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Charleston Cobblestone Street

March 14th, 2024

Charleston Cobblestone Street

This past weekend my husband gave me a birthday party in our former hometown which is also my “Happy Place”. I invited my girlfriends who live in different parts of the country. Three girlfriends drove several hours through three states and one flew in because it was too far to drive.

The lady who took a plane was a girlfriend that had taken a road trip with me the year before. She had flown into a city an hour away from where we are living and I drove to that city to pick her up. From there we embarked on our journey.

I have actually written several blog posts about that road trip and spending time with her this past weekend brought back many memories of the time we spent together.

The first major stop for us was Charleston, South Carolina (USA). The first day or two was damp and dreary and I was not enjoying the city at all. I did, however, get many photographs as we walked around the riverfront area of Charleston.

Today’s featured image is one of the photographs that I took on the day after it had rained. We were having trouble walking on the cobblestones as we crossed from one side of the street to the other and I decided to stop in the middle of the street and snap a few captures of the cobblestone surface.

Cobblestones have been used to pave streets for centuries. Cobble is a term for the size of stones that are used in architecture. They were originally laid in sand which helps with drainage. Those stone roads were much easier to navigate than dirt roads. However, because the stones are not all uniform roads were eventually paved with setts, uniformly quarried granite ((also called Belgian block).

Cobblestone streets can be noisy as horse carriages and motor vehicles drive over them. Although some people see this as a disadvantage, the noise can warn pedestrians of approaching traffic.

These stone paved streets can still be found in many of our older cities in North America, mainly in the historic sections, but are more abundant in Europe.

Our visit to Charleston took place in February as winter was winding down and spring was not far off. You can see brown and orange leaves scattered among the cobblestones with what looks like a pile of them in the upper left hand corner of the image. It appears that asphalt has been put between these stones, possibly covering an original layer of sand. I would think that the asphalt would help stabilize the stones now that heavy modern vehicles are driving on that street.

Do any of my readers drive over cobblestone streets on a regular basis? Please tell us what that’s like always bumping noisily along on those stones.

Looking For Love In Georgia

March 5th, 2024

Looking For Love In Georgia

This week’s post highlights the cute train tanker car in Saint Marys, Georgia.

The tanker car was permanently parked behind the former train station. The front of the tanker had been painted to resemble a face with eyes that included eyelashes and eyebrows and large pink lips. A red bow and one single blonde curl were painted on the forehead area. At the base of the “face” was a sign that read, “I’M LOOKING FOR LOVE” and the two Os in the word looking are painted like eyes.

It was that face painted tanker car that prompted me to get out of the vehicle to take photographs as we entered the small charming city. As I walked back behind the building to photograph the tanker I found many small areas that had been set up with Halloween decorations.

None of the vignettes, however were as cute or inviting as that tanker car.

I couldn’t help but wonder who came up with the idea of painting a face on the front of that car? Did someone see the rounded front on that car and imagine a face? Did someone see something similar on their travels and came home to plant that same idea right there in Saint Marys?

None of that really matters. What matters is that the face painted train tanker car made me smile. It enticed me to get out of my vehicle and walk around. It prompted me to smile with a wide eyed look of enjoyment at what I was viewing.

Looking for love in Georgia? I certainly found it in Saint Marys, Georgia, a small coastal city built on the banks of the St. Marys River. You just might, too!

Comments are welcomed!

Authenticity

February 29th, 2024

Authenticity

In last week’s blog I told about a Saturn Sky automobile that had a Ferrari emblem on the hood and elsewhere. This week’s image was a photograph that was taken of the Saturn’s front wheel and tire. There is a Ferrari emblem on the wheel and a Ferrari sticker on the brake behind the wheel.

Someone who was not familiar with the Ferrari brand may have initially thought that the impersonating Saturn was the more expensive Italian sports car. But it wasn’t. And learning more about those two automobiles exposed the impostor for what it was.

This reminds me not to judge people by their appearance. I need to become more familiar with a person before I decide if they are genuine or not.

Often women, especially, are judged by their looks. Their appearance is judged by their make-up, or lack thereof, name brand clothing and accessories or hairstyle.

But is that fair? Is a woman who wears name brand clothing and accessories, keeps a neat hairstyle and sports perfect make-up really more genuine in their lives as a woman who rarely or never wears make-up, name brand clothing or stylish hairdos?

The argument has been made before that the well kept/made up woman is just practicing self care. She has a high enough opinion of herself to take the time, money and effort to make herself as presentable as possible. She also feels better about herself when she’s “sporting her Sunday best”, so to speak.

But what about that woman who never or rarely gets “made up”? Is it possible that she has just as high of an opinion of herself? Is it possible that there are other issues at play? Maybe she’s very chemically sensitive and her skin actually looks and feels better without make up. Maybe she doesn’t see the benefit in those brand names. Maybe she has more important financial priorities in her life than expensive clothing.

