The backward-looking person is by definition some kind of historian: genealogist, stamp collector, spinner of yarns.
Likes: old movies, old pictures, old people, antiques, closets, old wine, old letters, long-unopened boxes, old houses, etiquette, graveyards, and some museums.
Remembers: what her best friend said in the upstairs bathroom in 1966, where long-demolished buildings used to stand, what was planted in the garden three seasons ago.
Occupational niches: therapist, humanist, detective, literary scholar, auctioneer, biographer, architect, cook, librarian, judge, tour guide, preservationist, priest, grammarian, lexicographer, hand-writing expert, estate lawyer.
Keeps: used calendars, concert programs, pianos that nobody plays, grandpa’s hats, old cameras, sample ballots.
Can imagine: being on a ship in 1803, being enslaved, being a Founding Father, being a fin-de-siecle beauty, being Teddy Roosevelt, cooking and eating in colonial times.
Can’t fathom: how much happens in a day.
Image: a ring from our 2013 Christmas tree.
Susan Barsy
Just catching up on blog posts, Susan. About time! This is just hilarious. I laughed out loud. I can hear you reading this aloud. Love the photo of the tree; when something looks like something else….
Thank you, dear friend–glad the tone of the piece came across!
Being forward-looking is vastly over-rated (though I AM looking forward to seeing you soon)
Susan