Close to Home—and an Excursion
July 12, 2020
These days several disasters have been claiming my attention: 1) the worst one: the one we are all dealing with now, 2) corrupted photograph files on an external hard drive, and 3) a burst pipe and subsequent flooding in our cottage. I’m happy to say that the second disaster turned out, I think, to be not much of a disaster after all. I’ve cloned all the files to a new hard drive and checked all the photos from 2001 through 2011, finding only nine corrupt files, all in the folder for 2005. None was a serious keeper, and I deleted them. I’ll keep checking the rest of the files, just in case, but meanwhile I am much relieved. The third disaster, the most recent, ruined three large prints kept under the bed and the mats of two framed medium-size prints along with a very large drawing. We are living in chaos until all the flooring is replaced and things—rescued from the flooded rooms and relocated to the unflooded room—can be set to rights. As for the first disaster, I’m coping, as are we all, more or less.
All this is to say that I haven’t been out with the camera much lately. But here are four photographs taken in my neighborhood in May and downloaded to the new hard drive. The fifth photo is from a mid-June drive in the country. My locked-down community has begun what it calls a soft opening that allows such drives (as long as we don’t exit the vehicle). After I tame the chaos a little, I hope to take more such outings.
1
2
3
4
Romancing Reality 
“As for the first disaster, I’m coping, as are we all, more or less.”. Yes, my friend, I think that’s about right. Stay safe! Adrian 🙂
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July 12, 2020 at 3:54 AM
You, too, Adrian. We need you.
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July 12, 2020 at 10:35 AM
Love the peek-a-boo shot in number 4! I probably would have not even noticed it.
You have the eye!
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July 12, 2020 at 7:56 AM
Thanks, Clare. But I’d bet you would notice it.
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July 12, 2020 at 10:36 AM
In the last photograph, the opening in the boards—and an irregular one at that—comes as a surprise and provides a welcome break (figurative and literal) in the uniformity of the planks.
What a relief to find barely any damaged files on your hard drive.
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July 12, 2020 at 7:56 AM
Oh, I like what you said about the “welcome break”! Thanks, Steve. And thanks for your sympathetic relife about my hard drive.
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July 12, 2020 at 10:39 AM
Linda, That’s a lot to bear. In the midst of COVID plus chaos your photograph collection was threatened. I’m glad it’s mostly OK. I have most of mine backed up on a second drive. As the cost of external hard drives has gone down, I just purchased a 6 T. My mothing has really increased the number of photos I have so I need more room. I’m enjoying your trips down memory lane. Lynda
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July 12, 2020 at 8:43 AM
I’m glad your new drive will facilitate your photographing of the moths you catch in your backyard and see elsewhere. My backup drive only had “most of” my photos. Meanwhile, I was afraid to put anything new on the drive that had the corruptions. Thank goodness I have huge-capacity cards in the camera and could let photos sit there until the new drive arrived. I’m looking into a cloud backup service just to be on the safe side. More photos from memory lane next week.
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July 12, 2020 at 10:50 AM
Good to read that only 9 shots are gone and the rest is till there! I love the 3rd shot. At the bottom side things are going up; and at the upper side things are going down.. 🙂
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July 12, 2020 at 9:06 AM
Thank you, Harrie. I enjoy your description of #3.
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July 12, 2020 at 10:54 AM
Phew…
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July 12, 2020 at 10:02 AM
Indeed! Thanks for concurring, Sue.
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July 12, 2020 at 10:57 AM
I love the 5th photo in this series, as a perfect picture of where we are now. A big blemished wall in front of us with a tiny enticing view of what is beyond.
Mary Ellyn
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July 12, 2020 at 11:35 AM
That’s a lovely reading of that photo, Mary Ellyn. Thank you.
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July 12, 2020 at 12:07 PM
So glad you managed to get thru relatively unscathed Linda. I particularly like the last 2 photos of this post – great eye.
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July 13, 2020 at 3:09 PM
Thank you, Mark. When I sequenced these photographs, I didn’t realize how well the last two would speak with each other.
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July 13, 2020 at 7:01 PM
I sympathize with your struggles. I still hang onto a “catastrophically failed” hard drive (with a few thousand images on it….many from my daughter’s early years) in the hopes of someday being able to recover the files. I also know the joys of finding way too much water where it shouldn’t be. In our case it was sewage in the basement. The ghost of my dearly beloved Oxford English Dictionary still comes to me now and again….dripping on the floor.
I hope that all turns out well for you and that the losses are not too great for time to heal (or at least dry out….).
Lovely images all, Linda. That last one gave me a chuckle. Is that strange? Sometimes images strike me with a kind of visual humor.
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July 13, 2020 at 6:07 PM
Thanks, Johnny Crabcakes. I’m sorry for your losses but hope you will be able to recover your files. Your flood sounds more awful even than ours. I’m beginning to adjust to my losses. In light of the very real losses we’ve been witnessing and learning about, they’re hardly important. I think the last photo has humor in it, too: a multiple-horse-powered Dodge Ram truck housed in what might once have been a horse barn? That’s kinda funny.
