Hiding in the Rain and Fog

           I used to think that rainy days were only good for sitting inside on the couch watching TV. But, since I got into photography I have found that nothing quite conveys the mood of a day like this better than taking pictures of it. These used to be depressing days, but finding beauty on a dreary day makes me very happy.

The first thing I did was head downtown in Fayetteville to see what was going on there. As I was walking down the street taking pictures of buildings, street lamps, and fallen leaves I looked up and noticed a police car had pulled off the road and the officer was watching me very intently. Either he thought I was some sort of terrorist doing reconnaissance or he was looking to fill his jaywalking ticket quota. Either way, I managed to take a picture of him once I was convinced he didn't plan to shoot me or call in reinforcements.

 

Once my fears of incarceration had passed I turned my attention back to what was around me.

 

 

 

Unfortunately, there are quite a few homeless people in Fayetteville and I think one of them has decided to draw some furniture on this building. Hey, whatever makes you feel at home buddy.

                             Then it started to rain too hard and I had to get seek the refuge of my truck.

 

 

       Since the rain forced me to quit, I decided it was time to head home. But, of course, once I was almost there it completely stopped and all I was left with was gray skies and fog. What can I do with that?? Find a lake near my house and take foggy pictures of course!

 

 

 

And guess what was next to the lake.... Fences are my favorite.

 

 

 

 

          During times when the sun isn't shining, I believe we need to do whatever we can to make sure we still see the beauty around us. Because it's there...hiding in the rain and fog. 

 

 

 

  

Random turns

       After getting my oil changed this morning I decided to take the long way home. And by long way home I mean aimlessly driving around heading in the general direction of my house until I eventually get there. I do this quite a bit and it can definitely be hit or miss. Sometimes I find absolutely nothing and sometimes I happen upon some amazing things to photograph. Today was one of those days where I accidentally made all the right turns!

 

First I found this abandoned go-cart track.

 

 

 

 

Right when I thought there nothing else to see there I found the putt putt course hidden in the weeds.

 

 

 

 

Once I left there I was in full explore mode so I turned down a random dead end road. I just had a feeling about it. At the end of the road was this old warehouse..

 

  And inside the warehouse was some very creepy graffiti.

Then I noticed an old barn in the woods behind the warehouse property.

 

Nothing better than an old truck in the woods!!





 

Shortly after that I was driving through a small town when I decided to turn down a little side street. It took me to a very cool church.

 

As I was leaving the church I saw a water tower down the road. And I LOVE water towers!

 



 

I usually like to have a theme to my blog posts so I didn't intend on writing one today. But then the more I thought about it the more I realized that today did have a theme. I didn't make a bad turn today.  Every driving decision I made today led me to something that I thought was awesome. So I guess the real question is... were there awesome places down the roads I didn't take? I'd like to think there was. Maybe I'll go that way next week.

Field of Honor

              So I was out driving around this morning looking for interesting things to take pictures of and I drove by Veteran's Park in Fayetteville. I have been there several times before but it never looked like this. There were about a thousand flags lined up in rows.  Of course I had to pull in and take a closer look. A sign near the flags tells the story of why they are there. Each flag honors someone who is currently serving, those who have served, and the men and women who have made the supreme sacrifice for our nation’s security and freedom.

                                     Below are a few pictures from my visit there today.

 

            I find it hard to express how walking amongst these flags made me feel. I guess the best way to describe it is that it made me feel like a kid again. When I was a kid my dad would get dressed in his uniform and go off to defend our country. He went to ensure that the freedom that most of us take for granted was protected. I was proud of him. I was proud of America. Today I felt that rush of pride again as a walked across that field. For a brief moment there were no heavy burdens for me to carry, there were no problems to cloud my mind. There was only pride, happiness, and a perspective that is far too easily lost in our busy lives. That, to me, is what Memorial Day is all about.

Life Through Broken Windows

         I haven't really been taking any pictures lately which usually doesn't make for great blogging topics. "Sitting on my couch watching old episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond" doesn't really sound like a good title for a blog...  

