Farmers’ Market
This is white ginger. It usually shows up at this time of the year at the Amherst farmers’ market and is quite lovely. We usually buy some to put in the freezer.
I was taken by the produce at Old Friends Farm stand this morning. Everything looked great in the soft morning light.
Autumn farmers’ markets are the best.
I’ve no idea what these little white pods are, but they look nice next to the tomatoes.
And a question for all you grammarians out there. When I was writing the title of this post I assumed that the apostrophe in farmers would go after the “r”, but when I did an internet search, many sites had it after the “s”. Any clarification on which is correct?
Lemon, Cuke, Pepper
There has been a lot going on lately and I have been saddled with a bit of “karma congestion”, as my friend Alex would put it. I haven’t posted for a bit, and haven’t been inspired to do so. I know I am feeling a bit better when I start wanting to photograph goofy arrangements of yesterdays vegetables. I can’t remember what I did with the other half of the lemon, but the rest of this cuke was in a peanut butter sandwich and most of the red pepper was in an amazing corn chowder. I’ll eat the remainder of the cuke in a few hours, and the lemon and pepper will go in the freezer bag for stock.
I am about to make a modification to this site, but it shouldn’t have any bearing on regular followers. I will be changing the url from joncrispin.wordpress.com to joncrispinposts.com. As far as I can understand it, the old url should still work, but if any of you have problems, shoot me an email. Also, for the followers of my Willard Suitcase project, the willardsuitcases.com site should be up and running by the end of next week at the latest. Steve Fox from Born Digital Web Design in the UK has done an amazing job putting it all together, and I am so excited to finally have it done. I will post here when it is online.
Wishing you all a great weekend. Thanks for following.
Andre Dubus III for Poets & Writers
I have been getting a lot of great assignments from Poets & Writers lately. This past Friday I drove out to Eastern Massachusetts to meet and photograph Andre Dubus III. I had read quite a few reviews of his memoir “Townie” and was aware of his earlier novel “House of Sand and Fog”. I had a wonderful time with him and got some really nice photographs. While I can’t put up any of the shots of him here until the story runs in the magazine, I can show these. / I always ask writers about how they physically create their work. I have lots of photographs of fingers tapping away at keyboards (both typewriter and computer),and shots of hands holding pens over paper. Andre is the first writer I have photographed who writes with pencil, and he was most happy to talk about his favorite. It is a Palomino Blackwing 602. I usually do an internet search for things about which I know little, and I found an interesting wikipedia entry about this particular pencil. Here is the link.
As you can see, he writes in lined composition notebooks. It is so interesting how entire books come out of this process. / In all ways was he was a most generous subject. He inscribed a copy of “Townie” for me and gave me a collection of his father’s short stories. I have just about finished the memoir and it is both harrowing and completely engaging. I’ll start on his dad’s stories next. / Huge thanks to P&W for the assignment and to Andre for an amazing experience. The story is scheduled to run in the November/December issue, and I will put up a link and some of my photographs when it is out.
That thing happened again.
At the end of the day yesterday Cristine was having trouble with her hearing aid and asked me to take a look at it. I didn’t need the battery which she had removed, and as I tossed it towards her, it landed on Peter’s duvet in this upright position. As I have posted before here and here, I have always seen this as something very positive and almost mystical. It always makes me happy, and for some odd reason instills in me a sense being connected to a world of wonder and mystery. (Peter would say I am “waxing a bit poetic” here but I am prone to do that once in a while.)
Ben’s Chili Bowl and MLK Speech Anniversary
Peter and I had an interesting “one-two” today. We had lunch at Ben’s Chili Bowl (amazing) and then headed down to the Mall to check out the events surrounding the 50th anniversary of the “I have a dream speech”. Ben’s had CSPAN on so we were able to see some of the proceedings on TV which was really great.
We got to the area near the Washington Monument just as the President started speaking. We were way back, but it was nice to be a part of the crowd. I really love DC. It is such an interesting city.
I also want to add a note to yesterday’s post. The document in the Shanghai Garden window is actually a “permit to raze”, which really bums me out. Once that little building is gone, it is gone for good. I am so glad I got to grab a photo before it was demolished.
DC in August
Cris and I took the train from New Haven to DC on Monday. She has a couple of days of consulting and I get to hang out with Peter.
