Along the way
I’m an outsider looking in… I do not miss it… at all!
It’s a long trip to NYC from where I am now. We don’t come this way frequently. There is plenty to see and do. I just do not relish the crowds and traffic. Waiting has no appeal. Jockeying for position in traffic is no fun. Walking into a crowded restaurant is yuck. I admit there are more choices and plenty of more interesting places to visit in NYC.
Overall? … been there done that. Ah! Colleen would and does love every visit we make. It’s still wonderment to her. Sort of. She has claustrophobia about people and jammed traffic. It does seem that bridges are a dominant feature of our travels.
Hmmm… April fool’s, and, it happens that it is Lisa’s birthday. No greeting or well wishes, i just had to punch in the date to schedule this post…
Happy ending
It’s a lot of pieces that had to fall perfectly into place…. A five hundred mile plus driving day some of it in a driving rain!
I should not have answered the phone… Covid! It culminated in dinner in an old haunt on Staten Island with an old friend.
Long story? Short! The kid got Covid. He only had the sniffles. An abundance of caution later and he was ++. Isolated in a nearby hotel, he now needed a ride to the airport for his flight home – spring break. I am not close by. … a trip to the museum, the pick up, and the drop off. 500+ miles later we were home. We made lemons/lemonade by having dinner on the way home. Ginny and I have been friends for too many years to honestly say…. So I won’t. The food? No! … the company of friends. not the food. Priceless!
Street photography
The streets are not exactly teeming with folks. But there are subjects in view and fair game for my camera. People? Animal? Life, activity, bustle and hustle? Ummm, well, maybe a bit laid back and less hustle, but colorful and interesting, nonetheless. It is a glimpse into daily life. Mundane it ain’t.
Junk mail
Upon our return from a recent trip there was a pile – an impressive pile – of junk mail that awaited. You know? The kind that implores donation or urgent action to save whatever endangered species is the flavor of the moment. Buy insurance and other products for which I have no interest. Not from one but from multiple organizations and companies. No return address, sender unknown, hoping curiosity will get you to open the envelope. It is a colossal waste of paper and time.
My point? I liken junk mail to the photos we take that have extraneous distractions. Road signs, telephone wires, you know the drill. It seems there is always something in the way of my perfect shot. Of course, it helps if you are not shooting pictures in a speeding car. But, nonetheless, junk creeps into my images. I will not give up. I strive for perfection knowing that there is always a surprise waiting when I can say, “I shot that??!”
Surprise
This is a mix of shots Colleen made as we drove up to Maine. Yes!? She shot through the windshield rather than have me do so while driving. Ok! Not bad! In fact she got some first class shots! Really! I mixed in a couple of my own. Who could resist? But, Colleen did a great job. She complained or lamented that she missed shots. So? We all do. I do! Nice work. She’s becoming a photographer and doesn’t suspect that the lessons are taking hold….yet. Lee… no peas were harmed in the making of her dinner.
Symmetry
Close your eyes. I am about to dive between two tractor trailer trucks on the approach to the George Washington bridge. Pay attention. Drive carefully! Don’t drive distracted!
I like my pottery symmetrical too.
It wuz two different pictures. The models are the same. Same clothes, even!
No no, driving is not boring. Sometimes we see interesting things. The “dive” picture is mine (while driving). Colleen took the GW bridge from the passenger seat.
Enough?
I was thumbing through the catalog… I shoot flags when they present. I shoot bridges – from/in the car. We do selfies. Jump? Street photography? – selling carnival food to the extreme? And then, there is always fall – the quest for the best shot (Maine, beside a bank, a real bank, not one by the river.)
One thing leads to another. I had the girls jump. They really were thrilled to pose and to jump. They did it for a long time never seeming to tire of posing. Okay!! And the bee sting kiss? Jen spoke about the young girls doing this pose as the latest craze in phone pics. And then, she and Mike showed me. My handy dandy camera was right at hand! Yay!
Time of day
Dusk or dawn? We’re on the road again. Near or far? It’s America. It feels like dawn? How? Less traffic? Bridges? They are America. We go. The scenery slips by. I shoot out the windshield. Colleen shoots. We see America go past. I hope it’s gonna be a better day. Yes, hope!