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July 13, 2020 at 7:59 PM
I’m very relieved to hear that so few files were corrupt (unlike politicians!). It’s just been crazy, between that, the flood and everything else. It’s a wonder you can concentrate at all. On the other hand, it might be the best time of all to get out with a camera. The dew-spangled spiderweb has a strange power – there’s something light-hearted and gay about the support strands, strung with lights like a circus, but the center seems to me to dissolve into something slightly ominous. (I know, that’s a weird read on the photo!). I can tell that the second one required precision in the framing of those wonderfully curvy branches. The third photo is masterful, that’s my favorite here. Wow, the graceful droop of that flowering tree – it “should” point to something typically “pretty” but instead it points to the ditch: dark, wet, and fecund. It’s a stunning image – made me think of the classic Buddhist lotus symbol of the pure white flower rising from roots in the mud: both are important. The tones (the background under the tree recedes just the right amount) and composition (the wiggle of the ditch) are perfection. I love this one. I want the fourth photo to be focused differently – I’m not sure what it is. The fifth – oh, who could not be charmed? What a find! I think most people would have cropped the framing much smaller but you chose to keep that peephole really small in relation to the wall, which works much better. You know how to nab the viewer if you want to. Dodge. I can’t help saying it to myself. 🙂 Great work! 🙂
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July 14, 2020 at 12:25 PM
It may have been the best time to get out with the camera, but I went several weeks without. I finally got out on the property this past Sunday but haven’t yet downloaded. I seem to have even less time these days. Maybe anxiety steals it away? I enjoy your weird reading of #1. About #2: When I was taking the photograph, I was aware that some of the leaves and branches were closer to me, some further away. But when I look at the photograph, they all seem to be on the same plane. It reminds me of a Tiffany window. Love your take on #3. It was one of those photos that beg to be taken. You know, the kind where you walk along and walk along seeing things and taking photographs and suddenly there’s something in front of you that calls out louder than anything else. That kind. Well, #4 has a problem I don’t like; maybe it’s partly what bothers you, too. It’s that out-of-focus reed one-fifth of the way in from the left. I included the photo because I was interested in the way it had strong stripes in both the vertical and horizontal dimensions. Number 5 is full frame, I’m proud to say. I had to lean way over David, who was driving, to get the shot through the window. Thanks for everything, Lynn.
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July 14, 2020 at 2:08 PM
The branches appearing to be on the same plane in #2 is, I think, a function of (maybe) a small aperture and being at a distance from them. Saying that #3 begged to be photographed fits perfectly. In #5 I meant “wall” not “well” but I guess you figured that out. Oh, leaning over to shoot through a car window, not my favorite thing but sometimes it’s all you can do. One never knows it in this case!
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July 19, 2020 at 8:43 PM
For #2 I was zoomed to 85mm and shot at ƒ13. It’s a slight crop, mostly from the bottom. Think that would do it? I fixed your “well” to a “wall.” I certainly did figure out what you meant; only saw the typo when you pointed it out. I got a better photograph leaning over David that day than I did the next time I went out, alone, down different roads, and just leaned out the window. Got lots of nothing that day. Guess I’ll just have to go out again. 🙂
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July 29, 2020 at 9:19 AM
p.s. I’m using Backblaze, so far, so good.
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July 14, 2020 at 12:26 PM
I’m looking into Backblaze myself. Glad it’s working for you.
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July 14, 2020 at 2:09 PM
I already knew that you had minimal loss but am glad to read it just the same. The flood however is awful news and I am sorry that you lost some large prints as well as all the other belongings that were harmed. There is not much to do but recover, clean what can be cleaned and move on, I guess. We had a mini flood when the shut off for our washer in the basement let go but lost very little. I am days overdue commenting so by now I hope most of the recovery is complete.
I enjoyed the images and see a lot of your “dumpster eye” in them. The last I enjoyed the most. It seems to be a car’s grillwork lurking behind the opening?
Yes, we are all doing the best we can due to Covid-19. We were fortunate in MA that the Governor encouraged us to get out into nature and exercise responsibly. I followed his instructions daily until returning to work. 🙂
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July 26, 2020 at 3:48 PM
Glad you didn’t lose much in your flood, Steve. I seem to be moving on OK. I guess you can get used to almost anything. My dumpster eye, eh? I like that. Yes, the vehicle lurking behind the opening is a Dodge Ram truck, which you can identify in the blow-up you get when you click on the image. Sounds like you have a wise governor. Ours was really good at the beginning, then yielded to pressure and opened the state—including bars and restaurants—too soon. Now we pay the consequences.
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July 26, 2020 at 4:12 PM
I meant “dumpster eye” as high praise, Linda. You see beauty and interest where others won’t look. It’s a unique vision and I am glad we are blogging friends so I get to enjoy those images. 🙂
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July 26, 2020 at 4:22 PM
I most definitely took it as praise, Steve! Thank you. I’m glad we’re blogging friends, too. I enjoy your insects especially.
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July 28, 2020 at 4:30 PM
Oh…yes, we do have a wise governor. I am very liberal and a Democrat. But voting party lines isn’t always a wise choice and I am glad that I voted Republican in this case as, although I disagree with many of his policies, I think he is running our state very well.
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July 26, 2020 at 4:24 PM
Similarly, I’m mostly pleased with our Republican governor even though I voted for his opponent. Just wish he hadn’t caved in to the business interests in opening the state before it was time. We would probably be a lot worse off now if he hadn’t been so cautious at the beginning.
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July 28, 2020 at 4:34 PM
I’m glad to hear you didn’t loose too many photos. Isn’t it a blessing to have photographs to go back to, especially now that we cannot move freely as we’re used to? I’ve been enjoying seeing your recent posts here, with so many great older photos. What a treasure they are, not only for you but also for us! These are times we will never forget, ever. Stay safe, and keep looking with that special eye of yours!
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July 29, 2020 at 2:16 PM
Thanks, Gunilla. Yes, it is a blessing to be able to travel through photographs, especially when the photos conjure moods, memories, or associations. And what a blessing it is to be able to create the art in the first place. I’m sure you understand what I mean. You stay safe, too, and keep making.
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July 30, 2020 at 8:15 AM