Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/11/15
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Jim wrote: Carl: Great... I thought that you were ticked off at me. BTW I've enjoyed your photos of lonely towns in upstate New York. They remind me of a trip my family took from Boston to Niagara Falls almost 50 years ago in an old, gray, two-door, 1947 Plymouth. It took 2-3 days... there was no Thruway and we spent an unending day or so traveling slowly on a very straight, very long, 2 lane highway through some place named Cherry Valley.... seemed something like the Twilight Zone as there was a seemingly unending row of cherry trees, on both sides for miles and miles and miles. Some rock n roll would have helped... maybe Fats Domino singing Blueberry Hill. But we were too far from any radio station and my folks wouldn't have wanted to hear it anymore than I now want to listen to Rap. Anyway, we occasionally went through towns with buildings like those in your photos. They were just as worn out looking then. Are you anywhere near the route of the Thruway between Syracuse and Buffalo? There are a few places where the Erie Canal still exists... well the ruins of it. Might be a good subject for you. I'm imagining icicles hanging off of granite walls and old wooden locks, with maybe three pink flamingos somewhere in the photo. You could do this after you finish your bare trees project! :>) Jim "in the sunshine now, but unhappily awaiting tomorrow's wintry mix," _____________________________ Jim, Thank you for the kind note. No, not ticked at all. If you were ribbing me, I can take it, and learn from it. Your trip long ago was probably on Rt 5 across New York. I think the Cherry Valley is somewhere between Utica and Syracuse, but I'm not too familiar that region. Ernie is in Syracuse, so he can probably correct me. That is a beautiful drive. Not spectacular as the Sierras must be, or any of the big country out west, but charming in it's way. But, it must have seemed an endless drive back then. I live about two blocks from the Erie Canal, in Rochester, home of Kodak. It's the enlarged canal completed in 1918, so it often takes a different route than the original Clinton's Ditch, which ran right through the center of the cities across Upstate. Still runs from Albany to Buffalo. In the summer, I like to ride my bike along it out into the suburbs. Here's a picture I took in July, about 8 AM, when it was around 75 degrees and hazy. http://quazynet.no-ip.org/PAW/temp/Canal.htm There are many remnants of the old structures around. It would be a great project to photograph them, and many good people have. In fact, yesterday I was checking out some locks that were part of the Genesee Valley canal, forty miles south of here, but the light wasn't right for photos. They were right next to the road, and pretty well preserved, being so far from the city. All the wood is long gone, but the hand cut stone walls are still there. That's one of the tons of things I want to do if I can just make it through the winter. Yeah, flamingos. I like it! Carl "wishing for sunshine again" Pultz - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html