I started my Leica Patrol around 2 p.m. and finished a freezing hour or so later. I think it was a good trip. I’m not sure I’ve ever been colder.
My frostbitten fingers are in full revolt, throbbing and numb. But the big news is that I got some photos I really like, the Leica and I are figuring things out. It was worth it.
I’ve got six images I want to share, starting with these two gorgeous horses above out eating hay in a feeder in their pasture.
I’ve made friends with these two beautiful horses, they live a mile or so away from me and are highly sociable. I always stop to say hello; they always come out to say hello back.
When I get out of the car, they come walking right over to the fence.
I don’t give anyone’s animals treats without permission, but I do come out and talk to them, and they cooperate nicely when it comes to posing for photos. These are beautiful and unique animals.
My friend George Forss, the late and great photographer, loved taking photos of this silo on Route 313 near the Vermont border. I took this photo and the one below today in George’s honor.
He loved this particular landscape, and I stopped for a closer shot as well, just below.
This silo looks lonely to me, abandoned and left behind, an iconic image of another time. It still has some dignity, though.
A small airport – the Cambridge Valley Flying Club – is just a couple of miles from me. I know nothing about it, but I see small planes frequently circling overhead. I’d love to take flying lessons and learn how to fly a small place, but older people with heart disease are not allowed in.
I loved seeing the airport; I’ll go back when the weather clears and take more photos..
I liked this image so much yesterday I went back and reshot it, making it vertical It just says so much to me.
Rural America boomed pretty much until the Great Depression; the politicians and economists ruined it pretty thoroughly when they decided small farm farms were no longer practical in the newly emerging global economy.
So they abandoned them and the communities that thrived around them. Everywhere you go in the country, you can see the ruins inflicted on what we call the heartland. We can see the consequences every day on the news. I go by this abandoned trailer often; it was once a home. I am not optimistic that it will ever be removed. I call it Lost America.
I make it a habit to record images of abandoned barns. \They are beautiful and straightforward old buildings, and for a long time, they helped feed America. Perhaps some angels will return and find a use for barns again.
I refuse to believe there isn’t any.
Love the friendly and photogenic horses, and the distant silo shot, but prefer yesterday’s wide view of the train tracks with the tall wire poles offering the aerial lines in contrast to the ground rails. I’m liking these Leica expeditions.
One of my favorite times with Scott was having lunch at the small airport near where we lived. I loved watching the colorful planes land and take off. Steve McQueen lived the last part of his life with his wife in his private airport hangar with their two private planes next to them while they slept.
You have definitely conquered the focus feature. These photos are so terrific, I can feel how cold it was today!
Thanks.
Jon…
Your “Lost America” Leica images remind me that modern USA migration patterns would make an interesting study. With a wealth of land that many countries would envy, we are fickle with engagement and secession in land use. We know of the departure of farmers from the 1930s “Dust Bowl”. But currently, other areas are abandoned or sparsely populated.
Because so many people live in cities, we think the country is overcrowded. But, before the interstate highways were finished, I drove from Southern California to East Texas. After branching from Route 66 at Santa Rosa, NM, I didn’t see traffic for the next 500 miles.
We hear of towns springing up with burgeoning populations. But population migration also can leave small towns behind to slowly die. Reasons can vary, from ecological reasons such as more desirable weather; to cultural reasons, such as younger generations leaving the farm; to economic attractions of higher wages or better job prospects in massive industrial developments.
Phoenix, a traditional semiconductor hub since the 1960s, has attracted Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC), the world’s 3rd largest semiconductor company. TSMC is planning a huge presence in the Phoenix area, including factories on land presently undeveloped.
But job prospects have a double-edge, as de-industrialization and global outsourcing trends have diminished long-term prospects in “Rust Belt” and upstate NY areas.
Large-scale government projects can also affect local economies. Remember the Superconducting Super Collider? It was to be a huge particle accelerator (“atom smasher”) for basic physics research, located in Waxahachie, Texas, 30 miles south of Dallas. During the defense industry slowdown and “big science” backlash following the Cold War, the Super Collider was canceled after $2B had been spent. This cancelation itself changed migration plans and caused a mild recession in areas south of Dallas. High energy physics leadership passed to the research organization named CERN, which operates the Large Hadron Collider outside of Geneva, Switzerland.
good to see you on the road again. Witnessing country life……….Just like the time of following sunsets with Izzy.
Love the Leica shots.
And the way the blog is returning to its roots…………………
Thanks, it feels good to return to the original roots of the E.B.WHite idea
I recently landed with a wump and three dogs in Northern Vermont after 20 years in CO. I feel a pang of loss at all the old, dignified village buildings left to fend for themselves on the edge of a curb they never asked for. I imagine they feel lonely and without purpose, when they once bustled with life.
Nicely written, Heather, thanks.