Roadside America Attraction #2 The Lumberjack's Lumberjack

 

"Adventure, creativity, and novelty... is human nature

And I am a Human! Journey is it's fate. And I am traveling it." 

 

~Tahreem Rahat

 

 

This is my second post of, Roadside America, attractions, as I meander my way around the Central Valley, in search of all things of novelty. My first post came at the end of December, and featured the A&W Root-beer family, in Lodi, California. This time around we are a little closer to home. This cool lumberjack is from right in my own town, of Stockton! I am not sure if he carries the name of Paul Bunyon, like some similar statues do, but no doubt about it, he is a fitting mascot for a restaurant named Lumberjacks! I can't believe this is my second post, and I am doing one so similar as the last one. There is a lot to see in the world, and even right here in the San Joaquin Valley, but I really dig these statues. 

 

When I was a little girl, my parents would visit some friends in Hayward, California, and we would drive right by, Mike The Muffler Man, on Mission Boulevard. I was intrigued that my friend Mike was always there, like a great big protective friend. I'm not sure where I thought he'd go, but he made me smile, so I didn't really want to think about not seeing each other one day. Strange what a child's mind will attach to. That fascination, although to a much less degree, endured. Whenever I have been in Hayward, and anywhere near the corner of Mission Boulevard and A Street, I just had to pass my old pal Mike. Can you tell that I am wildly over sentimental?

 

 

~Carly

 

 

Art About Town: Stockton... "Sea Blue, Celadon And Amber Chandelier"

 

"There is something incredibly nostalgic

 about the annual cascade of autumn leaves."

~Joe L. Wheeler

Look... A beautiful new piece of Public Art, and I found it in what seemed like an unlikely place, the Stockton Administrative Building, in downtown. I was there last Monday, to drop off my ballot for the 2020 election. Don't worry, that post is coming up in a few days, because of course I have something to say, and you know me, I never miss a chance a to talk politics! Anyway, in the lobby of the building was this marvelous piece of art. It reminded me of a beautiful autumn beacon, lighting the way. A good omen I think. A sign that this autumn is going to be okay. That November 3rd will be okay. That Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will lead us out of this depressing, and terrifying time that was this administrations term of office.

 Yes, I know, it wasn't installed yesterday. It was actually dedicated in 2009, but it's the first time I have seen it. In 2016 Alan dropped off our ballots, and he did it again last March, so Monday was my first time visiting the Registrar Of Voters. Since moving here, I have been in a self-imposed mental prison about living in Stockton, but I am okay now. The sadness of leaving the Bay Area has healed, and I am feeling like my old self, despite the depression Donald Trump inspires. Hopefully that nightmare is almost over. The anti-depressants have helped, but the help I have really needed came from the goddess of autumn, and some inspiring autumn Public Art like this! How will Public Art help unseat Trump? It won't. But what it does do is help improve my mood, as we prepare for what might be.

 Right now things feel like we have a real chance to see an autumn corrective coming. I know he is going to throw every dirty trick in the book at it, try to hurt us, and the nation, but I feel like, in the end, we have a good chance. I'm not thinking about it too much. I just want to get through the next 20 days. Just let it go by and get to November 3rd. Although there is a little piece of me, the frightened part of me, that does occasionally visit the dark place. The place that makes me believe that Monday, November 2nd, might be the last day we see as free Americans. I suppose it's not very healthy to spend too much time in either season, which is fine, I would rather spend my time in autumn and art. That's where I am at peace.

Sea Blue, Celadon And Amber Chandelier 

By Artist Dale Chihuly

Autumn inspiration from January 14th 2020

My Chandelier...

Today's Autumn Leaf Of The Day #23

~Carly

October 14th 2020

Stockton, California

Art About Town: Stockton... Sculptures Of Stribly Park

"It was one of those perfect English autumnal days

 which occur more frequently in memory, than in life."

