ephemerallife

broken

 

 

the moon, the tree, the bird, and the fisherman

 

During my day off last week, I took a dawn walk at the lake and came across this lone fisherman at the marina. The temperatures were in the twenties and I wondered how he could endure sitting in that kind of cold. Walking was keeping me warm enough, but just sitting? No thank you. I don't want fish that much.

 

registered

 

My friend Jim Nash is a docent at the Westcott House designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and located here in Springfield, Ohio. I visited the house on Sunday camera in hand. There was a heavy snow fall going on outside, so we pretty much had the house to ourselves. I love Wright designs with their clean horizontal lines and rectangular geometries.

However, every time I visit a Wright home, I think about the fact that the man had to make concessions to design elements that don't fit his style, such as these heavily ornate heating registers. The same is true of many other elements like sinks and faucets, stoves, etc. Poor man probably had nightmares about all of this victorian era objects in his revolutionary designed homes. Maybe that's why he had a reputation for being difficult.

 

 

red doors... rusting

 

Color,color, color. It's really on my mind as I anticipate Spring and see us beginning to come out of the winter gray. Even old red paint and rust are looking good to me.

Is the phenomenon of really loving color in Spring unique to me? Do you also crave color this time of year?

 

rust and decay

Rusty Door and Decay

 

I've written about Springfield's urban decay a few times in the past. To be sure, there is plenty of it. However, the city is tearing the old buildings down as fast as they can. New hospitals, skating rinks, and other buildings are going up in place of the old brick factories. I will miss them when they are gone. To me, the old buildings are a photographer's dream come true. I suppose that there really is no stopping progress.

Have a nice Friday folks. The weekend starts in just a few hours.

the Forrest for the trees

This used to be a massive printing plant full of huge presses. Now, it is used as a storage facility. Slowly the building has decayed over the decades and it is in the process of being torn down. All that junk? Old Harley Davidson spare parts going back to the seventies. You name it from tires to gas tanks. Such a waste.

 

just duckie

Duck in the Park

 

It's been a while since we had the opportunity to enjoy a visit with one of our fowl friends. The ducks in Snyder park are conditioned to see every approaching car as a potential source of food. Indeed, sometimes Jodi and I stop to feed them. The problem is that as soon as they see a car coming down the road, they begin to waddle in the street. Sometimes there are dozens of them standing in e road. Driving becomes a little tricky as you try to ease your way through them without injuring any of the birds.

To tell the truth, it feels a little like they are highwaymen and you are riding in a coach. "Throw out the crackers and nobody gets hurt. Quack!"

wittenberg view

Wittenberg View

 

This is one of my favorite scenes in my hometown of Springfield, Ohio. I shot the image during a Saturday morning walk along Leffels Creek, near the white water park. The leaves are gone and the white trunks of the sycamore trees really stand out in the overcast light. All in all, a pretty typical December day. Just a little warmer than normal.

Have a great day folks. Get your week off to a good start.

what happened to the American dream

What Happened to the American Dream?

 

This is one of those scenes you see while driving along and know that you need to get a shot of it. I had to circle the block and come back. I simply rolled down my window and grabbed my camera off of the passenger seat. There is a lot of fun in this kind of spontaneous photography. If you don't practice it, I encourage you to give it a try. Of course, you will always need to keep your camera with you. A point and shoot will do nicely. So, don't feel as though you need to lug all of your gear around all of the time. The point is to be spontaneous and to have fun.

 

clawed foot tub

Clawed Foot Tub

 

Wouldn't you like to have a steaming soak in this tub for an hour or so? I can imagine that all of your troubles would melt away in no time at all. Here in this house, there are no bath people. We are all fans of the shower. However, I could make an exception for this tub located in the Westcott house, here in Springfield.

When my son, my nephew, and my nieces were young, they all got baths in my parent's huge tub. There were lots of toys for them to play with and they all loved it. However, to them, nothing was better than getting their bath in my mom's kitchen sink. The sink had a double basin and they could play with plastic cups and bowls on one side while my mom washed them on the other. Messes were encouraged. Unfortunately, they grow fast and soon outgrew the sink. As you can imagine, there are plenty of family photos on the subject. I can tell you this much, the kitchen sink is easier on this adults back than the bathtub.