DAY 40: A NOCTURNAL ADVENTURE

DAY  40: A NOCTURNAL ADVENTURE

Last night (or, rather, after midnight this morning), I decided to go on an adventure. I told my husband I wanted to go out again and take pictures of snow scenes around town while the snow was still fresh and falling. He just wasn’t up to it - thought it was too late and I guess he didn’t think I was as serious as I was and he fell asleep.

So……I slipped on some boots, got my camera and went without him!

There were a few people out and about, but not many. Driving down East Main, I saw Ryder’s Cemetery. I wondered what it would look like under a blanket of snow…and I wondered if anyone had ever seen that cemetery in the snow…so I eased my way up the hill.

It was the quietest place EVER – it was as if everyone there was tucked in for the night and sharing a big white blanket. It felt very ethereal.

A technical lesson I’ve learned is that I really must consider some sort of tripod when taking pictures at night. Although the snow lit up the landscape a lot, it was still too dark to get good photographs without a flash and my pictures weren’t very clear due to my moving the camera while the shutter was still open.

But despite that, I loved my nocturnal adventure.

I did feel a little bad, though, when I got home and my cat was peering out the door waiting for me…and Stephen was awake and also waiting.

Maybe it is a little odd or weird, but I don’t care. The snow and all its possibilities excited me and I acted on that. A girl needs a spontaneous adventure every now and then!

DAY 39: MR. SMITH

DAY 39: MR. SMITH  

Mister Smith was simply one of the kindest souls in Marion County, ever.

He has departed this world now, but I have many fond memories of him and his gentle, trusting nature.

I'm sure a lot of Marion Countians will recall him just from this picture I've posted. He was on the streets of Lebanon daily, and this picture is an excellent likeness of him (if I do say so myself!).

He married very very late in life. I think he was at least in his late seventies when he tied the knot/jumped over the broom/whatever you want to call it. It was his first and only marriage. He may have even been in his early eighties...not sure.

I have a poloroid picture of him and his new bride when they were still in the throes of their newly-wedded bliss - but it's a poloroid pic and I don't have that on my computer. Maybe I will add that some day when I get a chance. Right after I find those pictures of my dad that look just like Elvis Presley.

Mr. Smith unintentionally caused a great deal of excitement and concern at the County Attorney's Office when I was working there. He had some sort of "spell" in the front office and EMS had to be called. I was so scared when that happened to him. I'm the one who called 911!  But EMS arrived post haste, and Mr. Smith was treated and restored to his previous level of health very shortly.

Mister Smith - your kind and loving demeanor was appreciated by more people than you will ever know. You were a true sweetie and a wonderful person. May you rest in peace. +

DAY 38: AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD, PART DEUX

DAY 38: AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD, PART DEUX

Kermit was another of my back door neighbors, and I could always depend on seeing him with a friend or two on his porch - especially on "Enterprise Day", which is celebrated weekly in Marion County to commemorate the day our local paper hits the stands. It has been that way for decades! When people in Marion County say it's "Enterprise Day" - all the locals understand what that means.

But back to the subject at hand.

Kermit is still around, but is no longer officially my neighbor. I always found it interesting the variety and number of friends he had. And I liked his 'wheelin' and dealin'...see all those bicycles on the second pic? They were for sale or trade. Kermit could and did entertain himself and others with trades in items of nearly every description.

  

Now this next picture is of Kermit and his neighbor of at least 30 some odd years, Miss Julie. It appears she is bringing him some food. The afternoon sun bore down on her in such a way as to have the unfortunate effect of making Miss Julie's thin summer dress appear transparent. So I photoshopped that picture into a sort of abstracty-realismy- thingy to leave just a bit more to the imagination. 

 

DAY 37: MY NEIGHBOR, MISS JULIE

DAY 37:  MY NEIGHBOR, MISS JULIE

Miss Julie's back yard adjoins mine at a corner point in back of both our homes. My house fronts West Main; hers, West Mulberry.

I've lived at my current location since the spring of 1988 and can say that Miss Julie always kept her yard in immaculate condition. So one day when I caught her out doing her chores, I was very surprised at her meager tools! This rake had seen better days - but Miss Julie wasn't complaining at all. She got the job done.

  

Miss Julie always had the most beautiful geraniums of anyone in the whole town - at least I thought so. Here she is on her front porch with some of her geraniums and other healthy plants. 

She isn't living at home any more, but I see her children and other relatives across the way working on her yard and house sometimes. I think that's great.

But the days of seeing Miss Julie out doing her own chores and raising such beautiful flowers are probably just a memory now for me now.

DAY 36: GLOOM

Today is a gloomy, rainy day. In that spirit, I offer you this...

  

DAY 36:  GLOOM 

Some pictures seem inconsequential unless you have a little background on the circumstances of their taking.

To anyone who doesn’t know the significance of this photo, it would not mean much.

But here is the background, in the most general terms...

After watching some of the testimony in a very sensitive Marion County Circuit Court case that involved alleged sexual abuse within a family, I spotted some of the key people involved making their way down a dreary, rainy sidewalk after a particularly painful day in the proceedings.

The people under/around the umbrella had just left the courthouse.

The mood of the scene captured here seemed to me an accurate reflection of their moods, my mood - and the general tenor of the whole case.