You're looking at my current screen-saver, which is a photo taken in 1991 from the bedroom of the house I'd moved from 19 years before. I'd previously returned to the house 3 years earlier, which was the first time I'd been back since flitting in 1972, but on that occasion the day was sunnier. However, there's something about rain which I find relaxing, and though the house across the back didn't have an extension when I lived in the area, the picture captures, mood-wise, exactly how it would've been on a similar day when I occupied the room.
The toys on the sill are mine, taken with me to 're-connect' them to the home in which I'd first obtained the originals. The owl is from the Aurora BATMAN model kit, and was painted and affixed to the model when I finally assembled and painted the rest of it around 1993/'94. (I'd obtained it in 1984/'85, as a replacement for the one I'd owned in the '60s.) The photo below is taken from a slightly different angle, and you can glimpse my old primary school, which was demolished in 2014. Houses now occupy the spot.
When these photos were taken, the original windows were still in use, though they were replaced around 1992 with new PVC-framed ones. I'm glad to have got the chance to look through the same windows I'd known as a child, and see again my reflection staring back at me as it had done when I was a boy. I wonder if the panes recognised the taller, older face that stood before them as the one it had once been familiar with - or was I just a stranger who meant nothing? I'd like to think otherwise.
Click on the images to enlarge - then just relax as you look at the rain on the glass - just as I often do when I want to relive the past. Remember, the droplets you see are 26 years old - so, in a sense, you're reliving the past too. Just thought I'd share the moment with you.
