I've spent way too much time lately trying (and failing) to edit old 8mm movies that are part of the legacy left by our parents. Dad wasn't a great photographer, and given the technology of his era, he could make his audience seasick just watching home movies. They are nearly faded away in some instances. But my brother had them converted to VCR and now digital, which should preserve them until the newer, better, something else comes along.
The short clips tested my memory banks, and in a surprising number of instances, I would come up with the name of a person I knew half a century ago. Our parents' friends. Men and women who were important to them, not me. It's amazing what we have stored in our brains.
Most of the film clips are taken on vacation, which shouldn't be a surprise. That's when everyone hauls out the movie camera and records themselves in front of famous landmarks. But the real surprise was what an emotional response those old camping and beach scenes evoked. The happy times of childhood reel out in my mind without the aid of old movies. The old cement swimming pool fed by a thermal hot spring and cold mountain stream in Granite Creek, Wyoming is more vivid to me and my siblings than our classrooms, our neighborhood houses, our distant relatives.
Photography has come such a long way. Now a good mobile phone can capture an "aha" moment, and in short order they are available on the Net for anyone to view. Good, instantaneous, share-able. You can't beat it. As parents, hubby and I didn't take many movies of our kids. But I hope we gave them a lot of bright moments that they pull from their memory banks and relive when they need a healthy dose of nostalgia.
