Ah, the joy of summer heat. Not so much the joy of editing this video, though. For the most part, I have chosen to leave my father’s original editing and splicing untouched. But for this? I decided to “edit around” any appearances my mother or aunt made while sunbathing or walking around in their bikinis.

The film starts on my grandparent’s patio. My grandfather built every one of those rectangles himself. Mixing, coloring and laying the concrete all by hand. The picnic benches that are seen would be a favorite “prop” of mine. Typically, I would draw with chalk on the driveway and then drag the benches around to form various “objects”. Such as the walls of buildings, the locks of a canal or the edges of a cliff. Yeah. I was strange.

The dogs that appear in this film were friendly and belonged to my great aunt and uncle that lived next door. The black-lab-like-dog’s name was Lucky and the collie-looking-thing’s name was Shotzy. I would visit their house frequently – as my great grandmother lived with them. In stereotypical Italian fashion they owned a restaurant. They made and cooked most of the baked goods and sauces in their basement – I cannot think about that without actually remembering the smells.

In the next part of the film, the picnic table is shown before-and-after a typical “eating event”. Conveniently, the windows that can be seen in the background are in the kitchen and dining area. So, it was easy to pass the food and what-not through them. One of the first things out and last things in was a sugar and creamer set of ancient Tupperware. How ancient? I don’t know. But they are getting ancienter – since my father still uses them. Yes. Those exact ones.

I can’t tell what was on the menu this time. But I did spot a jar of green olives on the table. They were right next to the stainless steel, party-sized coffee percolator. Back to the green olives. I love them. I don’t know why, but I do.

Onto sports? The tennis rackets belonged to my mother, aunt and grandfather. I don’t know if I am more amused or horrified at my ability to throw a ball at this point. At least by the time I started playing baseball and pitching I stopped chewing on it. Usually.

In the second half of the movie, clearly taken on a different day – the screenhouse is up on the patio. That octagon, yellow-roofed thing would live for many, many years. It was almost a “second home” during the summer – used for casual sitting, formal dining and pinochle nights.

Just about every weekend throughout the year my parents, grandparents and great aunts/uncles would play pinochle. I learned how to play around the age of 7. How do I know? Because I distinctly recall watching an episode of the television show “Friends” – starring Jill Whelan – which had only one, very abbreviated season in 1979.

The movie ends with me eating something apparently yummy and shows the view from the inside. I can guess that I am not eating vegetables or fruit – since I was spitting most of them out by this age. Much to the annoyance of my mother. So. Maybe chocolate pudding?

Originally filmed on a Kodak Instamatic M26 super 8mm camera. Digitized with a Kodak Reelz and edited with DaVinci Resolve Studio. All products used were purchased by me for my own personal use.

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