Somewhere In Time
Time travel is a popular trope in science fiction. I have two novels that heavily involve traveling through time, Maelstrom and Escaping Infinity. A novel I hope to finish later this year is Nick, of T.I.M.E., about a time-traveling cop. I enjoy writing the “what if we could go backward or forward in time” stories a lot.
But what if we really could travel in time? Especially in the past? If we could, should we even attempt it?
Its the classic paradox, if I go back in time and kill my grandfather before he meets my grandmother, how do I exist in the future to be able to go back in time and whack granddad?
You don’t even need to have malice in your heart for the paradox, and the danger, to kick in. For example, after my great-grandfather died, my great-grandmother took her two youngest boys back to Italy and I believe she might have intended to remain there. But when Hitler and Mussolini rose to power, she didn’t like what she was seeing. One of her sons had died in Italy from an illness but she sent the other, my grandfather, back home to Texas to live with his older brothers in 1939. She barely got out of Italy in time herself a year later.
But let’s say, someone goes back and takes out the two leaders before they kickoff WW2. Maybe my grandfather never returns to the U.S. He certainly never meets my grandmother and *poof* I vanish because I never would have been born. How many other lives would be erased by changing the past, even in smaller events?
If one could go back, I would assume many would choose to witness firsthand historical events. I get that. To actually meet Jesus Christ, or Christopher Columbus, or William Shakespeare. That would be incredible indeed.
But for me, there are seven specific places and dates in time that I would love to travel to and snap a few photos of while I was there. Here are the places, dates, and the reasons.
1920 - Turlock, California - That fall Turlock High School played football for the first year, and no one thought to drag a camera out there to capture the first-ever game. There’s a grainy, black and white photo of the team under a goal post after practice, but that’s it.
1961 - Winnemucca, Nevada - There was a bowling alley there called Rodeo Lanes. My dad was the house pro there in 1963. As above, only some very muddy, low-quality photos exist today.
1962 - Steele, North Dakota - Another bowling-related quest. Crown Lanes had just opened and there used to be photos of the opening day. Only they were tossed in the trash. So I’d probably want to get some new ones and take a walk around this small little town I call home for the second time these days.
1970 - Turlock, California - So, I was born in Turlock and would like to get some better photos of the place, including the first bowling alley I bowled in - Divine Gardens - which no longer exists. Fortunately for me, the Foster’s Freeze for taquitos and a coke is across the street from Penquins Ice Cream.
1972 - Irving, Texas - I’d love to catch a Dallas Cowboys game at Texas Stadium shortly after it opened in 1971 but after they got it fully finished. And of course, track down the nearest Whataburger too.
1974 - Steele, North Dakota - Back in Steele to attend to photos of the old Ranch House Hotel and Cafe, where my grandfather worked as a line cook. I’d probably meander a few blocks south to Crown Lanes for a grilled ham and cheese sandwich too.
1981 - Odessa, Texas - There’s a couple of places I’d like to revisit and photograph, before we actually moved there in October of 1981. Among them being three former places of employment, and the Tiffany Lanes bowling alley. I’d have to hit Taco Villa and The $0.39 Hamburger Place while I was there, of course. Hey, all this time travelling builds up the appetite.
Nothing earth-shattering, or even notable in the annals of mankind’s long history. But they are special places and times, some that predate my birth, that my fading memories aren’t doing justice by.
Where would you like to go, if you could wander through time?
