South River Road

Greene County, Virginia 

Yesterday was Candlemas, also known as Groundhog Day, which marks the halfway point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. Today we are on the downhill side of winter. The winter here has been mild so far, and temperatures reached the upper sixties yesterday. It seems like spring is here already.

I have been taking advantage of the warm weather to photograph birds  even though I know that taking pictures of birds or kittens can get me kicked out of the Secret Guild of Really Serious Photographers. Next week: mockingbirds and chickadees, and maybe a steam locomotive.

Hope you will join us and thanks for reading Photography In Place.

Yellow garage

Charlottesville, Virginia 

"I was the worst hitter ever. I never even broke a bat until last year when I was backing out of the garage"  - Lefty Gomez

Pitchers and catchers will report to spring training in less than three weeks.

Parts and Service

Charlottesville, Virginia - 2012

A couple of weeks ago, I was driving down West Main Street in Charlottesville and noticed that these buildings were being razed so I stopped to take a couple of pictures. I had taken pictures here in 2008. The old garage was interesting and I liked the signs painted on the buildings, so I hate to see them go. Not sure what the Main Street Market Annex is going to look like, but it sounds up-scale, and I will miss the old garage.

Charlottesville, Virginia - 2008

Garage

Near town of Shenandoah, Virginia

Filling Station

Creswell, North Carolina 

Oh, but it is dirty!
--this little filling station,
oil-soaked, oil-permeated
to a disturbing, over-all
black translucency.
Be careful with that match!

Father wears a dirty,
oil-soaked monkey suit
that cuts him under the arms,
and several quick and saucy
and greasy sons assist him
(it's a family filling station),
and all quite thoroughly dirty.

Do they live in the station?
It has a cement porch
behind the pumps, and on it
a set of crushed and grease-
impregnated wickerwork;
on the wicker sofa
a dirty dog, quite comfy.

Some comic books provide
the only note of color--
of certain color. They lie
upon a big dim doily
draping a taboret
(part of the set), beside
a big hirsute begonia.

Why the extraneous plant?
Why the taboret?
Why, oh why, the doily?
(Embroidered in daisy stitch
with marguerites, I think,
and heavy with gray crochet.)

Somebody embroidered the doily.
Sombody waters the plant,
or oils it, maybe. Sombody
arranges the rows of cans
so that they softly say:
ESSO--so--so--so
to high strung automobiles.
Sombody loves us all.

 --Elizabeth Bishop

Filling Station, from Elizabeth Bishop, The Complete Poems 1927-1979. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1983

Winter Walk 5

Greene County, Virginia 

These are the last two pictures from my winter walk last Sunday afternoon. Thanks for reading Photography in Place; hope you have a great weekend and please stop by next week.

Winter Walk 4

Greene County, Virginia