Home is where the heart is, or where google maps has cameras.
Google maps is pretty darn amazing. Not only can it help you find where you're driving, but it also can evoke the bitter-sweet feelings of childhood & one's past.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=5674+n.+37th+st+milwaukee+wi&sll=43.122302,-87.958496&sspn=0.007941,0.012467&ie=UTF8&ll=43.124793,-87.957809&spn=0.00794,0.012467&z=16&layer=c&cbll=43.120832,-87.958633&panoid=5fdCW0BBljmw9l_MkHUHQA&cbp=1,93.6418806700276,,0,7.129161625339512
That is a link to my childhood home in a neighborhood that was once a tight knit community. Eventually it was beaten down by the city's unwritten plan to lower property values on the northwest side in order to begin gentrification in the northern downtown & Riverwest districts.
Back to google maps, the first time I looked up this address & looked at the street view, a wave of emotions washed over me. Questions like, "I wonder what the living room looks like now" or "does the upstairs still have that smell of old wood" cropped up in my mind. I started "driving" up & down the street, and with every click I was reminded of other memories... Playing golf in the front yard. Sitting on the front steps of Becky's house learning the hard truths of how cruel women can be. Taking the shortcut up the stonewall behind Sullivan's to get to Joey's house.
I found myself wishing that I could get more detail to the photos. Then I realized, I really didn't want anymore detail. The more I looked, the more sadness I felt. The porch is gone, replaced with just a small platform & some stairs. The 40' spruces that shadowed the front yard are gone as well as the fencing & gate to the back yard. The things that made the house a home were no longer there. More detail to the photos would just bring that sad reality into even clearer focus.
I revisit that neighborhood in my mind quite frequently. At least once a month I have dreams that either use my old house, or other houses/yards in the neighborhood as settings. You can go back to the place, but you can't go back to the time.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=5674+n.+37th+st+milwaukee+wi&sll=43.122302,-87.958496&sspn=0.007941,0.012467&ie=UTF8&ll=43.124793,-87.957809&spn=0.00794,0.012467&z=16&layer=c&cbll=43.120832,-87.958633&panoid=5fdCW0BBljmw9l_MkHUHQA&cbp=1,93.6418806700276,,0,7.129161625339512
That is a link to my childhood home in a neighborhood that was once a tight knit community. Eventually it was beaten down by the city's unwritten plan to lower property values on the northwest side in order to begin gentrification in the northern downtown & Riverwest districts.
Back to google maps, the first time I looked up this address & looked at the street view, a wave of emotions washed over me. Questions like, "I wonder what the living room looks like now" or "does the upstairs still have that smell of old wood" cropped up in my mind. I started "driving" up & down the street, and with every click I was reminded of other memories... Playing golf in the front yard. Sitting on the front steps of Becky's house learning the hard truths of how cruel women can be. Taking the shortcut up the stonewall behind Sullivan's to get to Joey's house.
I found myself wishing that I could get more detail to the photos. Then I realized, I really didn't want anymore detail. The more I looked, the more sadness I felt. The porch is gone, replaced with just a small platform & some stairs. The 40' spruces that shadowed the front yard are gone as well as the fencing & gate to the back yard. The things that made the house a home were no longer there. More detail to the photos would just bring that sad reality into even clearer focus.
I revisit that neighborhood in my mind quite frequently. At least once a month I have dreams that either use my old house, or other houses/yards in the neighborhood as settings. You can go back to the place, but you can't go back to the time.
posted by JD Fermenich at 7/14/2008
2 Comments:
Wow. That house doesn't even look like itself without the giant spruce action. I first saw the street view and thought "this must be the wrong side of the street". nope.
That house and my current house are the only ones I can find on Street View. The other two in Milwaukee I barely lived at long enough to remember where they are (I have a vague concept but none of the street names sound familiar), the one in Madison we lived at for like 5 years no longer seems to exist, the other cities in Mass. I've lived in haven't been done yet, and believe it or not none of Cape Cod is done at all!
I'm a little glad I can't go back and look at most of those things, really. It's really odd to go and look at my apartment in Lowell that I lived in for about 7 years (longest I lived anywhere!). I think I get the same sort of feelings you might about the 37th St. house. Though I actually have occasion to drive past it several times yearly so maybe it's a bit different.
Well said.
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