It changes in an instant: Plan B
Minute by minute, plans change. ??? The Christmas virus! Who had it? Who got it? Covid! Omcron! Damn! Jess’s household had a run of the Christmas flu. It was a family secret, not so secret. We knew but ignored it until… we could not. Not going, going, ah!!! Christmas plans dashed. We got Part I; but Part II???!!! Oh my! There were tears! Crocodile tears!! Unhappy wife. 😦 By the end of the day we had a new plan; after several more revisions. There is a Plan B. Who knows? Will we make it? We’re gonna try. The windows in the house were done (secret!) with Jolly Ranchers. (Lisa was so proud of her ingenuity.) I have never seen nor eaten one (jolly rancher). And, I am signed up to do a lot of driving. I feel like Santa on his delivery. Hey! We are (delivering)! By the end of this post – happy wife – happy marriage. Pfewf!
Ah! You…
…bastards! You tiptoe around. You do dirty tricks and hope they won’t be found out. You truly are evil bastards! In the miserable pouring rain as we passed on a cold dark night through Maryland on the way home… Colleen was struck by revelation! She has been casually watching gas prices as we traveled this holiday season – NY NJ MD WV OH. Democratic friendly states – about $3.29 and up for gas. West Virginia, $2.75. Ohio, $2.83. Umm… who #$#@#% represents those states in Congress? manchin and jordan. I read how joe is in the pocket of fossil fuel… oh! This is how they pay/BRIBE! joe back for his efforts to stall the democratic agenda. This is pretty blatant “pork.” Payback’s a bitch. Me? It never occurred to me how low ‘special interests’ would go. Price gouge your neighbor especially if they are Democrats. Colleen is simply brilliant. Or you are dumb to think, we would not notice your “stink.”
Do over… again
We have been on an extended road trip. I chased fall color and cover bridges. Colleen chased fiber. Fiber? As in wool and fleece from sheep. Sheep? Yes, there are a myriad of rare sheep with fleeces she covets. ?? Polworth? Teeswater? It’s an endangered breed in the US. TMI!! We made it to the Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool Fair. It went on as scheduled despite Covid. Yes, we got big rain. There were prizes at the auction – another spinning wheel! Ha ha. (I/Colleen won one.) There was the fleece barn, Colleen’s candy store. Llama, pajama, an interloper! Yarn?! Tons. It was more knitter’s fair than weaver/spinner. There was a line (out the door!!!) to purchase this year’s (yarn) color. There was the one room school (revisited). We – Colleen and I – almost went to one. We did sit in this style school desk in elementary school. So, why not – recreate the image of where we met. Again. And, yes, it is my regret – I wish she’d have grabbed on and held me close those many years ago. What a difference fate could have dealt. Such a good time, too many pictures, wistful, and hoping for a do over – life.
Phone me
There is one convenience that can’t be beat with the iPhone. Panorama. It’s dead simple. Ha! I can Photoshop. It’s easy enough. But…. So, I ask? Dave advised me to tap on the mountain to adjust the exposure so there would not be overexposure. When did he get so smart? Meanwhile pano is a neat trick I pull out of the pocket on occasion.
Another day…
… another museum. There is only so much room to maneuver in a museum. I’m working on a new routine. On this day we did the classics. Sommesville bridge. Considering the numbers of cars at the Bass lighthouse (on this same road), everyone was speeding along and missing this quintessential Maine shot by the bridge. We paused to sit under the arbor. The lighthouse has a front and back side. You have to go around the back and down a steep rocky path to get the “real” view. From the speed at which cars departed the crowded parking lot, it seems most folks missed the back side. Sometimes tourism is not about the speed at which you check off another sight seen.
Essentially
A little more time would help. As in, time to work a scene, or, to let it develop as weather changes. Nope, I am often shooting out an open car window. (We are rushing here to there…) As you might imagine, I have a lot of camera gear. I travel with a lot of gear. And, especially, if you travel by car, there is no limit to how much or how heavy. I like parsimony. I pared my gear as much as possible. Yet, I still carried too much. Essentially, I needed two cameras – a full frame mirrorless and a compact point and shoot; one maybe two interchangeable lenses. It’s a good lesson. The other stuff is not going to make or break the experience. And, when traveling, less (gear) is more. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for antiques and craft, we have found. No complaint, though, we are still traveling. If my gear fills the space in the car, then…. no room for – say a loom? (Oh boy! This comes back to bite me a bit later.)
Fall
I don’t keep pictures on my phone. Well, a few. Ask me for a “fall’ shot? I would look in my Lightroom catalog. And, there? Well, let’s say that it’s been a while since I scouted fall foliage. There is that moment in time when the leaves are in full color just before they wither and fall…. Color! Everyone wants that brilliant mesmerizing color! “Fall,” I’ve seen a few. I hope to see a few more. That would be sweet too. It’s the first day of fall. Bittersweet, the days are getting shorter.