 ~P.D. James

A Taste For Death

The depression has a strong hold this year, no doubt, but I am fighting it off. Yesterday I got up, and got my cameras, a and forced myself out of the house. I visited downtown Stockton, and did some light camera work with some lighthearted public art! Always a mood lifter! I found these jolly fellows, way on the other side og HWY 4, in Stribly Park, near the Community Center. They are simply called, the Stribly Park Sculptures. Which is fine, but I kinda think the guy in the back is named George! Shrug. Don't know why. Just do. The leaves don't have much color, but maybe it's me, maybe I am just not seeing the color, Don't know which, but I do know that those guys made me smile! It's a beginning! And while I was at the park I found this leaf collection. Beautiful. That made me smile too!

 #28 Leaf Of The Day

October 20th 2019

Berkeley, California

Nikon 

~Mood: Quiet

~Me  

#PhotoByRequest "Small Spaces"

"Such days of autumnal decline hold a strange mystery which adds to the gravity of all our moods."

~Charles Nodler

Smarra and Trilby

I love this week's challenge. "Small Spaces" gave me a chance to learn about this pretty bench, which come to find out is not just a bench, but also a lovely work of public art. It sits at the corner of Ben Holt and Pershing, here in Stockton, and has caught my eye since day one of living here. It has butterflies on it, so of course it would catch my eye! Stockton has lots of public art, but it can sometimes be difficult to track down information about individual pieces. This one has taken me four years. I think I am going to be friends with this one for a long time. I must do a more in-depth photo shoot soon! 

My second photo pays tribute to another sign of Autumn in the Central Valley, the closures of the small summer fruit and vegetable stands. This cute stand is in the town of Davis, just north of the University of Davis. I haven't purchased from it before, but you can bet I will be giving it a try next summer! It's something to look forward to, that will lead me back to my beautiful autumn yet again.

 #25 Leaf Of The Day

October 17th 2019

Ione, California

Nikon

~Mood: Happy
~Me   :)

Photo By Request: Public Art (Art About Town)

"The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance."

~Aristotle 

This post is a not to our latest #PhotoByRequest subject "Public Art". A subject, which you know, I adore, which is why I chose it. Sacramento is full of public art of all kinds, and it is glorious! I can't wait to go back on vacation and spend a day just photographing the art, food, architecture, and trees. All 110,000 of them! But right now, it's all about the art. Of all the pieces I photographed, the Pop art by street artist, Norman Ayles, is my favorite. I will be doing another post soon about those pieces specifically! Those two pieces really spoke to me!

Art About Town: Sacramento

Murals

More on this piece in a different post to come at a later date.

Art About Town: Stockton

Murals and Sculpture
 
"I'm Not Surprised"

"Plant The Seed"

The Confucius Bicentennial Memorial

Art About Town: Castro Valley

Electrical Box Art

"Field Of Deer"

Autumn Leaf Of The Day...

#11 Leaf Of The Day

October 4th 2019

Sacramento, California 

Nikon

~Mood: Quiet
~Me  

Photo By Request... "Signs"

Golden Gate Bridge

Westbound Gate

Marin County

August 24th 2019

"When you are near the middle of your life, often God will do outrageous things to knock you back on course."

~Francesca Lia Block

Wasteland

Today's #PhotoByRequest challenge is "Signs". I absolutely love the topic because so much can be done with it! You can photograph a literal sign that is interesting in some way, or you can reach for the metaphorical, which would require explanation, at least as far as to oneself. I guess it's a matter of ones comfort zone. As luck would have it, when Alan and I visited the Golden Gate a couple weeks ago, I came across more than one sign. Most are self explanatory. I also had quite a few archived photos I want to share as well. I enjoy looking for signs in the universe, for some reason no matter how cryptic, or how long I have to ponder their meaning, I always seem to come away better off for having noticed what the unseen was trying to tell me.

