westward ho! the last chapter

OK -- so after reading my last two postings (for you slowpokes, read Part 1 here and Part 2 here) I bet you were wondering where the quirky pictures and signs were, right? I saved the best for last.

If you've never traveled in western Mass, it's an ever changing scene -- you go through lovely picturesque villages, stately college towns, and areas of poverty and decay. Old farm fields now are home to Walmart and Dunkin' Donuts. Beautiful hills surround old car dumps and crumbling factories. Being a history buff, it was all fascinating to me, but depressing in spots, too.

So here's the last leg of the trip. First, a tree, some ferns, and a few flowers.

The hills have eyes, outside the Williams College Museum of Art

Not quite sure why corrosion is a problem in Northampton,
but they need a department to control it

Do not allow your dog to sit here?

OK, so follow along with me here. This is a public water supply with nice clean water.
No swimming, no boating, no wading. No nothing. So then....

...I go to the ladies room in this cool rustic stone building overlooking all that clean water...

... and see beautiful old marble stalls, presumably from a local marble quarry...

... and this was written about 12 times, all over the walls... STJ was one very proud person!...

...and this was the sign over the sink. Curious.

There were a couple of other interesting sinks in other rustic bathrooms along the way.

And then there was this place.
A sign-lover's paradise, not to mention instant nirvana for the junk collector,
art lover, or connoisseur of quirky things.

These guys live on Long Hollow Bison Farm in Hadley, MA.
Across the street is a Walmart plaza and a McDonald's.

Some buildings in New Salem, MA, a tiny little village with a lot of historic charm. Population 929.

Trying to hitch a ride.

Hardwick Knitted Fabrics, Inc.

This little tree was growing right on the ledge under the eaves.

My favorite photo of the whole trip.
This slogan was carved on a picnic table in New Salem,
overlooking the Quabbin as seen in the next photo.
I didn't notice until just now that my name is also carved on the table.
Click on the photo for a closeup view.

westward ho! part 2

So on day 2 of my trip to western Mass, I headed out on Route 9 and drove to the northwest corner of the state to visit Mass MOCA, the museum of contemporary art in North Adams that is housed in amazing old manufacturing and industrial buildings. Definitely worth the trip if you're in the area. I was as intrigued by the buildings themselves as I was by the art, as you will see from the photos. I decided in the spirit of creative expression to take a few self-portraits in some of the reflective surfaces around the building. Silly.

westward ho! part 1

I just spent 3 days in the western half of Massachusetts, taking walks, taking pictures, looking at art, driving around, clearing my head, pretending I have no responsibilities and not a care in the world...that sort of thing. I took a lot of photos so I' ll break them into several postings.

On Sunday I poked around Quabbin Reservoir, which, for those of you from other parts of the world, is one of the largest man-made water supplies in the country, supplying water for the Boston vicinity. Take a look at a map of Massachusetts and the big blue thing in the center of the map is the Quabbin. It was built back in the 1930s, and the residents of four towns were relocated to higher ground, buildings were moved and demolished, and graves were dug up and moved to the Quabbin Park cemetery. Access is pretty limited, and the immediate surrounding towns are mostly small and sparsely populated. There are myths about being able to look down into the water and see buildings underneath, but the official word is that that's not true. I ran across a great booklist of fictional and true books about "drowned towns." Check the list out here: http://librarybooklists.org/mybooklists/drownedtowns.htm

So anyway, here are some views of the Quabbin. The weather was gorgeous, as you will see.

aquarium & quincy market

It's school vacation week, and I took Hannah and pals Mikal and Conor in to Boston to visit the aquarium and grab lunch and do a little shopping at Quincy Market. It was a beautiful spring day -- still a little chilly near the water but great for sitting in the sun and people watching.

This lady seemed really fascinated with these balloons. Simple pleasures are the best.

Speaking of simple pleasures, there's a group for every kind of photo obsession possible on flickr. There are groups for people who like to take pictures of (among the thousands of choices) clouds, rust, fences, manhole covers, numbers, trees, food, reflections, hydrants, curlicues, and of course, signs. I'm glad Kyria and I are not alone in this amusing pastime.

nicholas gets buzzed

Nick decided to cut off his hair this morning, so he had his friend Jimmy do the honors with the clippers (along with a little scissor work by sister Hannah). Here are the stunning results!

odds and ends

A few more signs. Some pretty flowers. A stop at the herring run and the old jail. A diagonal cloud. And a statue of Mercy Otis Warren, which looks kind-of like Dorothy.

boston

pass me a bottle

On a hike near Hathaway's Pond we came across a wonderful old bottle and metal dump, with literally hundreds of half-buried unbroken bottles probably dating from mid-20th century. My favorite is the bottle that broke with the perfect oval to display the moss growing inside.

We were also treated to the sight of a hawk in a tree just a few yards away from where we stood near Little Hathaway's Pond. Lots of wildlife out and about -- also saw a heron, and buffleheads, and countless other water birds enjoying the early spring temperatures.

Thanks to Red Bansfield of the Barnstable Land Trust for inviting me along on these walks, and of course to pal Gordon Starr for his amazing knowledge of the woods.

in a flash

I'm slowly learning how to use my flash and get decent pictures in low light. It is more challenging than I thought, even (or especially?) with a camera that supposedly takes the guesswork out of it! I hate that washed-out flash look, and I don't like the off-color or grey cast you get with high ISO settings. Many of my low-light pictures have been disappointing. But I do kind of like the effects that can happen without trying. Here are some interesting accidents.

Hannah after the play

Only

Dan abstracted (Mr. Dan -- you made it to the blog!)

Low-light success. Now, to figure out how I did that....