Being away in the past

While away I was able to take this picture of a butterfly even though I didn't have my Minolta film slr camera at hand which was kind of nice as it reminded me of the various butterfly and related places I visited when I was younger admiring and letting them fly on and off of me
It was a carefree time and I hope to have more to say about this blog next week

Reading and being me

Searching for the real Chris in the mishmash of projected ideas by others used to be hard going because I just got to the point I was a full time actor, arriving on set, performing my part in the play of life. 

The one thing I knew was while I could play act an adult as far as knowing about typical interests went, it took me away from who I actually was as the minute the topic ended so did any pretense of adulthood.
I've always knew I was the eternal boy who was and saw himself just like the boy here happy in that junior world and at my happiest dressed more like him taking obviously some account of where exactly I was.
The real Chris may of had difficulties with reading but loved books and libraries, being spirited away in an imaginary world of adventure plus enjoyed an audiobook where I could just drift away.

My reading likes

Looking for any kind of an influence on what to me felt at the innermost level what it meant to be a boy is not the easiest thing to do but looking for what I identified more with was more with the adventures of Tom and Huck in Mississippi in the 1840's where much of the modern state apparatus just didn't exist, schooling was in its infancy any adventure was subject to discovery and consequences.
To be able to just go off and explore investigating whatever held your attention was something that was uppermost in my mind with the limits we had of just woodland and unstructured play areas to do ours in, that to be was the spirit of boyhood in its rustic ruggedness.
Civilization is not a bad thing, far from it but an excess of social control that puts being as clean as a tailors dummy, that disallows the vibrant and natural aggression  of boys crushes the spirit  running contrary to what a boy is and feels.
He's not decorative nor genteel but lively and assertive and he learns his limits though rough play and not by denial of his masculine core.
For me at that time, this book was very much an affirmation of being. 

Blue Peter specials

Perhaps one aspect of my past boyhood tends to be that I can recall pretty much what I was doing and what I liked and unlike some people having never really moved beyond the same sorts of things I still have things connected to them.

I was an avid viewer of the BBC Tv series Blue Peter which at that time was broadcast most Monday's and Thursday afternoons knowing the presenters of my era (and a good many of  the later ones) watching every episode and having the year books of which I still have those I had during that time.
Growing out of the Blue Peter yearly Expedition idea was the Special Assignment series that was done mainly by Valerie Singleton as in time she moved into grown up television that started in 1972 and continued toward the 80's that looked at cities and islands that were shown outside of the main program. Travel was something she loved apart from being a keen amateur photographer.
There were tie in books of which I have the above Islands book from 1973, the cities book on Rome,Paris and Vienna from 1973 plus 1975's Hong Kong and Malta in the Island series which were published by the BBC and Piccolo

In 1975 which was an important year for me personally, Blue Peter run a special competition for viewers to write in their own Odd Odes helped by the late Cyril Fletcher who you might recall from That's Life who established this genre in the UK.
The best ones within the prizes award for each age group (first, second and third prizes) were published together with others in 1975 in this paperback book which I still have.

As we moved into the 1980's resulting from a completion for viewers to send in their recipes  for their favourite home made foods with the help of Delia Smith who made them after awarding prizes it was decided in 1980 to publish a paper book of them with half the proceeds going toward the International Year of the Child covering savouries, cakes with biscuits, main meals, puddings and sweets coupled with drinks.

Looking back upon it, it is interesting to recall the breadth of topics the show covered introducing you to new ideas to explore perhaps yourself and how it was that we, the boys and girls of the era helped make the show their our letters in a show of interactivity before the modern age of the show website with fan club and emails.