Do you believe this
This is hilarious: Colleen posing over my head in a selfie. We bike ride a trail that gives us spectacular views. Remember? The trail, yes; the selfie, no! Nope. I do not remember taking this picture. Sure. It’s in the photo archive. Wow! The picture is right beside a house Colleen want to buy somewhere up in Milford. I passed – too much work to restore an old house. But, boy was it a beauty with lots of potential. Pie? Yes, those pics were right nearby in my catalog too. I can say for sure I made the sour cream apple walnut pie. Colleen and I had been chasing that recipe forever, in order to faithfully recreate it. Ok! I/she/we made a pumpkin pie too. But! The kiwi pie? Nope. No recollection. It’s right there next to the other pies. There is no sign this pie was store bought. So, Colleen made it! That’s my story and I’m stickin’ with it.
Counting the cars…
As long as we are on Simon and Garfunkel… counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike…. Colleen took this shot. Great shot! She was shooting to include the green arrows. ??? I don’t know. She got a quintessential shot of traffic in America! I’ve been there! And, on our return trip the GPS gods took us on a (lost) detour past St Vlad’s church on the hill. Sometimes random wandering is good! Note: you are never lost if you never put the car in reverse.
Meanwhile, back at home, the flowers … they are fewer as summer fades. It is time for the rose of Sharon to bloom. I have one this year. It is my harbinger to fall.
The Summer Knows – Barbra Streisand
… And if you’ve learned your lesson well
There’s little more for her to tell
One last caress
It’s time to dress
For fall
Way back
Quintessential Maine, Somesville bridge. It’s not my best effort, but this was a long time ago and before I knew better. The first balloon festival (for me) had the searing memory of Lisa dipping her poison ivy covered arms in a bucket of ice at a soda vendor; no, not pictured here. How about a field of wildflowers they planted just for my camera? My dog Nellie, I loved that dog! One more summer image, fishing, the water was about 18 inches deep. But, you get the idea. Idyllic, childhood. It was a different time. Good. Better, that’s harder to say.
100, 200, 300 K
I have about 305k images in this catalog. So. I picked #’s 100k 200k and 300k. Here’s what was there. 300: Christmas 2020: it was just this past Xmas; lockdown, us and the cats. 200: Scotland 2019: it was the trip Colleen dreamed of for many years come true. 100: Maine 2018: We returned. Our first trip to Maine was 2014. It was another “wished for” destination for Colleen. Who knew? I did not know what to expect from random numbers. This catalog has pics from 2016 onward. It’s been a nice bunch of years. Nothing bad, 300k images and counting. How’s that for random? I shoot more pictures than an average person. But, there are professionals with millions of images in their catalog. Ha ha!
Boothbay Harbor
This home was for sale. It sits in the harbor on a bridge/walk right in the middle of everything. It’s the proverbial goldfish bowl. What comes to mind is that I may never walk around in my underwear. Colleen fell in love with it and begged… I said no. Luckily, on this occasion, I got my way. It’s not often I win. Lately, though, I don’t walk around in my underwear any more. Darn!
America
On the road in America, you see stuff – industrial and rural. The rural landscape gave me crosses. And the early morning light made the industrial blight seem almost blissful. Crossing a bridge – adventure! There is a time and place for all things.
Sunset
Pick. The nice thing about being on the road is that the sunset unfolds in front of you. You then have your pick. Evening glow, more glow, or urban traffic. You pick. I got the full experience.
Ominous
We went down to the beach at sunset. The beach faces east; there’s no real sunset view. It had rained the day before. No big deal, it rains. But we are entering fall and the turbulent waves had done a number on the beach sand. There was a three-foot ledge from wave erosion overnight. A lot of sand had been washed away. There goes millions $$$ in beach replenishment. The towers in the distance are the bridge at the inlet. The waves speak for themselves. Our otherwise tranquil beach was roiling. I have often read about telephoto perspective. “It” compresses the scene to make things look crowded upon themselves. I did it! With a point and shoot! Sometimes, I surprise myself.
Bridges
These new generation of bridges use a different looking suspension system. Some architect made it work and it is the only new type of bridge built that I see nowadays. I first saw one in Maine. It was so picturesque and impressive. Then there are a few when I drive north in Delaware. New York builds bridges and has been engaged in some major bridge projects. This created monumental traffic jams. The Kosciusko bridge jam is legendary. Before and during, there’s never been a time we passed that we didn’t sit in traffic. But I have digressed. These new style bridges, they are just the best photo ops!
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