Month: September 2007

Photography

Rose of Sharon

Shelly

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I’m not a big Rose of Sharon fan, but as they were the only thing blooming, beggars can’t be choosers. The flowers are pretty enough, but the shrubs are kind of uninspiring.

This particular shrub was uncooperative, too. All the blooms were at the top, which was way above my head. I had to climb half-way into the darned thing, then jump up, grab the branch the flower was on, and pull it down. It wouldn’t have been so bad, except the entire shrub was full of spider webs. O ick. Turns out, jumping up and down from heebie-jeebies while trying to take a picture of something you have to hold still with your hand is not as easy as one might think!

Photography

Geodes

Shelly

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Wherever I’ve lived, I’ve always ended up with a small collection of rocks, pieces of wood, bones, and rusted bits of metal on my porch. I pick them up on walks and leave them by the door. Sometimes I use them for art projects, and sometimes I just leave them alone, so I can enjoy looking at them when I come and go.

I think many people do something similar, because most folks I know have a “cool junk heap” outside their houses. The couple I’m cat sitting for are no exception. Their back patio is flanked by two low cinder block walls, and on top of the walls are an assortment of small stones. I liked the way the Virgina creeper twined around them, and since I already had my camera out, I took a few shots of the rock collection.

The most interesting shot didn’t turn out, though, so I’m going to have to give it another try tomorrow. I’m hoping to get humming bird photos, as well (live ones, even!).

Photography

More Faux Lomo Fun

Shelly

Most of my faux lomoing has been done step-by-step in Photoshop (meaning, without using an action created by someone else). It’s a little time consuming, but it gives you more control. There are a couple of short-cuts, though, that are worth playing around with. One of the Flickr faux lomo groups had a link to Framer, an on-line framing tool, so I thought I’d give the fake Holga 35mm sprocket hole border a try.

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Duck

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Bleeding Hearts

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Dandelion

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Spiderwort

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Rain on Window Pane

Cemeteries, Photography

Grave Decorations

Shelly

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Flag Holder, Mount Gilead Cemetery

I mentioned the sort of baffling discussion about grave site offerings and “art.” Well, here are two less extreme examples from the cemetery near my house. The first is pretty straightforward, and not something that most people would think twice about. The headstone beside it bears a “veteran of war” emblem, so a rampant eagle standing atop a pile of cannonballs makes perfect sense.

The second is a little more perplexing. First, it’s one of those tacky push-in-the-ground garden decorations. Of a frog. Frogs are usually associated with fertility, not death. Second, it’s right next to a small headstone that is so old that the inscription is completely worn away. Perhaps the person who put it there knows about or is in some way connected to the occupant?

I think it’s very sweet and just a little bit bizarre. It makes a delightful, whimsical change from the usual plastic flowers.

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Grave Decoration, Mount Gilead Cemetery

Cemeteries, Photography

On Visits With Dead People

Shelly

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Mount Gilead Cemetery

Just a couple of random thoughts that went through my head as I was driving back from cat sitting this morning.

On grave site offerings: There is a discussion in one of the cemetery groups on Flickr, about the tradition of leaving tokens at grave sites. Some of the responses–critical of the practice–were mind boggling in their ignorance and intolerance. The act of leaving small items at grave sites is as old as humankind. There are likely many reasons why people feel compelled to do so, the most obvious to me being the desire to show that the deceased has not been forgotten. When you leave a token–a stone or a coin or a small memento–whether or not you actually knew the person in their lifetime, you are connecting with them. You are saying that you care, and that it mattered that they existed. That’s a pretty basic human need, I think.

You are also connecting with the living who visit the grave. “I was here, and I want you to know that I have not forgotten your loved one.”

On headstone inscriptions: I know it’s tempting to do tracings or rubbings of marker inscriptions, but old stones are fragile. Just touching them can cause damage the stones. And, with very old stones, rubbings won’t do you any good, anyway.

Just as damaging are chalks applied to the stone, in order to increase visual contrast for photographs. Please don’t do that!

Photography is harmless and may actually give you a better chance to retrieve “lost” information from headstones than just looking at them and transcribing them in situ. I have found that inscriptions that were worn to illegibility became readable when I Photoshopped the pictures I took. It may require temporarily darkening or lightening or increasing the contrast, but the results are pretty amazing.

