you know you are getting old when the antiques shops are selling your childhood stuff

Welcome to day 2 of the week leading up to the Magdalen Street Celebration (dont worry I am not doing them all!) This is a photograph of Magdalen Street in 1936 taken by a photographer called George Plunkett. He took a picture of every single shop in the street. These photographs says a number of things to me

1. nothing is too ordinary to be worth photographing
2. there have always been empty shops in the street
3. its a lot easier to shop locally on a bike

Its easy to think 'things have always been like this and always will be'. Its like the shock you get when you first spend Christmas with the in-laws and realize the tradition you held dear are not universal (I tried to convince them but could find nothing in the bible about when your presents should be opened) But things can quickly change. Think how quickly we have become used to not smoking indoors and paying for plastic bags.

In the same way I have in a few months become used to the street and bumping into people I know. The man from the pawn shop now says hello to me. We wave to folks as they walk past the cafe windows. I saw a blind man negotiating the roadworks and recognized him from the NNAB centre. This makes the experience of the street so rich and we hope that many others will feel this way after the festival.

As for the antique shops reminding me of my childhood, who cares? The eighties are cool again ( so someone young told me)