Emancipation Proclamation
On the first of January bells were rung around Massachusetts at 2 pm to commemorate the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. I had heard that Pelham was going to join in and we went up to the historical society to have a look. This building used to be a church. It was built in 1839 when the government made the town move the worship area out of the town hall due to separation of church and state. The town hall (built 1743) is right next door and is interesting in that it is the oldest town hall in continuous use in the United States. The October town meeting is convened in it and then moved down to the school to be able to hold everyone. Pelham is also interesting in that it is the home of Daniel Shays. It is worth reading about him if you are interested in American history. His story is amazing.
Anyway, we arrived at the historical society and a few folks had shown up to participate. The single bell in the belfry was cast in England in the 1830s and has been out of service for a long time. Somehow enough money was found to conduct an engineering assessment of the structure to make sure that if it were rung the whole thing wouldn’t just collapse. It checked out OK (as they say); a new pull rope was attached and it was ready to go. We all took our turns and it was a surprisingly moving experience.
Hadley, MA field
I don’t know if it makes sense to post this panorama at only 720 pixels (maximum wordpress size for this template), but I like this shot. If you are trying to look at it on your phones, I would forget about it. On a big screen it should look pretty nice. I took the three photos on Friday and stitched them together a few minutes ago. / All of on the east coast are in for a wild few days with hurricane Sandy starting to rile things up. Lots of rain and high winds beginning tomorrow.
Vietnam Memorial and SAAM
Cris and I are in DC visiting Peter. He is amazing and is doing really well. We took the time for a quick visit to the Smithsonian American Art Museum. I can never get enough of it and I always come back to this part of the building which is near the Lunder Conservation Center. If any of you reading this are in the area and have never been here you really should make the effort. There is a great wood fired pizza place a couple of blocks away called The Matchbox. Get a small pizza and see some art!
Two of my friends from Meadville were killed in Viet Nam. Jim Rudd was a neighbor whom I knew quite well. We spent a lot of time together at the YMCA and I can remember his talking about his interest in Native American culture. He was a very sweet guy. He was a private in the Marines and died on 6 August, 1968.
I knew David Dragosavac less well, but Meadville was small and I am pretty sure we were on the Y swim team together at one point. David was a Sergeant in the Army and was killed on 1 April, 1970.
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is really worth a visit. Very moving.
Brockport, NY
I’m in Brockport shooting a job for MJ Herson and the college. Peter Carroll is here too and he and I had a nice meal at a local pub. It is an interesting little town on the Erie Canal and the people here are very nice.
We didn’t go into Barber’s but they had great neon.
Sunday in PA and Ohio
Today, Peter and I drove from Meadville to Cleveland, mostly on Route 322. It was a cool gray morning and 322 is a road that I have ridden on and driven many times. The fields were so green and lush; soy beans and field corn grown mostly on small family farms. I had wanted to stop and photograph on our way to the Indians game, but I felt a bit of pressure to get to the stadium and park with plenty of time to spare. It was a great game for the many Sox fans that made the trip with Boston winning 14-1. Afterwards Peter and I had an amazing meal at Mallorca.
As we were driving back to Meadville I was again taken by the rural beauty of Eastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania. The roads are in quite good shape and the farms are nicely kept. This shot is facing East on Ohio Route 167 not far from the PA line. There was so little traffic that I just stopped the car in the road to take it.
I stopped to photograph the fields on the way home and found myself thinking about the farmers in the midwest who are suffering through one of the worst droughts in recent history. Not four hundred miles west of here in Indiana the corn is dying for lack of rain. And yet the farmers in this part of the world seem to be in the midst of a bumper crop. I actually thought that if the Indiana farmers saw these fields they might cry.
And finally, our route back to Meadville took us through Linesville, PA. I got the chance to show Peter the famous spillway on Pymatuning Lake where the “ducks walk on the fishes backs”. I know it is really bizarre, but it is something I grew up with and it doesn’t seem that weird. We met a nice woman who is driving across the country visiting places like this. Here’s a link to her blog.
Fenway at Night
Peter, Cris, and I went to a Red Sox game last night. It was an absolutely perfect night for baseball; temperature in the mid-70s and a constant light breeze from the south. In the bottom of the first, Carl Crawford hit a double off the monster and was then picked off second when he wandered a bit too far from the base. That pretty much sums up the season. It has been a tough year for the club. But still, baseball on a beautiful summer’s evening. Can’t be beat (unlike the Sox who lost 6-3).
Block Island
Cris and I took the ferry to Block Island on Tuesday. I was photographing the foam kicked up from the props (or jets?) when this woman’s head popped out.
I hadn’t been there for at least 30 years, and I had forgotten what a nice place it is. We were visiting our friends Scott and Lisa and their kids at their rental on the south side of the island, and the light at the end of the day was really nice.
We left early the next morning, but it was just about a perfect 24 hours.
Waterloo, NY
Waterloo, NY is an interesting little town. It is not too far from Willard and I have passed through it a lot since it lies on one of the main routes between the Thruway and Ithaca. There was a Masonic Lodge on this corner (Virginia and Williams Streets) which was torn down in 2007. When that building came down, this sign became visible again.
I walked up to the brick to get a closer look and it is in very good condition. It is a complete shame that the Masonic building had to be razed, but at least something interesting came out of its destruction.
Albert Bierstadt
I have always liked this painting. Bierstadt was apparently quite the operator. / I’ve been in DC the past few days and had the chance to spend a few hours at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. It is the best museum in a city full of great museums. It shares the old patent office building with the National Portrait Gallery which in itself is pretty cool. While there I got the chance to see some of the people that Peter Carroll and I worked with on the Lunder Conservation Center project, and had a really nice visit. / Back to Massachusetts tomorrow and will mail out the next level of rewards for the suitcase backers.
Moon
I saw an amazing moonrise as I was driving home from the Museum last night. Huge and orange; more like a harvest moon. I have always wanted to get a night-time picture of the Gulf station at the Lee travel plaza so here it is. You can see the moon just to the left of the flag, but it looks so tiny! Much more dramatic in “real life”.
Jon Crispin's Notebook 
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