A Groovy Baby Boomer Flashback

Edster, Bruno, Arthur, and I are on vacation...and I tend to keep my online presence to a minimum.  You know...kind of unplug.  Not on Facebook much...not answering much email...and definitely not poking my head into anything work related...for real!

Our tires crossed the West Virginia border on Friday.  You don't have to see the Welcome Sign...because everywhere are "signs" telling you where you are.

After a slow, lazy Saturday morning (coffee first, schemes later)...we boarded the Fabian Fun Van off to a local, annual event...The Leaf Peepers Festival...in Davis, West Virginia (population 660)...the closest town to the Canaan Valley.  Now...Canaan is not pronounced as in the promised land of the Bible...but is pronouced Ka-NANE Valley (in case you visit...you'll stick out big time if you say it wrong).

A people watcher by nature...I started clickin away with my paparazzi zoom lens.  I kept seeing these variations on a theme...

Did I step into a hippie convention by accident?

Hair...everywhere!!!

And this guy...

I found myself singing to myself ...back from the late 60s...envisioning a lava lamp and Peter Max poster.,,


I know...a pretty bizarre post...but, hey...I'm on vacation!!!

Takin' It To The Streets - Sans the Doobie Brothers

I'm a little behind in my Beyond Beyond course...but I took it to the streets today!  Kim challenged us to take our camera out around people...and snap some candids...

So Edster, Arthur, and I wend down to the Cuyahoga Valley today for a Sunday road trip...

Indulge me for a second here...

You have to see how Arthur takes road trips...NO not in the back...ALMOST in the driver's seat...

With his head out the window...as if he could fly.

So we headed to Szalay's...which I knew would be hoppin' on a Sunday afternoon.  It's a produce farm known particularly for their great sweet corn...and have other attractions.  Very folksy!

I was amused by this young lad's despair...then became envious that my age doesn't allow me to squat like this anymore and get up gracefully!

There was a wonderful saxophone player making jazz with glorious style.

But THIS is Szalay's!  Buying a hot, roasted, buttery ear in the hull...and enjoying its succulent goodness!

Arthur had to settle for ice cream...life is tough...

The simple life is SO good!

A Sense of Place - A Bookseller in Sepia

Tonight...still behind in my Beyond Beyond lessons...was a jaunt to our local Barnes & Noble to pick a few magazines as a part of our prep work...(it's been a while since I bought a magazine...they've gone UP)...

So I decided to kind of put some of my thoughts from my Kat Sloma course to work...she makes us think about everything!  (Very attractive to a thinker like me...)

For some reason, since color was not my main mission...and I was editing...it seemed that color was a distraction, yet b&w too cold...after all, it's spring!

And look who greeted me as I came in the door?  Oh, Grace...only color for you my dear.  You deserve no less...

I saw this man...probably retired...maybe interested in a second career to supplement his retirement income...or he was really reading a "Dummies" book but did not want to stand in front of the "For Dummies" sign...

And this man...in his golden years.  Was he trying to fill up his time now left alone as a widower?  Or was his wife at home and he needed downtime away from the chatter?  Perhaps he just had cabin fever and wanted to feel the breeze on his face, getting out of the house...perhaps have a cup of coffee before leaving...

And of course, this shelf of Shakespeare...

On the second level, I was attracted by these chairs...not in a perfect row...turned every which way...for patrons to sit down to peruse their possible purchases...

I wanted to take a view from upstairs...a birdseye of the bookshelves and a glimpse of the cafe...  Now I've heard the discussion of shooting with intention, but I tend to enjoy seeing what transpires.  Shooting several shots, I was unsure if I wanted people in the scene...but it became hard to avoid.  When I saw this shot with the blurred boy, it made me smile...  You and I both know kids do not stand still on escalators!  They scurry...as he did here.

And yet this public place has a strange phenomenon...a place to be alone but not by yourself.  Many focused on computer screens, oblivious to others...even of me snapping their photo!

What a fun story to write with photos to give you a sense of this place through my eyes!  See you at the bookstore!