That's just one more reason I am happy to always have my camera in my hand. My camera helps me learn more about myself, and see a part of life I would have otherwise missed. My camera helps me stay in the moment, as opposed to dwelling in the past. As for the quote I chose for this post, well, I have found that sentiment to be absolutely true. Like in 2015, when we were forced to move to the Central Valley. Lordy, I wouldn't have moved here by choice, but here I am. Probably forever. God, and the whole universe, decided to throw a shit storm and suck me up into it, and Stockton just happened to be where I landed. Never, ever, say NEVER when God is within earshot!

 Signs... (New)

Emotional Signs

Golden Gate Bridge

Westbound Marin County Side

Archived Signs

Bodega Bay, California

We'll Miss You Robin

Tribute to Robin Williams

The Punch Line

San Francisco, California

 Robin Williams Tunnel

Marin County, California

August 24th 2019

I miss Robin so much, but I always smile when I see this sign. We in the Bay Area will never forget that man. He was special.

Fisherman's Wharf

San Francisco

You can't visit San Francisco without seeing this sign!

New York Hotel

Stockton, California

Can you believe those prices?

Dublin, California

Self Explanatory

 "Live To Serve Man"

 A Public Art prank by the Billboard Liberation Front

Read all about this sign/public art piece

 by clicking the title above.

 Pier 14

One of the most beautiful spots along the Embarcadero

 Cal Berkeley Campus

Berkeley California

Autumn 2007

 Reno, Nevada

Autumn 2006

Zanesville, Ohio

October 1992

How often do you get to chose

 whether or not you venture down the road to HELL!

Do you see signs, or just signs? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment thread. I would love to hear from you!

~Mood: Happy
~Me  :)

Memento Mori

"All photographs are memento mori. To take a photograph is to participate in another person's (or things's) mortality, vulnerability, mutability. Precisely by slicing out this moment and freezing it, all photographs testify to time's relentless melt."

~Susan Sontag

Memento Mori

(Remember You Must Die)

It's time to close 2018. It's so strange how every year has the same amount of days, with the exception of leap years, and yet each year can seem to defy reason and science, by appearing to go by faster or slower than what the calendar says. That's always been a true phenomenon, but never like the last few years. There is time and then there is Trump Time. Trump Time... where days seem like months, and months seem like years.

Trump time is exhausting, and kinda scary. I feel myself aging at a much different rate, but then again, maybe I am just feeling my age more as I grow older. I am not sure how I will feel when this mess is finally over with, and I am not even sure it will ever be over with, so all I can do, is the best I can do, to hold onto my sanity, and thank God that my camera helps me do just that! It helps me process what needs to be felt and done to move forward with life.

In looking through my photos for 2018, I found I had a lot more good days with the camera, than bad. This year was eye opening, in many ways, but nothing was more eye opening than having a Stockton Police officer, knock on your door, LOUDLY, at 7:30 AM, as they chased two carjacking suspects through your backyard and into your pool house! SHIT! At first, I thought it might be the Secret Service, pounding on my door, because of some mistaken remark I made online, led to an investigation of me for threatening the president! Had I gone and done it this time? Had I finally been too damn mouthy on Twitter? Was that third time calling the president a SHITGIBBON going too far? Was this, finally, my arrest?

It, of course, wasn't, but I can imagine the day that it could be that happening. Not that I go around threatening Trump, but what's in my head doesn't matter, it's how he chooses to interpret things, that matters, right? That's another scary, surreal thought, that anything that one says online, could be used against them in such a frightening way. I had to be dead, because everything was just surreal! It made for a bad day, but that day was a necessary evil, because that scary day finally got it through to me that I wasn't dead, and that everything happening in the world was, indeed, real. Including a carjacking suspect, hiding out in my pool house!

You see, that had been my assumption, since before Donald Trump became president, but especially after he took the oath of office! Every single day of his presidency has rolled from one surreal day, to the next, each filled with one FRESH HELL, after another. So one day, in a fit of exasperation, I said out loud to myself... "When did I die?" I felt in that moment that life had become so surreal, that I couldn't possibly be alive! And I went forth with that delusion until that fateful day, the carjackers went through my backyard!

