Nothing Changes Much

Not sure where this post is going to go quit yet.

I saw a person's picture on FB that I knew when I was growing up. This person had band pictures on their page. I wasn't in band. I was in 6th grade, but I was so bad, I was in the second to last chair all year long. The 7th and 8th grade pictures were in front of the junior high that I went to.

I remembered that I had wanted to look on Google Maps at the junior high because I had a dream that included the field that was next to the junior high. I wondered if it was still there. The field is still there. But then, I had to go look at the house we moved into when I was 12. I followed South Street all the way to Moller. Google Maps didn't have street view of my street. But I could "stand" on the corner of Moller and College and see the end of my driveway. My parents sold the house several years ago. I don't know if I'll ever see it again. I can see the additions that my dad made to the house by the roof line.

So then, I had to go look at the house I lived in from age four until 12. It's labeled as County Road somethingC/Stadium. I remembered there being a county road number, but not the C. And there is street view of that street. We loved this house. There was a church next door. The church wanted to buy our property (2 acres+ the house) for a parsonage. My parents felt like they "should" because it was a church. Now, we all agree it was dumb. I learned to ride my bike in that church parking lot. On street view I could see that the ditches were full of water, how typical of Alvin. They didn't seem as deep as I remembered. The tree I loved to climb was still there. And so was the extra driveway that my dad put in for my Gramma and Papa. When I was 8 they moved into an Airstream. They traveled all over for 30 years. And when they were in town, they'd park in the driveway that my dad built for them. For a while my Uncle Mike lived in a trailer on the driveway. All of the trees were so big. Sadly, all the rose bushes were gone, including this giant one that took up nearly all our front yard. When I was little the house had blue gray slate siding. It now has what looks like yellow vinyl. When I was little, my dad closed in the garage and put in another front door (I don't know why, he did stuff like that.) We had two front doors. They are both still there, which made me smile. You'd have thought when they put new siding on, they might have closed one of the doors up.

I could see the house where the vicious dog lived that would chase me halfway down to my friends' house on my bike. Those people had a kid that would just walk right into our house without knocking. It freaked my mom out every time. I could see my friends' Melanie and Tracy's house. It looked exactly the same. But the house across the street where we used to go jump on their trampoline was completely obscured by bushes.

I looked at my friend, Christi's house. I couldn't remember the street, but I remembered how to get there on my bike, so I just traveled that route on the map. It looked the same. I remember sleeping in their camper and spying on her "fine" neighbors.

Sorry, HRL-B. I could not see your house at all. No street view and the trees obscure the view of the house. Tell your brother to get them cut, so the next time Google wants to take a picture we can see the house.

My mom thinks Google Maps is part of a conspiracy to spy on people. (Looks like the view of my current home is at least 2 and a half years old. So that can't be it.) I sure am glad for it, though. It's fun to go look at places you used to live.

Other places I looked at:
Quail Hollow Apartments on Rosharon Road
92 B Bridge St., Brandon, Suffolk

Now, I wish I could figure out how to capture the images on my computer so I could show you.