Short shorts and tinted glasses

Ahhh, the family vacation. Time spent with one another, enjoying the sights and scenes of U.S. history. Mt. Rushmore, the Empire State Building, Historic Williamsburg, Virginia.

Or perhaps, Pearl Harbor.

Here I am, enjoying Pearl Harbor, in 1982.

There is much to say about this photo. I will not touch upon it all, so feel free to embellish on your own. (There are some places I just cannot go!!)

Let me express a few feelings about this trip. First of all, Hawaii! Awesome! Even in 1982.

What is my real "My Parents Made Me Wear This" issue here? You'd think it was the shorts, which had a matching tank top. It might be the shirt, which matched my father's. And yes, he could have planned our outfits to match since we shared a VERY SMALL cabin on this particular cruise, just when I was getting to that awkward, hate-to-share-a-room-with-my-dad stage. It could have been my dad's shorts--what is going on there?? (My husband swears there are socks involved somehow.) And is my father wearing an undershirt?

I am not, am not, talking about the hair on my dad or my grandmother. Feel free to discuss---here..........

My real issue here is my damn glasses. You probably can't even see where I am in this photo because my darn glasses are so big, and tinted so dark. What were my parents thinking? Who thought this was an appropriate look for an 11-year-old girl? If I had been in some kind of period film made by Woody Allen, perhaps. (I did grow up in New York, after all.) Otherwise, it's just ugly. No wonder I had people who said "such a pretty face..." when I took my glasses off.

Let's not even talk about the fact that the glasses were made for someone whose face was about 10 sizes larger than mine. Do you seeeeeee how small my face is? Yup, it's still small. And now, my glasses are in PROPORTION.

Here's how much I hated them--shortly after this, I spent much time hiding the fact that I wore glasses. When I entered junior high, I took them off for the hallway walk between classes, slipping them on only when I had to do actual work. (Okay, I did this until I graduated from high school and finally managed to get what I considered "cool" glasses.) I resisted them until it was considered cool to have some indy, live in the Northwest (because I did), hipster frames that were scavenged from a junk shop somewhere or that you'd taken from your grandmother's old stash and retro-fitted. Needless to say, it took some time for the tinted nightmare to wear off.

Briefly, the other folks in that photo. My grandma and grandpa. The reason we were even in Hawaii? Well, all credit on that account goes to my grandpa who was attending a pigeon convention for the homing pigeons he raised. I had many childhood hour spent in the coop, and one whole punk rock phase where I made bracelets out of pigeon leg bands.

Worst part of the trip? Two sun-induced Cold Sores on my lip, on ship picture day of the cruise we were on. Immortalized in a life-jacket and lip decay.

Best part? Getting to go to a luau at the house where Magnum P.I. was filmed. Thinking Tom Selleck would take me away from all of this--that is, before I knew that we were, um, not in the same place politically.

If you're spending this particular vacation with your family, pigeons or not, Happy New Year everyone!