Goldenmane Tickseed by Live Oak

 

Coreopsis basalis...

 

Cycle Day Seven

In the year I worked at FPL meter reading, each day in the month had a cycle number along with a route number. The fellows who had been with FPL meter reading for years knew them by heart and could off the top of their head tell you where every meter on each route was. Amazing. Today would have been cycle day 7, route 111 beginning off Turner Road West of town on Battle Hill. It was one of the more scenic routes I read, reading through Lake Lona, up Brown Road, down to Smitty's Western Area, finishing at the end of Noegel Road. Many photographs came from this route.
This morning, I did not head West but South on my new route. It was a foggy morning of which I so look forward to. The first stop would have been the Octagonal Church at Price Creek CR 245 and
252 but the fog was too thick. I headed West on 252, my first stop the intersection of 252 and SE Country Club where the large oak in Mr Yarborough's field was. From there down Country Club past the Lil Bit Country Flower Shop to the open fields with wild flowers thick on the West side of the road.  Down to Hillcrest with a nice stand of black-eyed susans under the pines at 441. Back North toward town to Bethel Methodist taking a right on CR 133B, back to Country Club, to Price Creek and South to Cline Feagle Road. From there to Lutheran Cross Road to check out Bethlehem Lutheran, then retracing Lutheran Cross Road back to Price Creek, South to Providence and through the intersection straight onto 241A, stopping at the old house where the petunias once grew. Only one or two were blooming. From there wound around back to Providence, retracing bicycle routes Roger and I used to often take. From Providence took 241 back to Price Creek and home.
Saw several turkey, stopping many times as scenes unfolded and the fog lifted. By the time I returned to the Octagonal church, the fog was gone so I came on home.
Used two cameras, the D40 that needed a new sensor but seems to take photographs OK with the 18-200 attached and the new D3100 with the 18-55 attached. I used the SB400 with diffuser for flash on a cord. Perhaps the photo I liked best today was the old house with the single petunia. After failed attempts with auto focus, I set the lens on manual and focused on the petunia with the house out of focus, but enough in focus with the f8 setting. The fill flash was laid on the ground. I too was lying on the ground, which could account for why I feel things crawling up my pants now.

Family Reunion

I can recall back to the age of around four
We had a family reunion to look toward
A yearly journey out to Mississippi
To little Homewood in Scott County.
There wasn't much in the tiny town
Just the Methodist church and farms scattered around
With the old home place across up on the hill
The Stokes grocery and bus station on Highway thirty-five
Granny Bernice would sit in the kitchen with me
Proud of the picture I painted that she hung prominently
Pappa Earnest in his blue overalls was so patient
Caring not a bit his zinnia's we ran through and bent
And often with suitcases full of sorrow and hurt
The load was lightened by Uncle Curt
Who gave us his jovial wise advice with Aunt Grace
whistling an old hymn of a heavenly place
As even Lute would smile with that bulldog jowl
And one of Marzell's dogs under the porch would growl
Probably from one of the many cousins giving it a  fit
Or perhaps Bill Wolf attempting to stuff it.
We knew when William Clark arrived in burgandy
That State was surely this year going to go undefeated
We just went along with the eternal hope
As Jimmy would roll that one lazy eye up
It was never a dull moment with Aunt Hazel around
Her and Aunt Irene match making any singles in town.
And how they loved to straighten up all us gone wrong
Telling it like it was in such a southern,lovely tone
At dusk without television or the electronic distractions
We would just sit on the long porch in full satisfaction
Left-overs plenty in the back kitchen for later on
Sad that come tomorrow we would journey toward home
That here at the end of that long lane life was good
That we would miss this crazy family come together
at a tiny place called
Homewood.

It's a start

The seven photographs are on display at the new Gateway Gallery of the Suwannee Valley Art League on First Street in Lake City. I was one of the last people to display in the last remaining spot. It's not the best spot by any means, that going to Herb, Wally, Jeanne and the movers and shakers who got the gallery started, rightfully so.
It is a difficult choice to decide which photographs to display. The best way to frame. The best size.
The price to decide upon. I do think a larger size would have more impact. That needs to be my next move, to enlarge up to 11x14 in 16x20 frames.
If you are an artist and sell your prints, I would be interested in hearing from you what works, where you order your frames and mats, where you send off for your prints, or if you print them yourself.
Currently I am very low tech. I use a Kodak all-in-one non-fancy printer. I use Kodak glossy paper in 8.5x11. My current frame and matt combination came from Dick Blick and Amazon.
My ideal situation I suppose, little that I know, would be an Epson printer that prints 11x14 or larger, on a thicker paper, in black and white.
I would like to get a scanner where I can download my negatives into the computer and print from them. That way I could return to film, specifically the Yashica Mat 124 120 square format.
I could develop the negatives without a darkroom, then use the computer as the printer.
With film, you do not have the worry of losing your images with a computer crash.

