OH ANCIENT APPLE TREE

What you have been and known!

BIKES AS FOLK EXPRESSION

Hanging Bike Gallery

A few days ago I was traveling down some country roads in an area I was not familiar with. The mountainous views as well as the farms were astounding. I felt an aura of goodness as I rode along. 

There were many sights I thought would be wonderful for photography but of course I had not brought my camera! Oh well, I thought, I can return as it is not far from my apartment in Corvallis. 

Just then I whizzed by an older homestead -- instantly noticing a wire fence fronting its property that had at least fifty different kinds of old bikes hanging from it. It appeared as an art gallery. Only I thought of it more as a folk expression. The homesteader apparently had a folksy creative mind and used it in the bike display.  

Children's bikes lining the fence with adult bikes in the background 

The next day I was back at the bike gallery on the country road looking for the owner of the property. No one was home. So I took the liberty to photograph the bikes. Surely the owner was proud of his display. His bikes came in all sizes for both adult and children -- and all colors and other bike attributes. It certainly was an eye stopper. As I was taking photos a cyclist rode by -- he gawked at the display -- wide-eyed as he rode by.

Child's bike with training wheels

I believe the concept of this gallery display is both industrial and environmental. However the underlying message is probably folk spun from the homesteader's experience. 

What do you think?

PATTERNS AND CHANGES

An old plant display stand casts a shadowy pattern on the broken cement. The plant stand's pattern tells us change is upon us -- time to prepare for a change in the weather. Plants will have to wait until next spring to again sit upon the open wire plant stand. 

For me change is in the wind again too as I have just moved  to a college town about a hundred miles from the home I have been residing in for the past seven months. 

My living pattern since retirement (long ago) has been one of many changes. I wander about learning from the folks and landscapes that create the culture of different areas. Sometimes I feel that I will stay in an area forever but eventually get itchy feet and move on. 

I feel fortunate that I have been able to do this. I find that it has made my life experiences in retirement rich and varied. I'm looking
forward to discovering the odds and ends of my new area. Although I lived in this area several years ago I feel there are many opportunities yet to uncover especially in photography. 

So my exploration  will soon begin  -- when I unpack everything and get fairly settled in my new apartment in the woods.