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Tag: philippines

Old Photo Friday

July 21, 2006 • • Leave a comment

I mentioned Montezuma Castle in last week’s Old Photo Friday, and today we take a couple of looks at it from two different points in time.

Montezuma Castle National Monument is located in Cape Verde, Arizona and has nothing to do with Aztec emperor Moctezuma. The cliff dwelling was built by the Sinagua people, and according to Wikipedia Montezuma Castle was the last known dwelling place of the Sinagua. It was abandoned around 1425.

This first image was taken during the summer of 1982 when we were visiting family as we moved from the Philippines to Italy. I was 11, and it was the first time I’d ever seen a cliff dwelling or heard about the Anasazi people who built them (the Sinagua are considered a branch of the Anasazi group).

Montezuma Castle circa 1982

The second image was taken in 1996 when my wife and I were traveling through the four corners region looking at the ancient ruins.

Montezuma Castle circa 1996

Like me, the trees seem to have grown a bit in the intervening fourteen years.

In Italy, I would see the ruins of Pompeii and many other Roman sites, but none of it captured my imagination or sparked a sense of wonder comparable to what I saw in Arizona when I was a kid.

Old Photo Friday

June 2, 2006 • • 6 Comments

From 1979-1982 we were stationed at Subic Bay Naval Base in the Philippines. That was 3rd – 5th grade for me. It was always either hot and dry, or hot and rainy, so everyone’s favorite escape was Baguio City high in the mountains of Luzon. We usually stayed at Camp John Hay an old base that had been converted into a mountain resort.

Baguio 1981

I remember Baguio being a nice place where the air was relatively cool and the mountains were beautiful. Sometimes there was even frost on the ground.

This photo was taken in 1981 with my old Kodak 110 instamatic, which accounts for the bluriness. Looking back as an adult, I’m impressed with my composition considering I didn’t know about such things back then. It’s a wonder my thumb isn’t in this shot as it is in so many others.

So Young. So Pimpin’.

November 5, 2005 • • 2 Comments

I had dinner with my parents this evening and went home with a box of old stuff, mostly clothing from my childhood.

So, here it is. My old bowling shirt from when I was in a bowling league at Subic Bay Naval Base in The Philippines.

It was the early ’80s.


I was probably in fourth grade.


We were “The Four Aces.”

We were pimpin’.