This tiny restaurant is near to the Van Ness metro station and has been closed since Peter moved to the neighborhood. I really like the retro feel of the facade, and with the building permit in the window you know it will change soon.
I have always enjoyed shooting in underground stations. I like the movement of the trains during long exposures.
I will often stop after exiting the giant escalator at Dupont Circle to look down on cars that are passing below.
Peter was working the Nationals game last night so Cris and I showed up at around 6:00 to get tickets. The Nats are struggling this year and with playoff hopes low, they are selling seats for $5.00! $5.00; unbelievable. We got a couple of great seats in section 402 and saw a really good game with a win over the Marlins. My current favorite pitcher, Ross Ohlendorf, was on the mound and his old school wind-up is unique. You can get a look at it here. / Every time Wilson Ramos came up to bat, some guy behind me started chanting Hu go Cha vez, Hu go Cha vez. (There is a Venezuelan connection; only in DC can you hear something like this at a ball game.)
It was beautiful night, and between innings it was nice to look around at some of the architectural features of the park. Cris noticed these lights just above us and pointed them out to me.
We are off to the Lincoln Memorial in a bit to see if we can see the President speak in honor of the 50th anniversary of the MLK “I have a dream” speech. Could be interesting.
Sunflowers
I had to get the oil changed in Cristine’s car early today and as I was driving through Hadley I saw this field of sunflowers. I stopped on the way home and grabbed a few shots. Some of the flowers were huge. Big honkin’ leaves too. / Peggy Ross came over to work with me on the willardsuitcases.com site (which I am so far behind on) and we got a ton done on the FAQ section. I hope to be able to finish it up by early September. / There is a nice interview on the Port Magazine (UK) site about the suitcases. Here is the link. Betty Wood has been following the project from very early on, and she did a great job asking questions and putting it all together. I was really fun talking to her and am so grateful for her interest and support.
The Full English
I don’t post about food very often, but I feel like doing so today.
This weekend marks the start of the English Premiership season, and Peter and I follow our respective teams (Manchester United and Fulham) faithfully. We texted back and forth yesterday during the Fulham and United wins. He has an amazing mind for the game and when I asked him about Darren Bent, who is new to Fulham, this is what I got as a response.
So anyway, it is a lot of fun for us. Pete doesn’t eat a lot of the stuff that I like, but he likes to live vicariously through me. For the past few weeks he has been telling me that I need to have the “full English” sometime this weekend. So I cooked one up this morning and it was one of the best. I’m not too bothered about not having mushrooms, but everything else is there, including the fried bread, and the English Heinz beans. If figure I’ll be OK if I limit myself to two or three of these a year.
Willard Suitcase #23
Welcome to all of you who came here through the Boing Boing article (slight spelling error on my surname). I usually know that an article was published somewhere on the web when I start to get lots of new people subscribing to this site. I took me a few minutes to track down the source, but as always, I am grateful for the exposure.
Not all of the cases contain much in the way of objects, and this one felt quite empty when I set it on the background.
This was the first tartan case I have come across and it surprised me with its brightness.
There was only the tiniest scrap of paper inside, but for some reason it was very evocative. You can just make it out on the front flap of the case.
I am always excited when a suitcase reveals a date. And why this charred bit from the Elmira Star-Gazette is all that is left of Viola G.’s time at Willard is anyone’s guess.
I also want to mention an interesting podcast on Port Magazine’s site. Barney Rowntree is a radio producer based in the UK and a few months ago, Karen Miller and I went into a studio in Boston to have a chat with him about the project. Here is the link to the piece that he produced (another spelling error on my name, but they are working on it). It is just under 15 minutes and worth a listen.
Again, a hearty welcome to all you folks who are new to the project. Thanks for your interest.
Thank You
Thanks to all of you who have sent condolences following the Pearl’s death. Hearing from you has meant a great deal to me. It is a week since the she died and we still haven’t come to terms with it. But we really are trying to move on, while keeping her lovely spirit in our hearts. / The recent weather here has been beautiful, and on Sunday Cris and I had a great long bike ride through Amherst and Hadley. This shot was taken less than a mile from the busy Route 9 corridor facing the Holyoke Range. Moodybridge has always been one of my favorite roads in the valley.
Jon Crispin's Notebook 
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