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Notes on a Bench
Previously a tree stood on either side of this bench. Modest trees. Occasionally somebody would sit on the bench and look out over the park. I don’t recall when, but one day I noticed that one of the trees was gone. Just a small stump remained. Sometime later, the second tree was cut down. Nobody sits on the bench these days. Now flanked by two stumps, the bench slowly decays. Weather takes its toll on…
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Gloomy Afternoon
I was out walking to clear my head, or to find peace, or to have a break from the chaos around me. I had a lot on my mind and, well, as they say solvitur ambulando. He was in the hospital. Had been for three weeks. He was not doing well, refusing either to get worse or better. The options for tomorrow were bad and bad. Prioritizing his health denied his freedom and autonomy. Respecting…
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Any ol’ Aspect Ratio
Unless you had a darkroom and some motivation, film made it inconvenient to use aspect ratio as a creative option. Film came in standard sizes. If you thought a particular scene looked best in a square format, you reached for your 6×6 camera that shot square negatives. If the next scene leant itself to a panorama, you had to dig out the XPan or the 6×17 Shen Hao. Maybe you saw a scene that would…
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Utility Poles
When I reach the ridge, I see the scattering of utility poles. Their diminutive size, their construction, and the material all contribute to a sense of old. They bring power to a handful of houses, now owned by wealthy people who want to pretend they are also important. Signs all over the place screaming “Private Property” and “Do Not Enter” and “Private Road.” All five of the guys from that ’60s electrical band would be…
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Tehachapi Blvd
I had just finish breakfast at Kelcy’s and looked to avoid the day’s tasks. So I walked along Tehachapi Blvd. Just a couple of blocks, the downtown section. It has a dated feel. Not like the retro-revival main streets in so many upscale cities — Tehachapi doesn’t have the wealth to support or the culture to put up with retro-revival. No. Tehachapi is more honest with itself and visitors. I have long found the signs along…
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N. 44th Street
I had planned to walk from gate A5 to B16, about half a mile in PHX. However, my flight arrived at A5 scant moments before they closed the boarding door at B16. A frantic dash through the airport merely got me to the customer assistance counter a few minutes quicker than walking would have. Rebooked on a flight the next morning, I was going to be spending the night in the hotel version of tofu:…
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Looking in …
I had an hour to waste, so I walked around the block, a bunch of times. I looked in the various windows as I circled Castle Green. I had crashed a wedding there once, years ago. I was promptly thrown out. The old women talking in the sitting room looked disapprovingly at me as if they recognized me as the wedding crasher. The woman arranging wedding dresses stood out starkly in her no-nonsense all black…
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Packing List
The trains pass slowly through town. I could probably run alongside and climb on. I wonder where I would end up. Years ago, when a freight line still ran through the local town, I did climb on. Hours later it stopped outside some dusty town. I got off and went in search of a phone. Today I resisted the urge to go for a ride. Instead, I watched and imagined where this train loaded with…
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Corners
One day I saw an oil painting of corner in some quotidian street corner in an unnamed (and unremarkable) Dutch town. I was struck by the vivid blue sky and the bold orange and red of the buildings. Two figures stood at the corner. Corners, I thought. What can I do with corners? There are remarkably few corners in suburbia, and fewer people walking — one of the many features/flaws of suburbia. If I were more…
