Carson poses

Posing. I've never had a talent for giving direction to portrait subjects. I share the discomfort that 95% of humanity feels when a camera is aimed their way, and have no easy words to alleviate the unease.
I made a formal portrait of my mother twelve years ago. We drank a bottle of wine first, that helped a little.
When photographed, children typically are directed to smile. I think they get tired of that. I encourage children to anti-smile. Ah! A delightful new instruction!
Serious is part of childhood too.

Tryme, VA

Tom and Emma Jean

stairway

up the side of Mt.Katahdin, Baxter State Park, ME

day of rest

truth in advertising

a contradiction in terms

concrete world

concrete world

North Florida Concrete

Alosa sapidissima

Shad arise from the Atlantic Coast rivers. The St. John's River in Florida is the southern-most shad spawning ground.
Shad and salmon are anadromous. They migrate from salt water back to their river of origin to spawn.

Chesapeake Bay Foundation
The Founding Fish by John McPhee

justice

Feldman also found that liars tend to be more popular than honest people.-WaPo

day of rest

peace

the peace of the screen door, the peace of distance, the peace of boundaries, may the peace be with you

checklist

Family, food, water, clothing, shelter, belief, opiates, writing tools, compatriots

pave paradise

hendersonville road

In Tom Wolfe's hometown there is a residential development some locals call "zits on a mountain". It has a ridge-line component, houses on the hilltop. Hey! Look at me! I am rich!

Topography can be a silver lining or a cloud for the real estate developer. In the case of the Reynolds Mountain subdivision in Asheville, North Carolina, silver lining! Yes the road construction was difficult, but the residential views from on high! My oh my. Never mind the envious locals. They wish they had houses in "The Heights", "The Views", "The Summit", "Altamont" and "The Preserve".

For the developer of commercial property, hills are problematic. One can't simply, as the hippie chick said, pave paradise. Hills are a pain in the ass to pave. Got to strip the trees, cut and fill, flatten the hill, then pave.

Oh lost!

Love Street

She lives on Love Street
Lingers long on Love Street
She has a house and garden
I would like to see what happens

Washington burying ground, Popes Creek, Virginia

George Washington was born on February 11, 1731 of the Julian calendar, in use before England's calendar reformation in September 1752. His birthday is equivalent to February 22, 1732 in the Gregorian calendar used since 1752. Later in life, Washington himself considered February 22 to be his birthday.- Wikipedia

Suwannee

29°57'18.58"N, 82°55'46.79"W

day of rest

digital version from a year ago

Seat of Ease

Once upon a time, all of the Woolen Mills houses had outhouses in their backyards.

Imagine that I wanted to go into the business of composting vegetative matter, leaves from yards and table scraps. The Virginia State Code mandates that my compost pile must be at least 1,000 feet from the nearest house.
In the 1980's the local water and sewer authority (RWSA) began open air composting sewage sludge at the north-eastern corner of their facility.
After February 1st of this year the RWSA will truck sewage sludge to an alternate location for composting. This decision was made following years of dialog with nearby residents.
I say nearby. The nearest house is approximately 725 feet from the RWSA compost pile.
In this week's Hook a writer from Stanardsville, Virginia (101,688 feet from the compost pile) writes a letter making the following points and then some:

1) the recent steps by the RWSA board regarding sludge constitute "a huge step backward" for the environment.
2) the solids will fill up landfills
3) It'll be expensive and is only "a win" for the people who have "recently moved" to the Woolen Mills neighborhood.
4) The smell of the compost operation was one he never found offensive.
5) This is an example of NIMBY-ism at its worst.
6) The Hook has lost its moral compass.

Dear Stanardsville Fellow-
Regarding #1 & 2, the solids will continue to be composted. Regarding #3. It is a win for all the people of eastern Charlottesville, from east Belmont-Carlton to the Downtown Mall. Regarding the Woolen Mills neighborhood, the old residents have noses too, not just the people who have "recently moved" here.
Regarding #4, if your yard is large enough for open field application, please notify the RWSA administration.
Regarding NIMBY. If we don't look out for our own backyards, who will?
Regarding #6, The Hook is a newspaper. Their compass is a news compass. They cover issues that effect the residents of central Virginia.
Bill

wuzit

east of the Suwannee Pit, Branford, Florida. Hey people of Branford, what is this thing? Does it employ people?

One day the money will be right and I'll purchase a professional level digital camera and lenses to bend light into it. Meanwhile, my only telephoto option is a 180mm purchased for newspaper work in 1976. Living a divided photographic life. Exposed this frame December 2005. Seeing the film result for the first time this morning.
Fourteen months ago I chimped the digital version on site.

choking on a biscuit

Charlottesville City Councilors scheduled a tough session for themselves Monday night.
"Residential cut-through traffic" has been eroding the quality of life in City neighborhoods for years. The City is ringed with a doughnut of Cul-de-Sacville's. Mr. & Mrs. Cul-de-sac get where they are going by cutting through City neighborhoods.
If you want to motor from the newest sac (expected to generate 30,480 auto trips per day) to UVA, there are arterial roads available, but really, who can resist a short-cut?
Distressed citizens from many neighborhoods were on hand to speak at two public hearings.

When the meeting got down to chewing on the biscuit, I had three minutes of tape left. Apologies that the recorded comments are not complete. (sound bites- 185Kb)


Why do we allow the Automobile to rule? Some interesting listening on that topic:
Peter Norton speaks with Coy Barefoot about his article "Street Rivals: Jaywalking and the Invention of the Motor Age Street," recently published in the Journal of Technology and Culture. Norton discusses the transition from streets being pedestrian-oriented to becoming the domain of the motorcar, and whose interests were really being served. He is also working on a book called "Fighting Traffic."

on the road

Cadillac Motel, High Springs, Florida

catfish

"even a fish wouldn't get into trouble if he kept his mouth shut"- author unknown
quotegarden

day of rest

God's Poem Writer

God's Poem Writer, Harry Jerome Arnold, visited with me last week. I post his poems one page at a time because they are not easy to read. Today's post is a poem in its entirety. I've included two mp3s. Mr.Arnold reading the last verse (68Kb) and a reading of the poem (368Kb- minus two stanzas, Sophie started howling).

Ichetucknee

29.98575469370,-82.76012440900, upstream from Hog Island. Ichetucknee State Park

abundance