennifer Richardson: It was my pleasure to tell people about your poetic, beautiful blog - and self. And I am glad you had your kids home. Busy - but precious.
DeleteHappy memories in black and white are wonderful aren't they?
ReplyDeleteI'd not seen your 'snowslut' before. She is truly something else and looks very proud too. What a great idea, one I'd never have thought of but I only had the one chance in the snow (in NZ in 1982) so just a tiny snowman for me then.
Thank you for sharing the fun you were having way back then.
Mimsie: I have rarely spent much time in snow either. Very occasionally it snows here - but not usually enough for construction work. And my snow-woman/snow slut was a heap of fun. Though she got some sideways looks.
DeleteFabulous trip down memory lane! Love the SnowSlut!!
ReplyDeleteRiver: It was a delightful romp down memory lane. I might have to go back again and explore some other by-ways.
DeleteFantastic shots to have - and thanks for showing us! Clearly you enjoyed the cold as much then as you do now - as you might expect, I keep as far from the snowy bits of NZ as possible :)
ReplyDeleteYour snowslut is brilliant! And you have made me put "scanning as many of my old photos as possible" on my Things to do when I retire list.
Alexia: I suspect then I felt the cold more than I do now, but yoof is not sensible about such things. And it was a wonderful day.
DeleteWe always have a snowy winter, so sledding was a recurring part of my childhood. But when I went to university it had a new twist - sliding down a campus hill on a cafeteria tray, or if no tray available, on a flattened cardboard box. And as a mom with small children, my husband and I went to a grown-ups party where we had a chance to take that ride downhill again. I was afraid I would break something that time, though, so I went only twice :) I love your pictures. Something about having fewer pictures makes the ones we have even more valuable. And I remember Snowslut. One of the first posts of yours that I read! I am so glad I found your blog back then.
ReplyDeletejenny_o: I am very glad you found me too - we have been talking for a long time now - and thank you.
DeleteWe rarely get snow and I would love to live somewhere that got it more regularly. Some day.
I did go skiing once - and discovered that I was much faster on my face going down hill than I was while upright. Chronic klutzdom.
Well I never snowslut that a first doesn't she know it's too cold to be naked but she does have gloves, a tree branch and eyelashes.
ReplyDeleteMerle..................
Merlesworld: She was counting on admiring glances keeping her warm - and no-one was feeling generous enough to put any clothing on her. Those fluttering eyelashes didn't work on her builders...
DeleteI love seeing old photographs, and there's something about black and white ones that adds to the it all. What a marvellous day you had, (barring the bruised bum), that's quite a shot caught of you in mid-air, you look like you're in a fiendishly tricky yoga position hahaha. Great smile too *grins back. Great post, thank you for the flashback.
ReplyDeleteSnowslut. I might start calling Snow that, see if he likes it *falls about for some time.
All Consuming: It was a wonderful day - and I am happy to share it. I wonder whether Snow will be flattered that you thought of him in conjunction with my cold, hard woman. Perhaps not. But tough.
DeleteShe was attempting some modesty with the tree branch so not really a slut. Were you acting "like a girl"? You can check about that at LL Cool Joe's if you haven't already been there today.
ReplyDeleteGrannie Annie: No, not a slut at all. I have seen the 'acting like a girl' video - and was acting like a 'young girl', and doing everything with a heap of energy. Which is nice to remember.
DeleteI love the snowslut! :) You look like you were having a blast.
ReplyDeleteSnow is lovely to look at...from a distance. The three years I lived in snow country cured me of the romantic notions of doing so. The stuff doesn't go away when you want it to!
River Fairchild: Oh we were having a blast. And from memory we went down to the coast the next day. Soooo much energy.
DeleteI don't see enough snow to be tired of it, but my father who grew up in Germany, would agree with you. Wholeheartedly.
Yeah, it was expensive getting the films washed and printed.
ReplyDeleteYour Snowslut is perfect.
Haddock: It was wasn't it. And you paid for the failures as well.
DeleteHmm. I don't see my comment...
