Sojourn Chronicles
I recently visited the Mellwood Art Center in Louisville. Upon walking through the facility, I immediately knew I wanted to photograph it in square B&W.
Brent
The temperature is an unseasonal 56 degrees in January. The result of warm air over cold ground has produced one very foggy day. This scene appeared as I was traveling home from a visit with friends.
See you on the highway.
Brent
From the old box of photos.
Finding that old box of photos was like discovering presents under the Christmas Tree. I thought these images of my early motorcycles, horses and cars were gone, lost to history. Merry Christmas in June!
My senior year of high school (Class of 1968), I tried to buy a motorcycle that I saw for sale along the street I took to go to work. As far as I could tell, it needed a little TLC. I told the guy I would buy it. I don’t remember how much. When I arrived home, my mom told me that the guy had called to see if it was okay to sell me the bike. Her response to him was, “He is still in high school and he is not buying a motorcycle!” I was mad. Very mad. Not destructive mad, just mad.
I had always understood that us boys were not allowed to own a car while we were in high school, but this was a motorcycle and I had been riding the Lambretta scooter that Dad bought. After I graduated, I went back to see if the bike was still was available. It was, and I bought it! It was a 1963 Harley-Davidson Sprint 250cc Scrambler. It was made in Italy by Aermacchi for Harley-Davidson. Yes, one of those. It had a kick start on the left and gear selector on the right–a four speed transmission.
I don’t think mom was very happy with that, but I had a part-time job, and paid with my own money. So, it was now acceptable. Dad was okay with it, I think, but I am sure there were discussions.
Immediately, I started giving that bike a little TLC, but it needed more than that. It needed a mechanic. Off it went to the Harley dealer. Upon its return, I gave it a paint job–cans of automotive spray paint from the hardware store. It looked reasonably good.
Even after “fixing it up,” the bike was still a piece of junk. Over the years, and after numerous purchases of motorcycles, I still think of that Sprint as the worst motorcycle I ever owned. Eventually, I traded it for a car, a 1965 Pontiac Lemans four-door sedan with a three-speed on the column.
Today, that Sprint is a collector’s item. I wish I still had it.
See you on the highway.
Brent
My wife and I were searching through our very unorganized boxes of photos recently, and at the bottom of one of those boxes was a shoebox of old Polaroid photos taken by me as a teenager. That Polaroid was my birthday present from Mom and Dad for my 13th birthday. I still have that camera.
I thought I had lost these to time. They are photos of the horses, motorcycles and cars that I owned as a teenager. I see plenty of stories coming, walking down memory lane. Stay tuned.
See you on the highway.
Brent
I never make New Year resolutions. Really. New Year goals? Well not exactly. Is that a problem? Maybe, and here is what I am going to do about it.
It has been on my mind for some time. A couple of years maybe. Since I have semi-retired … let’s face the reality … fully retired, I have not done much writing or photography except for on Facebook and photography on Instagram. Why should I post my creative material on those social medias when I have my own? That question was driven home by an article posted on The Verge, and shared on FB by a good friend, Bring Back Personal Blogging.
This year, with the weather cooperating, I managed to get in my first ride of the year. January 1, 2023, I took the Moto Guzzi V85tt Adventure for a short ride. Proof is in the second photo, a photo I always wanted to capture.
I have ridden past this sign many, many times, but it always seems to be in the afternoon when the sun is on the other side of the sign and the light is wrong. On this day, it was perfect, and my ride is documented by the date and time of the sign. “Welcome to Morrow” Ohio, a small town near my home. I suppose I can mark this item off my list of motorcycle ride photos.
So, I’m going to do a little more motorcycling this year including some long-distance travels. I’ll be writing about those.
I’m going to be writing about other things too, ideas that harken back to my earlier web site, Sojourn Chronicles. More photography, and especially Black & White photography. I love B&W. Nearly all of my documentary work was shot on B&W film, as was much of my newspaper work. Oh, those were the days. Now, it’s all digital for there is no dark room space here at the galactic headquarters.
The plan is more frequent posts right here. And, I’d like to get that frequency to weekly. Stay tuned.
See you on the highway.
Brent