DREAMWORLD and REALWORLD overlapping....the quest for preservation.

 I was at the flea market and saw a book on the New Orleans world fair.  I put it back and walked around a bit more.  After I got home, I thought to myself that I should have bought it and will go back next week.

Last night I had a dream that I was at the flea market and asked the dealer about where the books were.  He pointed me in the direction.  I found a shoebox filled with small black and white photos of some toddler from the 1960's.  It could have been me, but it wasn't. I just pondered how some things that were once dear to someone ends up in a stranger's flea market stand.

Perhaps it is one of the many reasons that I am drawn to flea markets.  A handwritten inscription in a book, someone writing their name on a record sleeve, a book of family photos....all relics of a prior life or lives.

Over the course of my 60 plus years, I have strived to keep elements of my past.  It has been difficult.  3 major floods destroyed much of my early mementos.  Then there are the elements of humidity, sun exposure, etc.   The paper gets brittle.  Several drawings that I had done in ink have faded to the point that they are barely visible.  Similarly, with autographs, they fade with age and some of the ink disappears. 

In my house, the decks of Trex are deteriorating with the elements of wind, rain, snow, sun.  The outdoor lights are breaking down.   This is over a course of 25 years or so.   I truly question the age of these history books, documents, structures, etc.  I have seen in the course of my own life how difficult it is to preserve something.