The inscription below is one of the ones I was unable to make out at the grave site. When I got home and started Photoshopping the close-up I’d taken, I was able to piece together the text. And I didn’t have to touch the stone in any way to do so.

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Grave Marker, Mount Gilead Cemetery

Beneath this willow weep
a child, a lovely sister sleeps
We know that she is happy
With her angel plumage on
But our hearts are very desolate
When we think that she is gone

Cemeteries, Crankypantsing, Photography

Effin’ Car Alarms!

Shelly

I hate them, I do. Really and truly. It’s bad enough when they go off during “normalish” hours, but 4am? Does anyone ever pay attention to them, anyway? It seems that they are so ubiquitous that it defeats the purpose of having one.

And my new neighbors? Noisy as hell. They also have two out-of-control Pit Bulls, and they have absolutely no common sense about handling the dogs. Across-the-hall neighbor says they let the dogs pee when they’re on the balcony, so it drips down onto her patio. Nice. She also said that she’s seen them bring their dogs to my patio to relieve themselves. I wondered who was leaving the messes, because I did notice, and because I damned well pick up after my own dog. And now I pick up after everyone else’s, too, apparently. I’m sorry, but if you are squeamish about it, the least you could do is take your dog to the far side of the field, instead of right-friggin’-next-to other people’s patios.

Grrr. Across-the-hall neighbor works for the property management company. She said that a 57 year old woman was the one who put in the application, etc., not two college age girls and their boyfriends. She said she was pretty happy, thinking that the new tenant (singular!) would be quiet. Ha! My guess is that the girls’ mother is the one who applied for the apartment and signed all the paperwork. I can sort of understand that, if she’s the one footing the bill, but it seems a little dishonest to sign a lease when you know that you aren’t the one who’s going to be occupying the property.

Serenity now!

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Maple Tree, Mount Gilead Cemetery

Cemeteries, Ladybusiness, Photography

Mount Gilead Cemetery

Shelly

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One corner of the cemetery was scattered with flowers that had blown away from the graves. This bright blue silk carnation was nestled among some fallen leaves, along the dry stone wall.

Something I noticed when I started doing genealogy research was that too, too many women’s maiden names were lost. In terms of history, they cease to exist as anything but extensions of their husbands.

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Skirvin
Tilford L.
Sept. 22, 1850
June. 24, 1913
Mary M.
Oct. 14, 185
Dec. 23, 1929

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Nancy Jo
Dau. of D. & L. Rogers
Died Nov. 3, 1862
13 Yrs. 21 Dys.
Beneath this willow weep
a child, a lovely sister sleeps
We know that she is happy
With her angel plumage on
But our hearts are very desolate
When we think that she is gone

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Elizabeth
Wife of J. W. Polley
Born Mar. 21, 1977
Died May 20, 1888

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Margaret
Wife of Lo. B. Rader
Died Apr. 4, 1883
51 ys. 8 ms. 3 ds.

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Lichen and Moss on Grave Marker

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Dry Stone Wall

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Dry Stone Wall

There are about a million limestone quarries in the area, so dry stone walls are common, especially around cemeteries. I was amused to see that this section of wall contained a piece of stone that had been tooled for some purpose. It looks like a drawer front from a bedside table.

Crankypantsing, Photography

How I Spent My Weekend

Shelly

I spent some more time this weekend in Owen County. I didn’t take many photos, though, because it was just too disgusting and depressing. When we got there on Saturday, we found that there were new holes in the master bedroom walls and the trash we’d picked up, bagged, and stacked last weekend was strewn all over the place again.

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Spider and Bath Tub Drain

At one point on Saturday, the couple who had been living in the trailer we’ve been cleaning out showed up. Not a word of apology for demolishing the place and leaving a disgusting pig sty for other people to clean up. Not a mention of the puppy they abandoned or the kitten they left locked inside the trailer with no food or water. Not one word. They just said that they were there to pick up some things and that they’d be back later for the big stuff.

Today, when we got there, the mirror in the master bath was smashed, along with a globe from one of the lights. They did, indeed, come back for the big stuff, and they trashed the place some more while they were at it. What the hell is wrong with these people?

I’m finding it kind of difficult right now to feel very sympathetic toward them.

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The Scream (child’s drawing on the front steps to the trailer)

The kids–there were three of them–drew on everything within reach: floors, walls, cupboard doors, and the front steps. Mostly, it was the same screaming face, which was kind of creepy.