Disjointed
It was one of those days… out and about. We went to the Ag museum, and, to lunch. We had not been back to this restaurant in a while and were greeted warmly upon our return. It’s good to be returning to the old haunts. And, the price of gas has fluctuated – one minute $3.59 and the next $3.17. There is no rhyme or reason to the madness. Collusion? Price fixing? Everyone has the same price! There oughta be a law…
Roadside
ADHD? Me? Ha!! I can’t sit still in a moving car?? Me? Camera in hand and ready for action… there’s lots to see. America, ain’t it beautiful? Sometimes I think you can guess the politics of folks from the roadside show. Careful for the rocks you turn over.
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.
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!
Travel Day
It was just above freezing. The droplets of water were not ice? Colleen and I disagreed but no one got out of the car to prove the point. Elsewhere someone was having a very bad day in the fog on the mountain. The traffic on the other side was completely blocked. You just can’t drive that fast in the fog.
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.
Traffic
Washington DC has always been a traffic nightmare. It’s a planned city. But then the planners did not plan for traffic, as in auto traffic jams. There’s precious little parking. There are lots of one-way streets. This sign is in an intersection and the entrance to a major highway. Turning onto the highway, a car must compete with the flow of pedestrians in the crosswalk. It is the perfect traffic jam. Saturday evening and I was jammed up two blocks back waiting through three traffic lights. Cars who felt privileged were cutting in all along. It was mayhem. Nice going. It’s nice to see good government in motion. NOT!!! Snafu, how true…
Turkey
Why’d the turkey cross the road? Ha! There be wild turkeys! Both sides of the road. I saw them coming over the hill in the car. Ha again! I was the one in the car…I slowed well before we got there. Then I let the car slowly roll down toward them. No good. They were skittish and nervous and started to run/hide. I got a few shots to document that I had actually seen them. Hey! There were turkeys. See?!
For the purists: Green tint – car glass/windshield. And focus – you can’t always get what you want through car glass. … too lazy to correct in digital processing.
Fallen
It’s ain’t me. It’s about nine year since I took the first picture you see. It’s on my blog and on my “About” (this blog) page. The image was shot on a back road of Maine. The image has a white primitive rail fence along the roadside and the fall colors are just peaking. I was shocked to see the same fence recently. I had seen it in good repair in 2014. We speculate that the owner died or became disabled and no one keeps up with the maintenance any longer. I have no way to know. The farm is still functional. There is a farmhouse in good repair. I’m saddened that something so picturesque has deteriorated so badly. I am glad to say that it’s not me who suffered a similar fate. I hope I’ll still be kicking around for a long time to come.
What the …?
We drive a two lane (road) in Maryland. We were about tenth in line behind a truck that took forever to pass… as in we didn’t… until it (road) became a four lane. In NYC a two lane is two lanes on my side or four lanes on my side. Everywhere else it seems that two lanes mean one lane in each direction. Oh boy! What the…! It’s a tank? Covered with canvas. Entry hatches. Driving along in Maryland. “No idea”, as Harry Potter would say. It took forever to pass the thing.
Peak Moment
On the road… again. It was the peak of the forsythia bloom. Up close they aren’t much. But the whole bush does seem to pretty stunning as you pass. I keep looking for a quintessential shot. It’s a quest. The key is to get the right composition. Once again, I admit I shot on the fly. I did not stop. There are only so many times you can stop before your companion complains. She indulges me plenty. I try not to take advantage of her good nature. I will live longer that way.
On the fly
Do as I say, not as I do…. And, you (my kids) can do this in a moving car, driving, and holding and iPhone. Many of the images I get are done on the go. I don’t stop. Ha! Anyone who knows me, knows I don’t stop. I’m go. So this is another moonrise over the highway. We were headed east in Maryland. I shot a couple images as we drove along. This one made the cut. Snapshot. I know. I could have maybe had something if I’d stopped and set up. I don’t travel with a tripod. I wouldn’t even know what to do if I had all the time I wanted to get a proper image. Shoot and go. Me.
Silos
Silos dot the horizon. I am drawn to the new. There are plenty of rundown abandoned farms with forlorn spinning windmills. The newer shiny silos are the symbols of today. Technology in farming has turned away from the picturesque. I tried to get some quaint farm pictures. I missed.
In tow
I drove fast enough to be passing most trucks on the road. I was surprised by some of the things in tow. But you only have limited choices in getting things from one place to another. Sometimes it just doesn’t seem as efficient as it might be. For instance, you would tow your car behind your tractor trailer cab?
Passing by
We only got a glimpse this time. You can’t do everything. Some things are once. We stopped before. We nodded and remembered the first time around. This time around we passed up on the Eisenhower library and the cathedral on the plains in Victoria. We tried to see different things. I can’t believe that I have been to Kansas as many times as I have. Shhhhh, let’s keep this fact quiet.
It’s a sign
The bigger the cross the more religion? Or, my “***” is bigger than yours? Driving across Kansas it’s a competition. You see religious signs exhorting you to come to Jesus. And there are signs from the “right to lifers.” The other side also has a say. Billboards offer adult toys. There are the occasional humorous signs. I almost am tempted to stop.
Cloudy with a chance of meatballs
Read the book; it’s hilarious. My kids loved it. It rained recently. It seemed like it had been raining for days. We had been on an extended road trip. Don’t ask. (I’m not telling anyway.) I am sorry to say but not ashamed to admit that I shoot as I drive. Point and shoot. Really. I don’t do much more than point and press the shutter. I do have some experience at this. So I get what I want (mostly). You can’t stop too often. ….gotta get there.
photobackstory 