Category: Photography

Photography

Floor

Shelly

DSCN0314

The freight elevator both interests and frightens me. It’s old, like everything else here, so I worry about getting stuck in it. On the other hand, it’s got an appealing patina of wear. The finish on the floor in front of the control panel is completely worn away and the tiles are cracked. It took a lot of feet standing in that spot to do that.

Photography

Books and Book Trucks

Shelly

DSCN0318
Cataloging Department Reference Books

DSCN0321
Book Truck with Fruit Stickers

Everything where I work is worn out, mismatched, and was probably bought sometime in the 1970s. It’s kind of an eyesore, but on the other hand, we have the freedom to tart up our desks, chairs, and book trucks pretty much however we choose. I’ll take “worn out and personalized” over “brand new and uniform” any day of the week.

Crankypantsing, Pets, Photography

Praying Mantis

Shelly

IMG_3999

IMG_4011

The second one is an inverted lens macro.

And now, More Adventures in Driving:

I made three trips to Unionville today, and on each trip, I was behind someone going at least 10mph under the speed limit.

One guy was going 20mph under the limit. And it’s not like the speed limit is 70mph or anything. It’s only 45mph. And it’s not like he was driving an old beater that maybe was incapable of going faster. He was driving a beautiful, brand new Cadillac. Maybe he was out for a nice, relaxing, s-l-o-o-o-w drive in the country, but if so, then hopefully next time he won’t pick the 5pm “rush” hour to do so. There were so many cars backed up behind mine that I couldn’t even count them all.

Oh, and one of those trips was to take the cat I’m sitting for to the vet. While there, I saw two clueless dog owners let their obviously fixin’-to-snark dogs sniff each other. They managed to separate them before an actual fight broke out, but good grief, talk about oblivious.

I also saw a gorgeous Pit Bull puppy with a jerkass owner who kept yanking on on her leash, then telling her “Sit! Sit! Sit!” Way to go, bozo, punishing the dog before you’ve even given the command and given her a chance to obey it. Not to mention, she obviously had no idea what “sit” meant. How about actually teaching the dog the command before you start correcting her for not following it?

I was also entertained by a young girl who asked each of the cat owners if she could pet their cats. She asked each cat’s name, then explained that her cat is named Bells (which I think is a pretty cool name for a kid to come up with), but that her brother’s cat is named Maleboy (I guess he was afraid someone might mistake his cat for a girl?). She declared Maleboy a horrible name, and I had to agree.

Cemeteries, Photography

More from Mount Gilead Cemetery

Shelly

Before I go take a nap, I thought I’d post a few more of my favorite shots from yesterday’s cemetery trip.

IMG_3968
Poplar Tree

IMG_3973
Gate

IMG_3934
Margaret E. Dau. of B.F. & S. Rogers Died Mar. 18, 1864 Aged 5 ys. 6ms. 12 ds.

This child’s headstone was broken away from its base and lying flat on the ground.

IMG_3944
Blank Headstones

The inscriptions on these headstones have worn away over time. There are many like that in this cemetery. A few have been crudely re-inscribed, but for the rest, I wonder if anyone still knows who is buried under them? One grave is marked only by a small pile of broken stone fragments.

I noticed on this trip out to Mount Gilead that there are is a new, lone grave off by itself, along the back tree line. It’s a good 30 yards from the nearest grave. It looks sad and desolate and out of place, on its own.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens with this cemetery. The church affiliated with it closed recently. I assume that there are provisions for cemetery upkeep, even after the congregation dissolves, but I wonder if there will be many more burials there. Surely, many of the empty plots have been pre-sold? I just wonder what happens to small, active cemeteries after their churches disappear.