This week’s image of that Saturn Sky gave a clue to it’s impersonation. Looking closely at the image we can see that the Ferrari brand logo on the car’s brake is actually a sticker. The bottom edge of the sticker is wrinkled up and torn.

This image is a reminder to me that before I make any judgments about a person I need to become more familiar with them. Get to know them better. Their outside appearance may not reflect at all how genuine a person they may or may not be.

That’s a lesson that many of our parents tried to teach us as we were growing up and today’s image and blog post can nudge us to remember that lesson.


Comments are always welcome and encouraged.

The Ferrari Impostor

February 22nd, 2024

The Ferrari Impostor

The image that I posted for this week’s challenge was what I thought was a photograph of a Ferrari. I’m not familiar with expensive automobiles so I was fascinated that a Ferrari would be parked in a Golden Corral parking lot.

After taking several photographs with my cell phone we went home and I promptly forgot about those photos until I uploaded them to my computer.

Imagine my surprise when I started researching Ferraris to learn which model this particular car might be and discovered that the car with the Ferrari emblems that I had photographed was actually a General Motors Saturn Sky!

The owner of the car had replaced all of the Saturn emblems with Ferrari emblems. A real auto aficionado would most likely have known immediately that the Saturn was not a Ferrari and I bet the owner had many a laugh watching people photographing his car thinking that it was an expensive luxury sports car built in Italy.

Knock off luxury goods are all around us. Purses, shoes, cars and electronics often have a luxury brand name or emblem on them. How often are we fooled by those emblems? Having that emblem does not necessarily mean that the object is “the real thing” with the high quality that the name brand promises. We need to look at all aspects of the object to determine if it is genuine or an impostor.

Could my experience with the Ferrari Impostor possibly be a life lesson on a deeper level?

I’ll let you chew on that food for thought while I process another photograph of the Impostor!

Less Is More

February 15th, 2024

Less Is More

The challenge image that I posted this week was taken in the morning after a winter storm a few weeks ago. There are only a few items in the photograph but it seems that there is actually as much or more to see or wonder about than many photographs that are full of detail.

One of my fellow Fine Art America members commented about the footprints in the snow that are barely visible in the background. She was intrigued wondering who those footprints belonged to and what was that person doing walking in that snow. Where were they going?

It turns out that in this particular case, less is more. Would my fellow photographer have noticed those footprints if there had been more detail in the image? Would the photograph have been as thought provoking?

Thinking about this made me wonder how much we might miss in life when our lives are so full and busy that there’s no time to really stop, look and wonder about what is right in front of us.

The popular Tiny House movement is about downsizing. Downsizing and de-cluttering systems are about living a simpler life. A life with less “stuff”, less rushing around and less stress.

Would you find it less stressful to live by the motto Less Is More?

Would having less material items help you to lead a more relaxed life?

Would having more time to spend with family, friends or in nature lead you to a less stressful life?

Would living with less bring you more?

Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Double Dose

February 9th, 2024

Double Dose

Many of you who read my blogs know that I am participating in a Weekly Art Challenge (Theme: The World Outside). This week I also participated in a three day challenge (Theme: Buttons).

Even those who know me but don’t read my blogs know that I recently purchased a new laptop.

For the past several weeks I have had a double dose of laptops, photo manipulating software and both Windows 7 and 11. I have worked on both laptops, sometimes at the same time. I’ve used more than one software program on the same image. I have gone back and worth from W7 to W11. I have yet to find everything in W11 that I like to use in W7.

Two laptops. Two operating system versions. Two challenges.

Double Dose this week!

Winter Pareidolia

February 1st, 2024

Winter Pareidolia

What is pareidolia? It is the tendency to see faces and other objects in patterns or photographs. Rorschach’s inkblot test is based on this tendency.

It’s usually caused by the way light shines or reflects off of objects such as rocks, although it can also be caused by the actual shape of an object such as a cloud.

I experienced this tendency recently when I photographed a patch of ice on grass after a recent winter storm.

Northern Alabama, where we presently live, experienced a winter storm in January 2024 that produced a mix of snow and ice from sleet, freezing rain and snow. Although the temperatures stayed well below freezing for nearly a week, some of the frozen precipitation melted when the sun came out a day after the storm. The result was an abstracted, uneven layer of ice as that melted mix refroze.

The photograph that I took was a close up of that layer of ice sitting on top of the dormant grass. Light hitting the higher portions of ice made tiny sparkles as though a million diamonds had been scattered on the ground.

Enlarging the photograph revealed images within this shiny mass that resembled eyes looking out from the ice. Even without magnification you can spot the largest of these eyes towards the upper left side of the image as it is very blue with a sparkle shining within it.

How fun to end up with an image of ice that can also be considered and used as a puzzle. Instead of finding Waldo you can count how many eyes you find in the image!

Do you tend to see faces and eyes in nature? Please feel free to share your own experiences in the comment section.

