Surrounded By Sheep . . . And an Amazing Polaroid Camera

13 May 2017

 My dad wasn't much of a "vacationer," but we did do some pretty cool weekend trips while we were stationed in Spain . . . a number of camping trips!

Dad bought a Coleman tent one year from the PX . . . it was heavy duty canvas . . . only waterproof if Mom could keep our tiny hands from touching the sides in rainy weather. That was my dad's explanation for it anyway. It was huge though . . . two rooms with a zipper panel between them . . . one for sleeping . . . one for playing. It took 2 adults to put the thing together, but Dad had pretty much mastered it single-handedly since Mom spent most of her time trying to keep me and my sister from "helping!"

One of our weekend jaunts was with one of Mom's cousins and his wife. I'll have to try and remember their names while typing, but at the moment, they escape me . . . seems like hers was Kotsko . . . she was Asian I believe . . . totally irrelevant to the story except that I always thought she looked so exotic!

I have no idea where in Spain we were . . . only that it was pretty much the middle of nowhere . . . certainly not at a campground! Back in the 70's in Spain, if you wanted to camp, you just drove until you found an pretty spot and pitched your tent.

This practice was, in my eyes, sort of dubious since caravans of gypsies traveled through Europe . . . and we were always told that if we misbehaved, we'd be sold to them. I was forever on the lookout for those caravans . . . we did see them occasionally but not on this trip.

When I tell you it was in the middle of nowhere, I really mean there was nothing in sight . . . no buildings, no town, no pavement, not many trees (southern Spain really didn't have a lot of trees anyway . . . only a pond. Dad pitched our tent, and Mom's cousin pitched theirs. I have no idea what we did to "entertain" ourselves, but I would imagine my sister and I played near the pond while the grownups talked . . . the other couple did not have kids. Later that evening, Mom would take us girls down to the pond to bathe . . . not kidding . . . handed us a bar of soap . . . told us to wade into the water and wash. We certainly didn't argue! We even brushed our teeth by the pond!

As soon as dark fell, my sister and I were asleep.

Somewhere in the early dawn hours, we heard a dog bark . . . and a really strange bleating sound that continued to get louder and louder. Bells . . . there were bells too. A man's voice!

Dad was out of bed like a shot . . . Mom on his heels . . . my sister and I huddled in the corner of the tent . . . lest it be the dreaded gypsies!

Gypsies it was not . . . a sheep herder, his trusty dog companion . . . and hundreds of sheep it was! The sheep surrounded the pond to drink the fresh water.

Dad called him over to the tent . . . he and mom could speak some Spanish, and Kotsko was fluent. They shared coffee and conversation on that misty morning before the sunrise. My sister and I chased sheep with the dog . . . he, trying to keep them together . . . we, trying to startle them into the water! I have no clue if the dog thought anything, but if he did, no doubt he would have chastised us for making him work harder!!

Just before the herder left, Dad brought out his Polaroid Land Camera and took a picture of the man. Our visitor watched in amazement as the photo developed, in 60 seconds, right before his eyes! He's never seen ANYTHING like this . . . instant photos were a brand new technology in the early 70's.

That evening he came back through our campsite . . . driving his sheep out to pasture to graze for the night. He'd brought the picture with him too . . . it was very worn . . . nearly torn. Apparently nobody in his village had ever seen anything like it either as he, no doubt, described how his image appeared right before his eyes.

We didn't bathe in the pond that night . . . 

. . . guess it grossed Mom out.

Incidentally, that Polaroid camera was very innovative in the 70s' . . . AND it made the cover of Life Magazine! A "magic camera" it proclaimed. We thought it was pretty magical . . . Dad took a lot of pictures so we could watch in amazement when the image slowly appeared! Problem with this type of photography vs film: Polaroid images tended to fade pretty quickly over the years.

Incidentally, the man who invented this camera dropped out of Harvard at 17 to develop light polarizing technology, a practical system of in-camera instant photography. His first instant camera went on sale in 1946. As a scientist, he used his talents to develop systems for photographic reconnaissance . . . even going on to design the optics of the Lockheed U-2 Spy Plane. And believe it or not, Harvard (along with several other universities) awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1957.

Interesting note: Upon his death in 1991, his personal assistant shredded his personal papers and notes.

"A camera is a 'save button' for the mind's eye." ~ Roger Kingston

Oh my gosh . . . my mom's cousin's name was Lenaris . . . I have no idea how I remembered that!