Children at play in Ellis Square bring back my Baltimore summers.
Travel with me to the Past… Read with me in the Present
The Look Back 2013-2019: October 2014
First published October 25, 2014. Revisited with a new reflection.
We’re going back to October 2014, to children splashing in the fountains at Historic Savannah’s Ellis Square.
I was strolling through the square when I captured what I called the quintessential images of summer childhood fun. Looking at them again, I have fond memories of being a child myself. Different city, different years, but I knew that excitement long before I ever raised a camera in Savannah.
A chance to cool off
Give children a chance to cool off on a hot day and see what happens!
Growing up poor in Baltimore, Maryland in the ’70s and ’80s, we had our own version of this.
Yup, good old fun. Ours started with a neighborhood fire hydrant.
What I notice now
Looking back through the photographs from that time, I found more of the children at play. The sheer joy of youth! In one frame they’re running through the spray; in another, a child has settled right down among the fountains.
The shadow and light are at play too. Children become silhouettes while the water catches the sun. I can look at the droplets suspended in the air, then find myself thinking about the water we played in back home.
During those hot Baltimore summers, parents in the neighborhood would open the fire hydrants. All the children, no matter who they were, would play and splash in the water in the street. This was before the specially built splash fountains I see in public places now. We were happy with what came pouring out of that hydrant!
Then there was the excitement of school letting out for summer and the city opening the community pools for everyone. It only got better when I actually learned how to swim!
I don’t remember paid swimming lessons for kids at our pool back then. I guess you had to go to a YMCA for that. What I do remember is how much I enjoyed being in the water once I could swim.
A moment from the original: Water frozen in place
Back in 2014 I wrote:
“Motion is still life as time slows to crawl.”
Looking at this photograph, I can see what caught my attention. Water frozen in place, with the children paused right along with it. The fountain would keep spraying and the children would keep playing, but I could hold on to this part.
I’m glad I stopped to take these pictures. Twelve years later, they’ve brought back those Baltimore summers and the fun we had cooling off together. I went looking through photographs of Savannah and ended up remembering home.
I’m glad for the memories I can share with others.
Read the original “Daily Photo Challenge: Refraction – Ellis Square” — October 25, 2014 →
The Conversation Continues
Come splash around in the memories with me.
The Look Back and Throwback Thursday are the perfect categories to invoke memory and conversation. These pictures brought back fire hydrants and community pools for me. I am grateful for the ability to recall wonderful times growing up. You may have an entirely different place in mind.
Where did you go to cool off and play when you were a child?
I can still experience that child-like joy through these pictures, my memories, and the stories you share. I’ve told you about our Baltimore hydrants. I’d love to hear about your summers.
📍Ellis Square, Savannah, Georgia
Collection
The Look Back, Child-like, Children at Play
Captured with
IPhone 5
Published by
Robert Snap Spot
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