should old acquaintance be forgot

reader, 2009 is here the baron couldn't be happier about it. 2008 was, on the whole, a pretty good year, but there are some moments the baron is glad to leave behind, including this, this, this and this.

of course, we all know the passage of time doesn't do anything to those things, doesn't eradicate them. time, though it may diminish our memories and the immediacy of the moment, doesn't actually eradicate anything.

for instance, photos? time's anathema.

and the baron's mother? doing a little house cleaning.

to wit:




the baron doesn't know in what years those photos were taken. but, she remembers her mother parting her hair with scientific precision and wrestling it into two pigtails. and she remembers that white dress from the second picture; it was diaphanous, kind of, and had a little cluster of orange and yellow flowers embroidered on the front. and that last photo? with the bangs AND the farmer looking shirt AND the overalls? the baron has no idea what's going on there, but you know what? she's very glad for the years that have intervened between that photo and today... helping her forget and all that, eh?

reader, happy new year. the '09's going to be a good one.