Weekly Photo Challenge: Near and Far

When I received an email with the challenge of the week, I read the suggestions about landscape and horizon and  went to find them.

I have a ton of landscape images but suddenly I saw all these photographs in my library with people in them.

Walking somewhere.  And me, following the walkers.  A city far in the distance.   Near and Far.  Here are my interpretations of Near and Far, starring my family, the cities, the Hot Metal Bridge decorated with colorful bras for Breast Cancer Awareness and an unknown marathoner with her pony tail flying.

Photographed in Columbus and Pittsburgh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are at least 100 other bloggers interpretations in the list of ping backs on the Daily Post

 

I Forgot to Mail Your Card, Mary

It was a nice one, too.  I bought it at the fancy card store in Shadyside a while back to be sure I had it in plenty of time.

You remember the store behind our old house on Howe Street?   That one.

Buying cards and not mailing them in a timely fashion seems to be something I do often. Once I swore I would never send a late card again.

I brought the birthday card to New York City when we visited last month.  I thought about writing it and giving it to you then. It was still in my bag tonight.

Nah, I thought, I’ll save it-  mail it to arrive closer to the special day.  A much better plan. Now you’re on your way to visit our brother in Okanogan.  Your mail’s on hold.  And I didn’t get it in the mailbox yet.

Here’s what I do.  I’ll think of someone, know their birthday is coming,  buy a card, misplace it, or drive the card around for a time, til it’s ripe?  I am not sure why I do this.  I read a whole bunch of sisters cards, too, looking for the right sentiment.  Some of them all sappy but this one was succinct and to the point.  It’s even printed on recycled paper and Made in the U.S. A.  Here’s a photo of the beautiful card I meant to send in time.

 “I’m grateful we’re sisters.”

Happy Birthday Mary.  You are an excellent sister, aunt, and friend.  Thanks for always being there and listening and for putting up with  me during my bratty years.  (I think they are done)  Love you with all my heart and am grateful for all the love you give to all of us. Have a happy birthday celebration with David.xxoo

You might remember the post my sister’s kitchen- 20 for dinner? no problem!.  How she always finds cool and quirky things for me to photograph when I visit her in NYC where she’s lived about 48 years.  The kids and I’d drive from Pittsburgh and camp out with her in the apartment.  When we’d wake up, there’d be fresh warm Zito’s bread and homemade Strawberry Rhubarb Preserves and fresh butter.

Your first trip to visit us in Germany.  Laura is four months old, Mark 7 and Matthew just turned 3.

You with Laura after the wedding last November.  Thanks for all you did to make it happen so beautifully.

Here is a colorized baby photo of you with Mom. New Haven, CT

I turned it into an art project years ago and added the border. Sorry.

Potato Patch Satisfies Urge for Salt and Fat

Photographed at Kennywood Park in West Mifflin PA when the family was here this summer.

A nice couple let me photograph their fries. (with cheese)

The condiments still-life was from a different concession- The colors are what caught my eye.

And my son pointed out the pile of Idaho potatoes, catching the late day light.

The family was waiting to ride the Turtle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the close-up crop of above photo   Here is the salt and fat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spin around and upside down.

 

50 Years of Soup Cans Flying Off the Shelves

So what’s all the fuss about soup?  It’s the cans, man. Fiftieth Anniversary Limited-Edition soup cans.

The article I read said the special soup cans would be available at Target (and only Target, what’s up with that?) on Saturday, September 2nd.

Andy Warhol?  Pittsburgh?  Tomato soup cans with colorful labels and a pic of Andy himself?

I thought they’d be a nice addition to the classroom, a conversation piece, honoring our native son- Andy Warhol. Laura said they could be planters or pencil holders.  I had the poster of the giant tomato soup can in my art room for years. I had in mind to get some although I didn’t rush right out the first day they were available.

This is the shelf display on Sunday morning September 3rd.  Another shopper was  stocking up and putting cans in his cart.  I know now that he must have been frustrated when he went to make his purchase.

There was a sign that there would be a limit on the numbers of cans you could buy but did not specify the particulars or numbers.

Maybe that’s changed by now but when I got to the checkout, the cashier told me that I could buy two of each color.  Hmmm.  She took two away and put them under the counter and I was  left with 5 cans to buy.  I asked Steve if he went to Target to look for them and buy a few more as I thought they would be great gifts.

A great souvenir. (and 75 cents!!)  Steve went and bought six cans.  One of the colors was already gone.  There were a lot of cans that were dented and the label was ripped so he left them on the shelf. I wish they weren’t a pop top on the can as they are more likely to be opened by a student who wants to have some fun.

Not long ago, I read an article about the amount of sugar and sodium in a can of tomato soup and that no one should really be eating it but it tastes like childhood to me.  Especially when paired with a toasted cheese sandwich in the winter.  My mother made the whole wheat sandwiches open-face in the broiler-  no grilled cheese for me as a kid, just toasted.  I also like to put extra sharp cheddar cheese in the bottom of the bowl so when you pour the hot soup on top it melts……

But I digress…..

The 11 AM shot of the shelf display- iPhone shots today.  Just one so no chance to get it sharper as you’ll see in the later photo.  I am wondering how they are selling in other parts of the country.

To read more about Campbell’s Soup Cans and Andy Warhol‘s art depicting them, click

And the cans on the shelf at home

I returned to the Target store to pick up photos I took from last week’s 9th grade orientation and thought I would check up on canned soup sales.  Here is what I found when I went to look.

