This can be applied to all sorts of things (not just dating, ha ha), but for me, it was Google maps. At first, I thought it was sort of creepy, but then the magic truck* drove by again, taking new pictures, and little V and I were lost to the mists of time... until yesterday!
About a week ago, Alert Reader TP#2 sent me the following:
Google (GOOG) has updated its Street View feature so users can now travel back through time and see how places have changed since the mapping service launched in 2007. Users will be able to click on a new clock icon in the corner of the screen when using Street View, which enables anyone to explore roads and areas almost anywhere in the world. Clicking this new icon will then allow users to move a scrollbar, changing the year and even season of the area or building they are currently looking at to see how it has changed over time. (Bloomberg)My immediate thought was, I can see my picnic with Vaughn again!
I rushed (by typing in a url, of course) on over to Google Maps, put the little man in front of Saamis Rotary park, and ... there it was, with the new splash pad. No little V. No picnic. I remember how hard I had tried to do some kind of screen capture on the image** when I first saw it.
I remember the first time I noticed it was gone.
Then, two days ago, my dad sent me a link to some items that he's posted on kijiji -- that I accommodatingly store in my garage (since nobody in their right mind would drive out to North Gower for a gently-used telescope) -- with the link to my address on Maps.
"What are the chances," he asked, "that both your mother and I were at your house that day?"
Parked in my driveway is their white car. Parked in front of the house is their minivan. Judging by the "landscaping" (loose term) of the front yard, I guessed that the magic truck drove by sometime over the summer of 2012, when I was on bedrest, Chris was in the Hat, my dad was in full basement renovation/sawdust creation mode, and my mom had moved in to help out, despite my fervent, repeated, and desperate assurances that, really, I was fine, and I didn't need to suddenly live with both of my parents again. So, to answer his question, the chances were great. It would have been much harder to have found a time that I was alone. Blessedly alone...
I kid, I kid.
Kaff.
Yesterday, I went to find something else on Google Maps, and I got a new screen. And a little clock in the corner. I caught my breath, zoomed in to Medicine Hat, then to my old park, and clicked on the clock icon, and ... there we were. Vaughn was wearing the full-sleeved blue bib that now belongs to Tamsin and his little brown hat, and I had on my teal v-neck tee, that I still own.*** According to the date stamp, it was September 2009. He would have been 8 months old, and I would have been -- just slightly -- pregnant with Ailsa, though I had probably just found out.
It's amazing how nostalgic I can feel for a time which was incredibly difficult (or so I thought at the time -- life has since taught me differently!); with Chris was travelling a lot, I was overwhelmed and dreading the return to work... and probably feeling nauseous. (Just) one little one underfoot, who was going to be going to daycare, and how-could-I-leave-him! I was probably wrestling him to stay still on our Elvis picnic blanket while we ate our snack, and wished that I had remembered to bring wipes or diapers or any of the trappings that weigh down my giant purse now. But how sad I felt when I thought that precious moment was gone. And how I ached to see it again.
Thanks, Google. You rock.
* I'm assuming it's a magic truck. I mean, it apparently drives up every freaking street in the world and takes panoramic images that they can splice together into a website (portal?), which some people (nerds) might call technology, but to me, is pure magic. Also, if you zoom in, you'll see that I'm looking directly at it... but I didn't see it... so I'm updating its status now to an invisible magic truck. Whoa.
** I, like, right-clicked at least four times.
*** I still have -- and wear -- that shirt. It contributes to my inner monologue when I'm walking downtown and I see a panhandler, and I can itemize every article of clothing I have on, how much it cost, and how long ago. My recent record: blouse ($5.99, Value Village, 2010), pants ($19.99, Sirens, 2000)****, shoes ($49, Winners, 2008).
**** Lettuce take note: this marks the first occasion where I've asterisked out of another footnote. I'm not sure if that's an accomplishment or not. But anyway, those 14-year-old pants (shiny grey, straight-leg jean cut) still look brand new. Stop judging.
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