Faded glory

At one time, this was the most luxurious house in our area, but neglect was about to bring it down.
Blessedly, a couple has purchased the house and is in the long process of renewing its once-considerable glory. If they had not stepped in a few years ago, the house would be in the state the motor vehicles in the foreground have reached. The abandoned vehicles make an ironic counterpoint to the house. They are probably beyond restoration, good only for parts, while the house is undergoing a resurrection of sorts.

The house shows what love can do; the vehicles show what neglect does.

Dead Car Rover

I’m looking over this dead car, Rover, With its parts scattered all over the yard It’s hood is missing, the chassis is gone,

The pickup bed is somewhere else on the lawn.

No need explaining that there’s no seat remaining And the steering wheel will turn no more

I’m looking over my old car, Rover, Which is deader than any door!

Figments of my imagination

I have never lacked imagination. Presented with an image, I often see things in it that other people do not. Tell me whether you see what I see in these pictures of driftwood at Cedar Bluff Reservoir/State Park. This one must be a pop-eyed shorthorn cow.

Who says God is not a Denver Bronco fan? After all, He created this Power Horse, although it must represent Thunder as a colt.

I suppose this could prove God is a Chicago Bear fan, but the Bears logo this most closely resembles was used from 1940-1953. The bear’s left eye must have gotten knocked out of place in a collision with a tackler.

I’m not sure whether this is a paw or a flipper. Teenage Mutant Ninja Bear, anyone?

Trego County rock formations

Limestone rock formations may be found all along the Smoky Hill River in Kansas. They are so plentiful that many, like this one in Trego County, remain unnamed. This one is near our bed and breakfast.

Hubby is examining the rocks. The shovel is protection against snakes. Donna said she hadn’t seen snakes, but if any were present, they’d be in these rocks.

Trees and flowers grew in this very unpromising terrain. Don’t get too near the edge; these rocks are anything but solid.

I’ve often heard that the blue stratum contains fossils such as this one, but I’d never seen one before this one. We left this one intact, but took home another that had fallen on the ground. I just love little surprises like that, like a little present from God.

Kansas alligator

Some years ago, golfers in Ulysses, Kan., discovered an alligator in a water hazard. Someone apparently had gotten a baby gator as a pet. When it got too big, its owners dumped it on the golf course. Leaving aside the dubious morality of abandoning a dangerous predator, what sort of fools would want one as a pet? Cue up the Jaws theme! (This particular gator is sunning itself in a Louisiana swamp.)

Fortunately, this Kansas “alligator” is not a predatory reptile.

It’s just a log with a “head and eyes.” Amazing what a little imagination can conjure up from an innocent object.

Garden of God

Garden of God is one of Kansas’ unknown treasures. It’s not even listed on the state’s official tourism site. Many of these strange rock formations along the Smoky Hill River are unnamed, but the docent at Butterfield Trail Museum said it was called Garden of God. The wind- and water-carved formations are a bit south of Russell Springs in a pasture right beside Kansas Highway 25.

Hubby was surprised when we arrived. He hadn’t expected something quite this interesting. He didn’t walk into the formations with me, but stayed on the ridge above them. He’s just visible above the rounded formation to the right. He called those bumps “glorified cow pies.” I think the gunmetal rocks are a kind of shale. Fossils are often found in that strata of rock.

The yellow limestone cracks and spalls easily, as does the shale. Explorers in this terrain need to be careful of their footing. When I walked in the narrow valleys between the formations, I hoped no downpour had been unleashed upstream. A flash flood would be hard to escape.

Erosional forces had carved crevices and small caves into the rocks, but I did not investigate them closely. Those would be prime places for rattlesnake nests. I have no desire to meet a viper. To reach Garden of God from Interstate 70, take Highway 25 south out of Colby (Exit 53) or Highway 40 west out of Oakley (Exit 76). West of Oakley, Highways 25 and 40 run together for awhile until 25 turns south toward Leoti.

Fallen on hard times

Not all Ness City’s buildings are as well preserved as the bank and courthouse. This pair of buildings across the street from the court house is sadly deteriorating.

This lion on the roof of the building on the right has decayed so much that it is hardly possible to discern what it once was. How sad.

The building features beautiful decorations in its native limestone masonry. Most of it is in good condition.

These beautiful wrought iron embellishments surround the entrance.

The iron was wrought by Capitol Iron Works of Topeka, which is still in business today. This building is a pretty good advertisement for their workmanship. I hope someone has taken an interest in preserving at least the building on the right. If it is too far gone for preservation, I hope someone will be allowed to salvage the beautiful stonework and ironwork. Note: I have since learned that the Lion Block Building is on Kansas Preservation Alliance’s 2009 list of Endangered Historic Places.

Moorish attorney's office

This hand-carved door is beautiful in its own right, but looking at it through the wrought iron adds to its charm.

An attorney’s office is immediately adjacent to Ness County Bank Building. Even though the architectural styles differ, they complement each other.

Here is the sunburst in greater detail.

The bottom of the door features panels showing six of the 12 zodiac signs. The libra panel is very appropriate for an attorney’s office.