ReplyDeleteAh, still don't see the original. I wrote that this are such fun photos. Thank you for sharing them. And snowslut is an amazing idea. I will make one the next time I see snow!
DeleteRaquel Somatra: No, it seems your original comment was stolen by blogger. Thank you for coming back and trying again (twice). I hope you can create a snow woman for us - and take photos. Please.
DeleteThose are fun pictures. I do remember black and white, and taking care not to take too many pictures because the cost of developing them was high.
ReplyDeletemail4rosey: I remember opening the package of photos with my heart in my mouth. Did they come out - or has the chance gone by... And there were too many failures in my early photos.
DeleteI've not seen the Snowslut before so I'm glad you posted it today. It definitely made me laugh!
ReplyDeleteThe Furrries of Whisppy: She was fun wasn't she? Though as we were building her there were some disapproving looks and comments from other people. Sigh.
DeleteWow - that snowslut is absilutely wonderful!! Her eyelashes are phenomenal. And she even wears gloves!! Fantastic!
ReplyDeleteCarola Bartz: She had a belly button too. And her mouth was constructed from a gum tree leaf.
DeleteOOO!
ReplyDeleteHow I love seeing the photo of you laughing, playing in the snow, Sue.
It made me smile.
Also, the Snow-Woman is sexy. Love those false eyelashes.
Even back then you were LIBERATING women! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
My Inner Chick: I was very, very tired (and still am) of the invisibility of women. Particularly women who don't fit the 'beauty mould'. And my snow woman didn't feel the need to apologise for herself.
DeleteThat's a very fetching Snow lady! I'm especially impressed with her chest --- me of the 34 A cup.....
ReplyDeleteMolly: Her living bra had died. And, I think at the time all of her builders were also A, or sometimes B cup divas.
DeleteHey Sue,
ReplyDeleteWhat a trip down memory ski hill. Slip, slidin' away.....
What's the difference between snowmen and snowwomen? Snow balls.........
Hope you had a nice weekend.
Gary
klahanie: Perhaps the difference is in the position of said snow balls. And the size...
DeleteMy weekend was lovely - and I hope yours was too.
Your snow woman was a dominatrix! Very feminist indeed ;)
ReplyDeleteRiot Kitty: And she was one of my first (overt) steps towards the feminist light.
DeleteI'm still smiling even as I'm typing this. The happiness radiates through those wonderful old photos. Wonderful! Thanks for posting them.
ReplyDeleteBrings back my own memory of growing up in Los Angeles. Snow wasn't exactly a part of our lives. Some kind of field trip was once organized through the school, to take us Southern Californian kids to the hills to see actual snow. I remember there being some consternation how we would even dress--nobody had cold weather clothes. The outcome was similar to your day--lots of exuberant sliding down snowy hills. These days with all of the budget cutbacks and emphasis on only covering material that is on the standardized tests (Art? Science? Are you kidding?), I can't imagine them ever doing anything like that now…
And you know how much I like your snowwoman… heh.
Paper Chipmunk (aka Ellen): Exuberant is the perfect word for that day. It wasn't a school excursion, which would have been MUCH more regimented. Something I didn't do well then, and am worse at now.
DeleteAnd I love that you could feel the joy. Which it was.
PS: And, if the school had any part in the day, the Snowslut would have been soundly frowned upon. And probably dismantled.
DeleteSHE made me smile too:) I love tobogganing. B
ReplyDeleteButtons: Welcome - and thank you. She was a heap of fun wasn't she?
DeleteSnow Slut! LOL
ReplyDeleteDid you give her a big ass? And is that a hole where her vagina should be?
Birdie: She did indeed have generously rounded buttocks. And that hole is her belly button (I think).
DeleteI saw that you mentioned a snowslut to Litte Lotta on her blog so I needed to come over and see what you were talking about!! :) Oh dear.
ReplyDeleteFurry Bottoms: Do I detect you are not a fan?
DeleteI love, love, love that snowwoman. Well done, good on you! :-)
ReplyDeleteGreetings from London.
