Silent Movies

I was sitting around the office yesterday and was talking with my office mate when we began recalling 'our younger years'.  Looking back, I call this lo-tech entertainment, but at the time, since an electronic piece of equipment was used, this was high-tech.

I don't remember how it was discovered, just that every time we went camping (we were Girl Scouts so we went quite frequently) we would look forward to this activity. I call "Silent Movie" - an after dark activity.

One (or more) girls would stand against a wall (cabin wood or tent canvas) while the rest of the girls would remain in 'the audience'. A 'projectionist' in the audience would begin to shake a large flashlight side to side rapidly. The girl(s) on stage would then act out a scene or, most likely, dance wildly. The moving of the flashlight caused the movements of those on stage to appear to be a kind of stop action, very much like the way old silent movies appear.

I really enjoy finding these memories that slip into my mind. And wonder where they have been hiding and what it is that actually brings them forward. When it happens, the recalling, the enjoyment of the memory seems to erase the path that was taken to find the recollection. It would be nice to remember how I found the memory so that I can walk that way again and, maybe, find another.