Esther Ruth

I only went to the Moore Farm perhaps a half-dozen times. I always enjoyed visiting the cracker Florida farm with the weathered wood and tin barns and sheds. One of the sheds the Moore sisters had made into a tool museum, hanging the old farm implements along the old wood walls of the barn.
The watercolor class under Loye Barnard once spent an afternoon on her farm plein air painting. Robert Jones and I made a visit or two to photograph the buildings.
This past April 11th, Miss Esther Ruth Moore passed away at age 91at Haven Hospice. According to the obituary, she was born January 6, 1922 on this farm, the daughter of Marion and Sadie Rivers Moore.
She was a descenant of the Moore, Rivers and Goodbread familes, pioneers of Northern Columbia County. She attended the long closed Winfield School until 9th grade then Columbia High.
Following Massey Business school in Jacksonville, she returned to the farm to care for her aging parents in 1964, never herself to leave or marry. She was the last living family member of her generation.
I shall remember her sweet demeanor, quiet and servant like. A rare thing to witness.

and in the morning of my life

 

Desperado

For a fleeting five minutes I held the Nikon D7100 in my hands. It should have been the happy culmination of a frustrating process, but it wasn't to be. Earlier, I got the I don't give a damn anymore blues after Nathaniel left for Biloxi. I boxed up the Nikon D5000, D40, 18-55VR, 55-200VR, 501.4 and 18-55non VR with batteries and cords and sent them to Adorama. It ended up Adorama would only give me $315 for them. At that point I should have said No Thanks!, but I accepted and they credited my card. They were not even going to give me that much until I told them I was trying to order the Nikon D7100, to which Mr Gold(fine name) offered me last months quote. He had said prices had gone down since last month.  So I ordered the D7100 body only for about $800. Today Melanie got wind of the charge on the card and said among other things, how do you plan to afford it being you only are going to be working two more weeks, doctors bills,etc? So, I called Adorama and got Mr Gold and said, was it possible to get the merchandise back? He said all had been sold except the 55-200. Great! So I called to cancel the D7100, which they wouldn't since it had shipped. So, I perused the site and wanted to order a D5100 upgrade from what I had for 400something, but decided instead on a D3100 with 18-55 for about 349.00. It has all the guts of the D5000 I had only thing going for it is its lighter. Does not have the articulating screen. So I boxed up the D7100 and at 3:30 will take it to UPS and return it, losing about 12.oo to ship it back.
Seems I will never afford the body I want, one that will allow me to meter the old lenses I have. Oh well, its only a body. I shall wait and perhaps fortune will smile and I will be able to afford the D400 if Nikon updates it. It does not help the I don't give a damn's though since Nathaniel left.

Annie May

In the narrow alley way between Valerie's Boutique and the House of Bargains, there is a tombstone. Wife of M.L.Callahan 1890-1920 is inscribed on the side of the soft stone. On top the words Annie May. And thus the mystery. I have challenged my historic sleuth  friend Harold Murphy to try and locate Annie May and some of her history possibly. Was the stone placed here as a prank?  The Callahan family were some of the first pioneer family to move into the Columbia County area. One of the Callahan's was a first cousin to Lincoln, living to the age of 105 in 1955.
I trust that Harold will find something about this Annie May.

Come Clara

 

by john clare

Eighty-four and I am not too old to cry
To wake late at night shivering in bed
Hearing those black coal cars passing by
High up on that steep Crumpler mountain.

I dare not wake mamma down the hall
Soon daddy will slip out through the kitchen
before the night shift whistle post siren calls
His Crumpler to Northfork bus line day to begin.

My door creaks and daddy whispers,
Come Clara Jean
I rub the nights tears on the pillow quickly
Forgetting the chilly night of dreaming
For today I get to take fare for daddy!

It matters not to us that mamma will fuss
That's the Dodson in her we easily forgive
only a facade of outer hill born gruff
As she secretly loves our puppies and kitties.

South of the old whistle post is the church
Through the frosted window a tall figure stands
Its the preachers son eight years my younger
Just arrived from outside Welch in Coalwood.

He is so handsome with the wavy black hair
And today he rides the bus over to Bluefield!
I try and compose as I take his script fare
He sits right behind me as glances I steal.

He is not at all like the boys of Crumpler
In those gleaming eyes stirs grander dreams
Beyond the dark shafts to searching for cures
With music in those eyes...how they gleamed!

Did daddy know today little Jerry would ride?
That I would love this young man from that day?
Knowing  he would not always be by my side
That life was more than taking company script pay?

The other night I heard the door creak softly
Come Clara Jean
I could not tell if it was daddy or Jerry
It's been so long and I am always so cold
And even at eighty-four
Tell me I am not still looney for all these tears!

Word arrived yesterday that Gerald Looney passed away
in Woodland Hills, California surrounded by family.
He was merely a boy of seventy-six
A distinguished doctor from John Hopkins and Harvard
While little Jerry found no cure for his cancer
 He found a cure for the shivering tears of
Richard Oranders girl
Clara Jean.

Five Shoal Shots

Attempting to capture water movement in bright sunlight.

 

 

 

 

To end of days

to come to end of days
to pitch the tent beside the trail
above the night hawk wails
Pileated screams of
Go away!
Away!
To rise upon dawns chill
Creep past Leviathan sleeping still
The journey to Metanoia has begun
The never ending path toward Sun.