The shelf at 5:00 PM Sunday the third of September

100 Years Ago Today

Marian Van Sickle Hendricks

Born Durand Illinois

September 3, 1912

The one room school house photo with my mother as the teacher (in the back row left) was photographed September 13, 1930.

 Written on the back of the photo –  Barbara Sweet, Pearl Wallace, Jesse Shultz, Ellis Greene, Truman Sweet.

Front row, l to r, Glenn Greene, Laurence Judd, Edward Bratt, Truman Clark, Phyllis Sweet, Mildred Judd.

In the photos with her are her brothers John Rowley Van Sickle (1910) and Robert Eugene Van Sickle (1914)  Her parents Judd Dewitt Van Sickle and Charlotte Rowley Van Sickle were married in 1908.

The doll, Maybelle is in my living room.

She married Roy Joseph Hendricks August 28, 1939.

I am the baby in the photograph with the 1952 Dodge Wayfarer and my sister Mary and brother David.

My mother passed September 7, 2000.

One Minute It’s Summer- Now the Pool’s Drained

 

Officially summer on the calendar but nothing like Back-to-School to bring it to a close. Summer vacation has been wonderful. Relaxing and lots of time with the family. Reading a book, flipping through a magazine, lazing about on the hammock, getting things done or not. Fresh sliced tomatoes with salt and pepper. Summer’s grand.

Then school started with meetings and room set up and although it was a short week of actual teaching(2 days), the back to school feeling is in earnest and a new cycle has begun

A bit hot and muggy tonight from the rain, I can’t hear the cicadas but the change of season is impending.  The earlier sunsets. Something about the feel of the air.   Today we saw swarms of students shopping for wastebaskets and bedding, eating ice cream as they crossed the street.  The city has a different feel since they’ve returned to campuses.

I converted both images to black and white to unify them for the thought of swimming in summer and then a different pool, just drained for the season.  You get ideas. Some work. Some don’t.

Swimming at Aunt Linda’s neighbor’s pool-

 

 

 

St. Basils on Brownsville Road in the background.  Phillips Park Pool in Carrick.  Shot at the Corn Festival.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Free Spirit

This week’s challenge of free spirit was exactly that-  a challenge!

Here’s a gallery of free spirit (to me) as I perused the archives, thinking about the definition.

My interpretations have a wide range of the meaning- including a feral cat, The Angel of the Waters Fountain in Central Park, Andy Warhol, a motorcycle guy choosing to go helmet less-  free spirit not limited to  flower children dancing at Woodstock or Haight Ashbury.   I should have gotten a few of my friends to pose and I don’t have consent to post some shots I already have but I when I think free spirit, they come to mind. Next week is the Art Fair in the Park in Mellon Park Pittsburgh so I’m thinking an opportunity for new images of free spirit.

I found this quote on another blog but when entered this text  it says author unknown-

 “Free spirits are inclined to explore life and taste new experiences that hold true to the deepest parts of themselves vs. being influenced by what the masses around them are doing. They are often people who think freely and have the courage to hear their own voice and follow their own integrity.”

 

 

 

 

 

One of the feral cats we were able to capture, get fixed and inoculated.  There are two and we feed them on the back porch.  Our neighbor Ann had cats, cats, cats and then moved to a home and then passed away and we inherited the two that called this neighborhood, home.

 

 

Concert goers enter the Altar Bar, a repurposed church in the Strip District of Pittsburgh.

 

 

Italian Festival in Bloomfield.

 

 

Shohei Toyoda performing in Worthington OH

 

 

Angel of the Waters Fountain, Bethesda Terrace, Central Park New York City.  It was featured in the movie Angels in America.  In fact, it’s been featured in many movies.

 

 

 

 

 

You might remember this shot from the Andy Warhol Museum as I was leaving at night, the party was just starting.

Photographer friend Joycie in Grand Central Station. 

 

Popping Bubble Wrap

Lots of people enjoy the satisfaction of popping bubble wrap. Even the virtual kind.  On one listing for a computer game  it’s called the ultimate time waster.  There are apps with popping bubble wrap games. Some people find it a stress reliever and like hearing the pop.  Lately I have been receiving packages with a different kind of plastic with air trapped inside and they aren’t nearly as fun, just half heartedly filled with air and don’t make a good POP! More of a fizzle.

You don’t have to explain the rules to this activity. Here’s Maura on Aunt Linda’s back porch, concentrating on the task.  A detailed post of various methods of popping bubble wrap has been published over at 1000 Awesome Things( #840) so check it out here. There’s a photo of someone jumping on a big sheet of it! And there are various size bubbles.

Maura was popping the bubbles one at a time and it was fascinating to watch her take her time.  It seems a skill that’s a natural one.  Pick it up. Squeeze. Pop!

 

 

 

 

and Jack has found another use for bubble wrap

Bleecker Street Sign

Another urban shot from last week in NYC.  I was walking by this scene and had to photograph it.

It’s a cash only, no slices, no reservations, coal oven pizza place but I won’t add their name cause I am sure this is not their best look.  The restaurant grading system is prominently displayed in every window in the city.

And if you liked my Positivity Helps shot from the Urban Challenge, the challenge creator, Terence S. Jones, has added it to his collection of urban images.  You can go onto his blog here and click the heart button on the photo. Thanks.