June 2011

Hard Winter
Bozeman, Montana
2011

I’ve done so much complaining about our long stormy winter people may wonder why I put up with it. So, starting tomorrow I’m going to post a short series of photos showing what makes it worth it.

Mandala #2
Taos, New Mexico
2011

According to Wikipedia, mandala is a Sanskrit word meaning circle. But it takes on a more significant meaning because of its use to describe circular graphic symbols of the universe in the Hindu and Buddhist religions often used as aids in meditation. I think mandala makes a good title for a collection of images centering on circular shapes. Whether you can see the universe in a sewer drain cover is up to you.

Mandala
Bozeman, Montana
2011

The universe in a sewer drain.

Muscotah Elevator
Muscotah, Kansas
2011

For a small town, the elevator in Muscotah seemed to be pretty well kept up and used. In so many small towns the elevators appear to be non-functional or in poor shape. But the non-functional part may be deceiving. During harvest season a lot of these seemingly dead elevators come to life as the wheat crop is brought in. Then the elevator is the busiest concern around.

The Perfect Hill (Almost)
Broadus, Montana
2011

There aren’t a lot of perfect geometric shapes in nature, at least on a large geologic scale. The profile of this hill comes about as close as I’ve seen to having a perfectly triangular shape–kind of like what a little kid might draw when asked to create a scene with a mountain or hill in it. Or at least that’s about the level of sophistication I had in drawing as a youngster.

Stories From My Childhood
Muscotah, Kansas
2011

An antique house with an antique photo treatment. A favorite genre of stories for me when I was a kid was anything that had to do with discovering an old mysterious house on an overgrown lot and exploring it’s secrets (generally not particularly scary or sinister secrets like they would be in stories today). So when I see a house like this it really takes me back; this one perhaps more than most because I could see through the broken window in front that it still appeared to be full of furniture which just doubles the storyline possibilities.

Most in Need
Muscotah, Kansas
2011

Across from the most improved yard, the building perhaps most in need of improvement in Muscotah.

Most Improved
Muscotah, Kansas
2011

In a small town where even most of the vacant lots were well mowed and trimmed, having the most improved yard is quite an accomplishment, or else it was in so much worse shape than all the other lawns to begin with it was easy to show a lot of change (sort of a regression-to-the-mean phenomenon for you statistically minded folks out there).

18-Plex
Garnett, Kansas
2011

A window off an alley in Garnett. What looks like some very nicely patterned breaks in the window are mostly just white paint peeling off the inside of the glass.