Existing In BFE

Unfortunately back in my time, film and processing cost money.  because of this we never did the kind of "Day In the Life Of" kind of random picture taking that would have been so special to see now.  In one of the few advances in technology that I can think of, digital pictures are virtually free today.  You can takes hundreds on an outing, sift through them, keep the good ones, and display them on the internet - all without any charge at all.  While it is true that camera sensors do have a finite lifespan, and copy  processing through Walgreen's cost money,  the home do-it-your-selfer can take pictures of their activity through a day absolutely free.  That's pretty cool.   But back when I was a kid or young adult, the only picture taking we took was for Christmas cards or some other formal event.  I can't remember sitting around and hearing someone say with a Mickey Rooney "Let's put on a show!" enthusiasm - hey, "Let's take our p

There's not much left of Seaton, Illinois anymore.  When we boys were living there as kids there was a gas station, an auto repair shop, a hardware store, a plumbing business, a newspaper, a post office, restaurant, grocery store, a bank, a veterinarian, grain elevator, trucking business, barber shop and the Smarjasse shop that was hard to catagorize.  All that is left is a bank, cafe, post office and fertilizer company.  Every couple of years they would bring in a small carnival and the weekend would bring in all kinds of folks.  I recall one time that they had go-carts at these things, too, which was always something I kind of wanted growing up.  It was a big deal for our little town.   Nowadays they have a pancake breakfast a coupel times a year and the Seaton Power Show in July.  "Power" mostly meaning tractors.  I stopped in last year, too, so these pictures will be reminiscent of last years.  I think they have a pretty good show, along with small engines an

Head Out On the Highway, Looking For Adventure There is about a 4 mile long winding country road (those are the best, aren't they?) east of Gladstone that takes you to the South Henderson church.  Thet all by itself is worth the trip,  but across the street is a cemetery that holds surprises for the uninintiated. The church was built in 1854.  The congregation was led by the Reverend Robert Ross who just happened to be one of the founders of Monmouth College.  The church was in use until 1954 when it was officially disorganized and taken over by the local historical group for maintenance.    Peer inside the generous amount of windows and you'll see a time capsule that will take you back to a different time, a different country, a younger America.  Just think, when this building was dedicated the U.S. was only 70 years old.   Inside you will see two-sections for seating, one aisle, two chandeliers and a dual-heating single-chimney system.

One of the workers here at Bedlam helping with the major renovations.  He has hair so long he clips it to his pants so it will stay out of the way.  I don't have a problem with guys with long hair, but I just wonder why he likes it this long. ++++++++++ Our Colombian neighbors next door brought over some tasty South American treat the other week.  Everyone at Bedlam is getting the boot, or at least many, so they can do a rehab on all the units.  We moved this past weekend, and our neighbors are leaving next month.  They are all heading back to Columbia.  He said he has a house down there that has 6 bedrooms and he pays $300 a month.  He invited me to move down there and start living cheaply.  I told him it was tempting.  Hell,  I just might.    ++++++++++      I like this shirt. ++++++++++ I tried to get into Mr. Robot , but finally had enough after three episodes.  Government guys in black suits and Matrix-type storyline, and lead act

The third series of hummingbirds using the nectar at Mr. and Mrs. Wombie's home in Emerald City.   I have one more series, I think, left and will post those in a few days.

This little gem of a picture isn't all that old.  It's not a school picture or baby or one of those family pics I've been inflicting on you recently.  On a life timeline, this is fairly recent.  It was taken on a trip to the Quad-Cities where we had lunch at the old Lodge, which, I don't think exists anymore.  If it does, its not called that anymore.  I was with the current Mrs. Blythe and Mackenzie and a friend of hers.  I'm thinking c. 2004.  Pre-gray, anyway.  Since this was pre-selfie this was taken by someone at the table and by my look, I was not expecting it.  If you look at the backdrop,  this was my kind of restaurant - dark, dark and if you were placed at the right table, even darker.   There isn't much else to this picture, except I direct you to my left ear.  Specifically the lobe.  Brendan and I engaged in a wager of sorts, and my part (having won or lost, depending on how you look at it) was this item that graced its place there for a

The trouble with creating something from scratch is that we see the end result in a perfect or idealized state.  That's just the way our minds work.  Transferring what we see with our heads onto canvas, or any other artistic endeavor for that matter,  is what determines our level of success.  Shakespeare knew all about it and said as much in Hamlet's Soliloquy: "Aye, there's the rub."   The Cabin in the Woods has a nice garage area so on a event-less afternoon I started to transfer something onto the large canvas I had lying around.  I'm going through a dark phase so I plastered the thing with black gesso and began to see what I had in mind for the thing, and it was pretty neat.  But putting that onto the blank blackness, aye, that's what separates true artists who command thousands for their work to guys like me who have closets full of these things.  But since I have a pension, I'm not in the starving artist category.  I can tinker wit

My bike needed some work done so I took her up to Brenny's in Bettendorf.  They needed a few days to work on everything, and Mr. and Mrs. Wombie needed an oil change on their Trax, so after that they swung over and picked me up.  While waiting, I started walking and noticed a walk/bike path a couple blocks away from this area of town, which seemed fairly industrial.   It was a bit like Dorothy going from black and white into color.  This walkway took me into a pastoral green park area that one wouldn't have guessed to exist from the roadway.   The place is called Devil's Glen Park and the bike path took me along a winding creek with sandstone cliffs and several small waterfalls. Another view of the waterfall.  Only had my iPhone camera so these aren't the best shots. These block restrooms and picnic areas are remnants of work done by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the '30's. The next few shots are of the cliffs that e