This tile fountain was on the west side of the entrance. Unfortunately, it was not running at the time of our visit. It must sound very refreshing in the scorching dry heat of a High Plains summer.

A narrow courtyard separates the attorney from the bank building. It looked so inviting, but we didn’t enter.

Here is a slightly different view. I’d love to have an oasis like this next to my office, wouldn’t you?

Ness City Bank

I love architecture, especially architectural detail. We had read about Ness County Bank Building, a/k/a “The Skyscraper of the Plains”. Since we were just a few miles away this weekend, we decided to look at it. It is beautiful and looks as pristine as a 120-year-old building can be.

Since we were there on Sunday, the building was closed to the public. Someone was hosting a graduation reception there, which this lady was apparently attending.

The carvings are incredible. These are acanthus leaves on the front entrance. Note the gorgeous rounded corner detail just above the main entrance column.

The beautiful front door reflects the entrance and some of the Ness City business district. The balloon is inside.

All those years of use have rubbed the front door latch to a beautiful finish.

This carving is on the front of the stairway to the main entrance.

This carving is on the landing.

Merrill Trust Company’s logo is above the south — or Chamber of Commerce — entrance.

This supports a column at the Chamber entrance.

This is the back door handle.

This is detail from the Chamber entrance’s archway.

This is the corner of the building above the Chamber entrance. I highly commend this community for rescuing and preserving their great treasure.

So many options

My camera has returned from the shop at last. I felt such relief when I picked up my camera again! I don’t want to go through D40 withdrawal again.

I’ve been in such misery for the last six weeks or so that I could hardly function. I dragged myself through my daily routine with ever-increasing difficulty. I felt as if I were going through life in a fog. I made so many mistakes. Details eluded me.

Even if I had had my camera, I’m not sure how good my work would have been.

The shoulder still hurts, but it’s a different sort of pain. I no longer feel in a fog. Yes, I tire easily, but I can THINK again! Today I’ve had more focus, more purpose in what I’m doing than I’ve had for some time. What a relief!

I’ve been researching online photo sales options today. That’s overwhelming. The options are so numerous that my mind boggles. I am hoping to begin uploading stock photos as well as better market the site I already have.

At the same time, I want to find some kind of display space for the actual pictures now that my show has closed.

I’ll still continue to dabble in other crafts, but I’d like to integrate them with my pictures as well.

This should be an interesting journey. I’m hoping you’ll take it with me.

RedBrickRoad.com

I have been quite remiss in sharing my photo website with you. All the pictures from my show are available for order on RedBrickRoad.com.

Self-promotion is not the easiest thing for me to do, but it is necessary, especially in the overcrowded online world. So, please go check out my online photo gallery.

All orders are greatly appreciated!

Dragonflies are free

	Last summer, this dragonfly landed on the wind screen beside our back door. It stayed just long enough for me to snap three pictures, two of which are shown here. I am fascinated by the detail God lavishes on His creatures. This little dragonfly is beautifully designed. I love the honeycomb wings, engineering at its finest.
	I wonder why the dragonfly’s eye has a white spot in this picture. Is it reflecting me and my camera? I wonder what the dragonfly thought of the huge human leaning over it with a machine attached to her face. It must not have appreciated a camera being pointed at it, because it flew away just after I shot this picture. I hope I see more of these insects soon.

All good things must come to an end

Yesterday, friend Wendy and I took down my pictures and removed them from the art gallery. Gallery’s walls looked so bare!

I sold four pictures and an unframed print at the gallery, then picked up another sale on Facebook. Friend John is buying Forsaken Ivories (shown at left) for his wife’s birthday.

I also donated one picture to a foundation that honors a friend’s daughter. It will be auctioned off to provide college scholarship funds. First scholarship will be given to a member of her class, the Class of 2017.

Our church recently completed the renovation of a downtown store into our meeting place. Budget is too tight for art, so some of my pictures will decorate the walls. I’m looking for somewhere else to show them, but haven’t found that place yet.

I asked if I could show again in 2011 and received a favorable response. Looking forward to it.

Color theory

When I took this picture, I knew it was destined to be shown.

But this picture had issues, power lines and power poles. Ugly things. I had intended to eliminate most of the sky to dump the power lines. I showed it to Art Teacher Jeff. Jeff said I shouldn’t crop it so severely, that the power lines actually helped the picture. That was unusual! I did need to remove one of the power poles, though. That took some doing. Removing pole wasn’t that bad, but lining up the power lines to the remaining pole took a long time. Jeff showed me some tricks in Photoshop, otherwise, I doubt I could have accomplished it.

When we got the matboards, we chose orange for this picture’s mat. While Jeff was cutting other mats for me, I looked at the picture and frame on the mat. That orange was garish, a horrible combination. I tried yellow, but that wasn’t a good color, either. Much of the background washed out. I shuffled through my matboards, but nothing I tried seemed to work.

He looked at what I was doing. I showed him the various colors I had tried. “Try the purple. It’s yellow’s complementary color.“ I put the photo on the purple paper. Wow!