Winter Shadows

January 25th, 2024

Winter Shadows

Although the sun does not shine as often or as bright during the winter here in the Northern Hemisphere as it does in the other seasons, there are clear days when the sun shines all day. In the middle of the day the shadows caused by interrupted sunbeams are often longer and more pronounced in winter, much like early morning and late evening shadows during other seasons. This is because the sun sits lower in the sky during the winter when it’s position is much further south.

This was very true after the most recent ice and snow storm that blanketed much of the United States with frozen precipitation. Shadows appeared as long or distorted reflections even during the middle of the day.

One of the photographs that was taken from our back patio was the image of a fence shadow on uneven ice covered snow. Winds during the storm caused the snow to pile up higher in some areas than others.

A straight, rigid fence made up of rectangular sections appeared as a curved item in the shadow that was cast on those snow drifts.

The shadows softened the hard edges of the slots that made up the very top of the fence. The top portion of the fence that is straight and rigid appeared as a curved edge, much like a ribbon being waved in the air.

As I reflected on that photograph, I thought about how we view and relate to weather events.

Some people will see winter as an uncomfortable, inconvenient season. Others may view winter as a time to slow down, reflect on the past year and rest up for the more active seasons ahead.

How do you see cold, sometimes icy winter weather?

Is winter weather an inconvenience that you endure as a chore or embrace as a challenge.

Do dormant trees look dead to you or do you view them as a season of rest?

Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section.

An Alabama Winter Storm

January 18th, 2024

An Alabama Winter Storm

It was Autumn. Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years came and went. Then Winter arrived with a vengeance!

Today’s featured image shows a small buildup of snow on an outdoor resin chair seat. That little bit of snow when the first flakes fell was a deceptive image of what was to come. Unlike my photograph that turned an old resin chair into a patterned abstract piece of art when the arms and back of the chair were cropped out, our beautiful snowfall turned into an icy headache and sometimes dangerous situation.

Here in Northwestern Alabama we experience mild winter snowstorms. We’ve lived here for several years and every year we get a little more snow with these storms.

This year, however, we were slammed with a wintry mix of sleet, freezing rain and snow. To make matters worse we also had an arctic blast of air that continued for days. There were at least four days and nights in a row that the outside temperature stayed below the freezing point.

The sleet and freezing rain laid a slippery layer of ice that was promptly covered with snow. More sleet beat down that layer of snow giving the appearance of a shallow snowfall. How deceptive was that appearance! That shallow looking snowfall was actually a mix of snow and ice particles.

That beautiful looking wintry mix was treacherous on the highways and sidewalks. Luckily most people stayed home and off of the roads.

Then came a gorgeous sunny day. How unusual to see snow and ice melting, liquid dripping from car hoods and fences, even though the temperature is still below freezing. How does that work?

The problem with that sunny day melting the snow and ice was the effects after sundown. That melting produced puddles of water that refroze after sunset. The roads turned into highways of ice.

The first two or three days of this winter weather was a quiet period on the four lane highway in front of our apartment complex. The next two days showed us a very different sight as we witnessed cars and semi-trucks sliding backwards while trying to navigate an icy incline on that section of the road.

Northwestern Alabama is no stranger to snow but it is not normal to have this arctic blast accompanied by sleet, freezing rain and snow all at the same time and lasting for more than a day or two.

As cold and miserable as it has been it’s been a time of reflection about the many blessings many of us have received during this white, winter weather. Our power has stayed on during this mess which provided us with heat and an indoor means of preparing and cooking food.

We will survive this storm of inconveniences just as we have survived the many other storms that we’ve encountered in life, many of which were much worse in the final consequences. After all, humans appear to be a very resilient species!

Please feel free to share in the comment section your experiences with the storms you have encountered and how you handled those storms.

Stuck Between Seasons

January 11th, 2024

Stuck Between Seasons

I found this brown, weathered oak leaf leaning against the concrete splash block at the end of a downspout.

Autumn has passed and winter is well underway. But this leaf, left over from the autumn breezes, cannot travel with the wind any longer as it’s stem is stuck in the golden, dormant grass.

A large portion of the United States gets stuck between seasons often. There are jokes that circulate the social media sites stating something to the effect that people can experience all four seasons in one day or if you don’t like the weather (too hot, too cold, too wet or too dry) you only have to wait a day and the weather will be the complete opposite.

Do you ever feel that you, too, are stuck between seasons?

Do you ever feel like you are stuck emotionally? Perhaps you’ve had some type of trauma in your life that is difficult to accept or work through.

What about spiritually? Perhaps you don’t feel like you are maturing in your spiritual life and feel stuck where you are presently.

This weathered oak leaf will eventually be freed by a strong gust of wind during a winter storm. This wind will be stronger than the slender stem that is becoming more brittle each day.

I would guess that most of us have found ourselves stuck somewhere in life between the past and the future. Thankfully, just as that leaf will eventually fly away into winter, we usually find a way to move on or seek help in getting to that point.

Any thoughts you may have on this issue can be shared in the comment section and are welcomed.

 

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