On the Road Again

The urge to apologize and make excuses is overwhelming, and I won't indulge in the compulsion. If, in the unlikely event, I have any visiter to this blog left, I want to announce that I am beginning a cycle of travel again and will TRY to do some blogging, which, parenthetically, I enjoy and have missed. I am leaving for Isreal and Europe in about 5 minutes. I'll be back in La Crosse for a few days then will be driving to Croton-on-Hudson NY. I am also in process of trying to arrange a trip to Cuba for a Phototour and there is something in the offing for February. More to follow... right now I have a plane to catch.
Byron

Day at the Yurt

Susann, Red, and I spent much of yesterday at our yurt in Crawford County. I had to vacuum up mouse droppings and do a bit of furniture rearranging, but otherwise there was no pressing need to get any work done as has always been the case previously. I feel very much at peace there and look forward to spending lots more time at the yurt this summer and fall.

For those readers who don't know about this project, the yurt was purchased from the Colorado Yurt Company in the fall of 2009 as a kit. One of the wisest decisions I ever made was to ask expert carpenters to make the platform and erect the structure. The yurt is much more substantial than a tent but compared to a cabin or any kind of prefabricated structure it is primitive. We have limited electricity generated by a very small solar unit but no running water. Last year we installed a propane stove to heat the space. It seemed advantageous at the time but proved to be vastly under performing. I plan to get and have installed a wood burning stove this summer. I had hoped that the yurt would be a 3 season structure but unless we get an adequate source of heat, it will be used just a bit in early fall and late spring and not at all in the winter.

If you are interested in visiting the yurt or touring the property let me know. I'd be glad to show you around.

Byron

Some Images from Japan

I was shocked to see that it has been over a month since I last made an entry to this blog. Susann and I had a wonderful time in Japan. Given my obsession with the physical deterioration of cities, rural areas and small towns here in the US that I have been photographing and carrying on about in this blog what I encountered in Kyoto and Osaka, while not surprising, was quite stunning, especially because of the long duration of serious economic problems that Japan has suffered. I did not encounter a single abandoned commerical or residential building or any run down dwellings or businesses. In all the ways that a  tourist can judge another society I saw nothing but a well ordered very civilized populace. I hope to have time to make several entries to this blog about the contrasts. In the meantime I am posting some photographs. Only a couple have been refined in Photoshop, so don't expect art. You may, however, find them interesting.

Allison and Damian Christie

Charles and Kaori during the  marriage ceremony

The wedding party walking to the temple



Leaving for Japan

I had intended to do some serious posting during the past several days, but, as is often the case, my reach exceeded my grasp. I'm leaving for Japan in the am and will be returning on May 13th and hope to be more diligent about this blog during the summer. I do have one bit of news. My website is more or less finished. I thought of sending out an invitation to just about everyone I know to visit, but will delay for just a while longer. While all of the images are posted, I do want to write captions and some descriptive material and a fair amount of reordering of the images needs to be done. Neither will take more than a week or so. Do bear with me. I think that it will be worth the wait to get it a bit more refined.
Byron

Theme: Detroit In Ruins. Here is my contribution.

One of the iconographic images of Detroit in Ruins. The Packard Motor Car Company.

Byron

Detroit 2011

Because I have difficulty properly placing videos and photos in relation to appropriate text in these postings I am dividing this entry into 2 parts. The Internet is filled with still photos of the recent devastated state of the City of Detroit and there are a good many excellent videos on YouTube. I have a modest collection of photos that I took a couple of years ago, but other than a dramatic image of the abandoned Packard Motor Company plant-- a very unoriginal photo subject-- nothing that I could post here equals this video for impact. Indeed, in my opinion video captures the astounding derelict status of the city much better than can be achieved by still photography.

By the way, I don't think that dereliction of vast swaths of an American city is unique to Detroit, but it is the place that I know best, having grown up and lived there until I was 16 years old. This was, for those who don't know the historical context, what many consider to be zenith of Detroit's prosperity and predominance as the nations premier industrial center. Starting when I was 12, I travelled throughout the city , mainly by bus, but also by bike and hitchhiking (I didn't say I was smart, just adventurous and well travelled) and knew it fairly well. Not until, during my adult years, when I gained perspective and realized how far the place had deteriorated could I appreciate its onetime magnificence... and the tragedy of its downfall.

I suspect that my contemporaries who grew up in places like Memphis, East St.Louis, Newark and lots of other bedraggled cities would have similar thoughts.

Brief Update to Maintain the Flow

I have a great deal I want to write about and no time to do it. For lots of reasons getting all ducks in a row for tax preperation was late and finally finished a couple of days ago. Beth Schaldach and I have started dealing with the garden and what needs to be done doesn't seem so forboding as progress is being made. Tomorrow I am going to visit the yurt to see what the recent unusually harsh winter has wraught. And the list of excuses goes on.

Ever since I began blogging I have known that what ruins the blog is long gaps between posts. Therefore, I am posting this picture that I took in Madrid NM of my friend Kam who is quite remarkable in lots of interesting ways. I'm not sure that I've ever met anyone who is able to embrace and befriend strangers so naturally without guile nor artifce. This was certainly an asset and it allowed me to photograph people in situations where I would usually be either inhibited or intrusive.
Byron