The Past
I own a series of books of old photographs coupled with paragraph-sized captions that describe Cincinnati, Ohio. I lived in Cincinnati for 18 years. The books are printed by Arcadia Publishing. Arcadia has a line of these titles with old pictures of cities across the nation.
I enjoy these books. I enjoy thinking about the history of familiar places. It’s helpful to have my own experiences placed between the context of a past I did not see and the inevitability of a future I won’t be part of.
I can think of four ways I interact with the past in Cincinnati. This example can be carried over to many other places and experiences we have all had in our lives. Ideally, these four ways will all connect to paint a coherent picture of my life and the lives of others.
Here are my four ways, I’m sure there are more, to interact with the past—
1. With books, I can go back before I was born in 1967 or before I arrived in Cincinnati in 1980. This is impersonal, but it can be done at my leisure and allows for reflection.
