Mother's Day - 2013

Happy Mother's Day to my wonderful mother-in-law in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Thanks for letting me be part of your family. This lily was transplanted from your mother's yard.

Saturday Morning - Overgrown

We have been traveling this spring. When we left in April, the dogwoods were starting to bloom, the redbud trees were illuminated with small red blossoms, and the grass was just starting to come up. After three weeks away, we returned to find we had missed a big part of spring. The dogwood and redbud blooms were gone and lush green had replaced the delicate greens and muted russet of early spring

And the grass was knee-high. Several varieties of weeds had flourished during the three weeks without being mowed, and there were bright wild flowers scattered about the overgrown yard—wild flowers that we normally do not see because they are mowed down before they are able to bloom.

It rained for a couple of days after we got back, but I was finally able to mow at the end of the week and the yard is once again neat. The weeds are gone except for a few bright flowering clumps that I mowed around just to enjoy a while longer. After all, neatness isn't everything.

Fairground Street Bridge

 

Vicksburg, Mississippi

The Fairground Street Bridge, built in 1868, was used as a railroad bridge in Dubuque, Iowa before being moved to Vicksburg in 1895 where it spanned the Illinois Central Rail Yard (now Kansas City Southern). My wife's grandfather worked for the Illinois Central and used to walk across this bridge on his way to work.

The bridge is an example of a Pratt through truss design, and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

This picture was taken a few minutes before the one above (the train was backing up) and gives a better view of the bridge in its current condition.

National Park Service photo in the Library of Congress - Public domain.

This 1986 picture shows the Fairground Street Bridge when it was still in use. Several years ago there was interest in moving the bridge about a mile north to the Lower Mississippi River Museum but the cost and brittle condition of the structure has made such a move unlikely. Today, the bridge is quietly deteriorating

Kansas City Southern Freight Yard #2

Vicksburg, Mississippi

Kansas Ciry Southern Freight Yard

Vicksburg, Mississippi 

The last time I visited the KCS yard in Vicksburg was in 2011 during the record Mississippi River flood (click here for more on that). At that time, all of the rolling stock had been removed just in case the flood wall did not prevent the river from inundating the yard. Last week, things were back to normal, and as I walked around and took pictures three locomotives were busy making up cars.

The river is on the rise again this spring and the flood gates protecting the city are once again being closed. Yesterday (Sunday) the river was at 41.3 feet and is expected to reach flood stage (43.0 feet) by May 16th.

Looking ahead

Bude, Mississippi 

I have been doing some traveling this spring. Over the next few weeks we will be looking at pictures from Mississippi: the KCS freight yard in Vicksburg; the small town of Bude; a railroad museum in McComb; the ghost town of Rodney which was abandoned after the Mississippi river changed course, and the remnants of the river town of Grand Gulf, scene of an important Civil War engagement as Union and Confederate forces struggled for control of the Mississippi River.

Hope you will stop by for a visit, and as always, have a safe and enjoyable weekend. Thanks for reading Photography In Place.

Gull story

Corolla, North Carolina 

The last morning of my March trip to North Carolina was cold and windy, with a light, intermittent rain falling. It was not much of a morning to be on the beach, but I took the camera and went for a walk among the gulls and the sanderlings.

I am not sure what is going on in these three shots, taken within seconds of one another. At first I thought the birds were fighting, but now I am not so sure. I will leave it to your imagination.