A Cuban in London: She is fun isn't she? And was at the time as well.
DeleteI just love those photos. I've been sledding and the same thing happened to me, a huge bruise. Love your snow-woman.
ReplyDeleteClarissa Draper: Neither the snow nor the sled were precisely forgiving. Fun though.
DeleteI love black and white photos - these are wonderful.
ReplyDeleteLynn: Black and white photos have a charm of their own don't they? Or I think so.
DeleteOMG! This is my first vision of Snow Slut. I love her!!!
ReplyDeleteCarol Kilgore: I am glad you enjoy her icy magnificance.
DeleteSnowslut. That's hilarious!!! Yes, there is something charming about the pictures of me as a child that were in black and white. It's like a completely separate universe than we live in now!
ReplyDeleteStephanie Faris: Welcome - and thank you. Childhood is another universe - but often a much MORE colourful one.
DeleteSnowslut looks pretty hot (given that she's made of snow).
ReplyDeleteCome to think of it I've met a few girls who were hot but also cold...
Lovely post.
Andrew Maclaren-Scott: And isn't it nice to see one who is cold - but also hot.
DeleteAnd the snowslut has to beat the snowmen off with a stick?
ReplyDeletelotta joy: Of course she does. Often.
DeleteLove the b&w photos, EC, they have such a charm that isn't always found in our thousands of snaps we take now. It was a time to appreciate the miracle of photography.
ReplyDeleteCarol: And it was a miracle. Magic. And rather a lot of dismal failures as well. Somehow, even despite the lack of colour in these photos, the sheer joy of the day is present.
DeleteWhat fun! Snow is magical.
ReplyDeleteladyfi: It is, isn't it? And made more so for me because I rarely see it up close.
DeleteCompeting with snow when ones livelihood is at stake, is a far cry from enjoying snow in the form of a recreation . Enjoying winter sports can come at a high price according to the figures of injuries and death which have occurred already in the snow regions of Victoria and NSW. And less than half the season gone .
ReplyDeleteMy worst vision of ice and snow was travelling as a 17 year old on a battleship to Murmansk in 1943,. never liked the stuff since.However, I liked your pics.
Vest: My father grew up with snow and never liked it. My English mother also saw a lot of it growing up.
DeleteI didn't and I love it - knowing that it can make life difficult. I would still much rather be cold than hot.
And yes, the death toll this ski season is high - and will no doubt get higher.
What fun photos of your long-ago happy day!
ReplyDeleteSnowbrush: I was amazed at how evocative I found them - and it seems that some of that joy was captured for everyone. Which is lovely.
DeleteI just love Snowslut and the imagination and fun that it took to create her. And the joy of sledding....I did take the 3 older grand kids sledding on our nearby Sugarbush Hill this season. In the beach I was swimming in off Lake Michigan the other day had ice balls floating in it just 12 weeks ago. Don't miss winter.
ReplyDeleteSue in Italia/In the Land of Cancer: I love winter. Crisp and clear and the elegance of tree branches against the sky... Swimming has charm too though.
DeleteI love your snowwoman. I have made two in recent years, bedecked in jewelry, a bust, flowers, and scarves. But you made one long long ago, very progressive. I do remember the days of black and white photography, and taking few pictures due to the costs of developing. In my younger adult days, I took slides because they were cheaper to process, all useless now and I may have lost all those slides, mainly of my years in Alaska, in one of my many moves.
ReplyDeleteStrayer: We virtually never see snow here, so I haven't built anything from it since those long ago days. But I wouldn't build a snowman. Have you ever seen what Calvin (of Calvin and Hobbes fame) does with snow? Now there is an imagination...
DeleteAnd yes, I remember slides too. And have misplaced/lost ours.
I do remember seeing a reference to this snow-woman on your blog before, but after you mentioned her in a comment on my post, I had to come back and take another look. I'm sure she was the talk of the town! ;)
ReplyDeleteSusan F.: Talk of the hillside perhaps. Briefly. She was fun though.
Delete