Am I old? I was at the Worlds Fair in New York in 64!
In a nutshell, while most people find their way to the ocean or some form of celebration honoring those in service to our country, I sadly submit I stayed home. I did however, manage to marathon through "A Band of Brothers" for a solid eight hours and "Saving Private Ryan" for another three. There were more films, but I slept through some of them. Rest and resting horizontally prevailed.
While people came and went from hotel Barbosa for three days, I was able to spend time with my grown up and not so grown up kids in ways that resemble episodes of Seinfeld. We visited classic conversations of almost nothing.
Seinfeld daily usages e.g.:
Every time Mark talks glass shatters. He’s a high talker.”
Or:
“It’s like everything she was telling me was a secret. She was a low talker.”
Or even:
GEORGE: Why don't they have salsa on the table?
JERRY: What do you need salsa for?
GEORGE: Salsa is now the number one condiment in America.
JERRY: You know why? Because people like to say "salsa." "Excuse me, do you have salsa?" "We need more salsa." "Where is the salsa? No salsa?"
GEORGE: You know it must be impossible for a Spanish person to order seltzer and not get salsa. (Angry) "I wanted seltzer, not salsa."
JERRY: "Don't you know the difference between seltzer and salsa?? You have the seltzer after the salsa!"
...and so forth.
We managed to talk up a storm about all sorts of oddities.
Naturally, baby food banter is part of having a new baby in the family. And yes, as a result of the nonsense and conversation with my son Tony about the finer flavors of baby food a lip smacking memory emerged; Gerber's spaghetti, tomato sauce and beef dinner. I recalled the day this delicacy tasted best; August 1964 on the ferry to Liberty Island to see the Statue of Liberty with my mother. This buried flavor of my virgin toddler palate was the best compote in the world. For a moment, I could almost taste it again and similarly a mist of childhood memories began to surface.
I spent most of the holiday weekend in bed. In those moments that I wasn't watching D Day movies, I made my way from room to room looking for the box with photographs my mother saved filled with visages of our younger days. I am fairly certain she meant for these images to return to the coffee table on any weekend dedicated to time travel.
I had forgotten that I was one of 51 million people that visited the Worlds Fair in New York 1964.
August 1964 - the Unisphere Me near Paris Pavilion below
Here I am with Snow White and Doc
I too had forgotten that while we were in New York that August of 64 my father stayed in Miami to fend for himself in the face of Hurricane Cleo a category 2 storm with winds of 110 mph.
I hope to dig up some more Kodak moments. Perhaps the photographs will awaken dormant memories in days to come.
Hope you had a great Memorial day and Buen Camino!
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