         So this morning when I woke up I decided I needed something that was going to break me out of my funk and there was only one place I could think of. The old hoarder's property in Raeford! The first time I went there was one of the greatest days ever because of the stories he told and the very photogenic junk that he so closely guarded.

         When I pulled up the muddy drive way and parked next to the old building surrounded by junk I could see the old man standing at his work bench tinkering with a ceiling fan. Laying next to him on the ground was his faithful dog who barely lifted his head when I walked up. The old man instantly recognized me and asked me how my pictures turned out. I told him that they turned out great and thanked him again for letting me walk around. Then I asked him if I could do it again. He immediately said that would be no problem but he threw in a warning. He told me that my shoes looked very clean and it had been raining a lot. "There's a hell of a lot of mud out there", he said with a grin. I thanked him for his concern, shook his hand, and started my walk through the mud.

Looking through the tall weeds at one of his old buses 

 

It's amazing what you can find when you look through a broken window.

 

It skews the world in the most amazing ways...

 

Looking through broken glass always makes me stop and

daydream about what could have happened and the people

before me who looked through it when it was clean and new..

 

The beauty in it gets me every time.

 

 

      I noticed that a lot had changed from when I here last. It's springtime now and nature is reclaiming it's territory...one inch at a time.

 

 

 

 

Things that were easily seen before are vanishing into the brush..

 

 

I sat behind the wheel of some of the vehicles and imagined a time when it was someone's new truck. How happy they were when they drove it home. You can feel the energy in these vehicles. They tell an amazing story. 

 

 

This is my favorite old truck. It has such character.

 

 

 

         The old man told me that all of this won't be here much longer. There is a sadness to him as he tells me that he's having to sell the property and all of these old buses, trucks, cranes, and military vehicles will be hauled off and sold as scrap metal. That will truly be a sad day because the stories they tell are magical. It will be a shame if others aren't able to enjoy them like I have. This place makes me think, it makes me sad, and it makes me happy. A place that evokes a full range of emotions like this should be treasured, not destroyed. But that's what happens to the past. It is hauled away and replaced by something shiny and new, with only the photographs to remember it by.

 

  

 

 



 

 

 

 

Saying goodbye

       Some of you may know that my dad suffered a stroke in 2009 and he is currently in an assisted living facility. He has aspirations to walk again and live on his own at some point which I encourage and support. Unfortunately right now that is not an option and therefore his property and house are somewhat abandoned. He decided to sell the place about a year ago because he is unable to maintain it at this point and now there is a buyer. The closing is coming up and so I had to make the trip down there to clean out the house and put my dad's stuff in storage.

       I figured I would feel some sort of emotion while I was there but I definitely didn't anticipate the level of sadness that I would feel. The memories that were evoked while working in each room and walking around the 3 acres on that rainy day were very intense and surprising. The new owners have plans to bulldoze the house and start from scratch with the land which made things even worse. Once the work was done I decided to walk around and take a few pictures..

My dad probably spent 90% of his life outside. A lot of it sitting

in his favorite spot on this porch next to his shed.

 

 

 

This is the tree that was struck by lightning while I was walking

 towards it during a storm in 1996. I have no idea why I was outside..

 

This is the best climbing tree in the history of the world. It's a magnolia tree

that has to be several hundred years old. I spent a lot of time up there as a kid.

 

 This is the swing that my dad and I built shortly after we moved in back in

1989. There was never a better tool hander than I was...ever.

 The swing is still standing strong after all this time.

 

 A porch swing out in front of the house. It is worn down by time.

Worn down by life too I suppose.

 

But there is hope for the future....

 

 

         Although I'll never again walk through that house, play in that tree, swing on that swing, sit with my dad in his favorite spot on that porch, I am comforted in the fact that there is a future for that place. Another family will live there. Another kid will climb in that tree and hopefully appreciate it the way I did. Life will occur in this place again, and it will be a happy life.