George

Today's will be the last post before Christmas. I'm having a break. Getting on an aeroplane and buggering off somewhere sunny for a while. So, Christmas-lovers, I'm gonna have to trust you not to peek at the 23rd or 24th's advent pictures until the tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. Today's photo is of the annual electricity fest that is Friedrichstrasse's Christmas lights.

I've been thinking about today's post for a week or so, and it seemed to me like a good idea to have this one as the last one before Christmas. Time for family and all that. So, my grandfather, George Wilfred Robinson.

The next two photos are incredibly cute. First, George as a baby. In his baby get-up. Surrounded by loads of fur. Even then, he was wearing the Robinson family Oh-fuck-what's-gonna-happen-now? look on his face.



Aaaah, what a handsome young boy. The pretty shoes, the nice lacey collar and cuffs, the haircut, and, wow!, a cane!



Jump forward a few years, and George is at school in Sleaford, Lincs. That's him top right.



George in the scouts. First row, fifth from left.



And again in the scouts. Middle row, far left. Not entirely sure what he was trying to do there. That's quite a scowl he's got goin' on. Perhaps the lad in front of him broke wind, perhaps he was just trying to look tough.



I don't know what age he was here, but he's right dapper dressed up, eh?



I love this photo. Although he's squinting, Grandad is looking very cool at the seaside. A nice shirt, superb trousers, and from what I can tell, splendid socks. I don't know who the other people are. The guy in the middle has quite an effeminate stance, don't you think?



The next two aren't photos of my grandad, just birthday cards that my sister and I gave to him in the mid-eighties. I include them as proof that it was quite obviously our mother who went to the shops to buy the cards, rather than my sister and I searching for them ourselves. But, y'know, power drills and lawn movers do kinda sum up a pensioner's life, I suppose.





This is getting closer to the Grandad I remember. I'm not 100% sure when this was, but seeing as though there's still some non-grey hair on his head, it's probably slightly before I was born or when I was very very young. I adore this photograph. I love the burgeoning "Grandad Pose" he's bringin' home. I love the clothes, I love the pipe, and I love how it's not really clear whether he's in a field in Norfolk or on safari in Africa. It's more likely the former, although I'm gonna continue thinking that just off camera are a few elephants and lions.



Aaaah, here's Grandad. This is the full-on Grandad Pose. A pose he adopted in EVERY photograph of his retirement. It's a pose I've begun to adopt in photographs too. I like to think it's a tradition that I will, one day, pass on to my son, and he will pass it on to his.



Anyway, that's yer lot.
If you're a Christian: Happy Christmas.
If you're a lapsed Christian but still like toys, turkey and tinselly trees: Happy Christmas.
If you're Jewish: Happy Hanukkah.
If you're a Seinfeld fan: Happy Festivus.
If you're a fan of The O.C.: Happy Chrismukkah.
And for everyone else: Happy Generic Winter Holidays Greeting.