All That's Old Is New Again

Sometimes, dear reader, I am smacked in the face with how very old I truly am. Most of the time, I feel like I'm in my 20s in my head. I still giggle at inappropriate jokes, bodily functions, and bawdy language. To be transparent, my memories from my youth are clearer than my memories from the recent past. On the rare occasion that I am angry with The Bibbed Wonder, I have to remind myself that A) I am angry with him and B) why I am angry with him. However, I clearly remember being upset with him on November 6, 2003, because he didn't call me when he said he would. Sigh. Anyhow, I digress. Getting back to how old I truly am. When I walk through antique stores or "vintage" shops, I see relics from my childhood. The toys I played with as a kid are now on antique store shelves. The clothing I wore in the 80s and 90s is considered "vintage." I guess that makes me an antique, too. 

What makes me giggle is that trends that are now considered cool were cutting-edge when I was young. Take Polaroid cameras and pictures, for example. A trend is going around for digital-free photography. My very talented friend, Debbie of Edbie Inspired Photography, is loving this trend. Deb is over AI, filters, digital editing, and nonauthentic photography. During our sunflower maze, she set up a small photo booth and offered a professional Polaroid photo shoot. I loved seeing her photos, hearing her laugh with people, and seeing how happy this "new trend" made young people. When I was a child, I remember my grandmother and Pop being very excited and feeling very trendy for owning one of the first Polaroid cameras. We would all sit around and wait for the picture to develop on the film and then gasp in awe at the immediate images that appeared. I remember fanning the pictures to make them develop faster or blowing on them. I'm not sure if it actually helped, but it was a big production. 

Debbie wants to get a film camera to go along with her digital camera. She likes the idea of authenticity and feels that using film is a more authentic art form than being able to edit photos digitally, adding fake backgrounds, easily editing body parts, light, and composition. Real film has a nostalgic beauty in this digital age.

 I believe, dear reader, I still have disposable cameras from my wedding reception that were never developed. Remember that trend? Every table had a disposable camera on it for guests to take candid pictures during the reception. Most of the pictures were awful, but a few good ones captured small moments from the celebration that would have been missed. Now, we all pull out our phones and snap away.

My Bean, who is on top of all things young, trendy, and cool, told me video rental stores are cool again for her generation. Apparently, young people have a desire to experience physical media. I have a personal collection of more than 300 DVDs that I just can't bring myself to part with. When we moved to the farm in 2013, I donated all my Disney VHS tapes to St. Vincent de Paul. That is a decision I will probably live to regret. I explain to The Bean what a weekend looked like for me as a kid. Most often, it meant visiting the video store to rent a movie for the weekend, then sitting around with my dad or my friends in our living room, eating popcorn, Doritos, and other snacks, and watching movies. Often, I felt elation or disappointment depending on whether I could get the latest, coolest video release. Ah, those were the days. 

Another trend is buying and owning physical books. It has a name that escapes me, but it's essentially building a traditional home library. I've been doing this since I was a kid. This is nothing new or trendy for me; it's a way of life. I have specific genres: informational books about farming, homesteading, animal care, and country life; a large collection of cookbooks; and fiction, nonfiction, and historical fiction. It blows my mind that building a home library with physical books is considered trendy. I guess that tells you how very old I am. 

So, dear reader, I am old; my way of life is now so old that it is trendy again. I suppose if those who came before me were to see that I have built a small business on goat's milk soap and moisturizer, they would giggle and say, "Young people are so weird. We did this before it was cool." Old knowledge never goes out of style and has more benefits than we give it credit for. On this overcast September day, stay safe, be smart, know that when you are old, the things that were cool when you were young will be cool again, and that, dear reader, will make you feel old, and keep washing your hands. Good hygiene never goes out of style.