Great! I'm alive. All This Is Real!

Well, autumn and vacation came around, about four and six weeks later, respectively, and it was time to pick up the camera again, for both my sanity, but for the love of all things autumn, which traditionally includes the annual cascade of leaves, our anniversary and our vacation. I couldn't have an autumn where I didn't search out leaves for my project,  and I felt like if I did skip a year, that it seemed like I would be giving up. I am not quite at that point yet, but I get tired, often, and just want to walk away and never look back! Stick my head into a book, and not come out. 

Never watch another news/political analysis show again. Never go back to Twitter. Never engage in the real world again, but I know I couldn't do that. Sometimes I feel stuck in reality, a place where being aware of life is a good thing, but in this case, is the last place I would ever want to be thinking straight. Fantasy, for too long a time isn't healthy. Reality, especially now, definitely isn't healthy for too long a period of time, unfortunately, that doesn't leave much time.

I guess photography is my best vehicle for surfing fantasy and reality. I did some photos this year that I really care about. Most of them done during autumn, but certainly not exclusively. I am going to try to do some kind of photography, at least once a week this year. It can be difficult to find the right subjects, so I am going to attempt some artsy photos of average, if not mundane, subjects around the house. If Andy Warhol can make art out of a soup can, why can't I?

 What I Saw In 2018...

In No Particular Order

Military Submarine Outlook Station 

Circa WWII

HWY 1 South of San Francisco

October 24th, 2018

The "Bijou"

Our home theater, finally finished.

July 15th, 2018

Rare Mammatus Cloud Formation

And A UFO?

December 24th, 2018

Stockton, California

There's No Mail, Like Snow Mail

Camino, California

March 2nd, 2018

My Favorite Autumn Leaf Portrait

November 17th 2018

Stockton, California

Beware Of Snakes In A Cemetery

Ione Public Cemetery

Ione, California

 October 24th, 2018

My Favorite Book Of 2018

"Fear" By Bob Woodward

Dippin Dots

Cannery Row

Monterey California 

October 17th 2018

My Favorite Autumn Sunset

October 24th, 2018

Ione, California

My Favorite Black And White Photo

June 10th, 2018

Stockton, California

My Favorite Leaf Of The Day

"Fleur-Di-Lis"

December 9th, 2018

Stockton, California

My Favorite Public Art Piece

"Peace" By Stephen Kaltenberg

 October 21st, 2018

Sacramento, California

My Favorite Church Photograph

Ione Catholic Cemetery

Ione, California

October 25th 2018

My Favorite Cemetery Photograph

Ione Public Cemetery

Ione, California

October 25th, 2018

 
Angel Monument

Ione Public Cemetery

Ione, California

October 25th 2018

The Old Frosty

Ione, California

August 25th, 2018

Blue Bunting

September 2nd 2018

Davenport, California

 Early Winter Sunset

December 24th 2018

Stockton, California

"Incoming"

Pacific Grove, California

October 17th, 2018

Art Deco Glass Panel

The Orinda Theater

October 11th, 2018

Orinda, California

Smoke From The Camp Fire (Paradise, California)

 Turned The Moon An Eerie Shade Of Red

A Bright Red Glow OF The Sun, Filtered With Smoke From The Camp Fire, Reflecting OFF The Bricks Of Preston Castle

November 11th, 2018

Ione, California

Happy Independence Day 

July 4th, 2018

Stockton, California

Open Window

October 24th 2018

Lockeford, California

And there you have it! The year 2018 in photographs. On to yet another year, but hopefully, the new year will bring a lot more good news, than bad, and maybe even some clarity and hope. You just never know what will be waiting for you. Maybe I will take my best photograph ever! Or perhaps I will be in the right/wrong place at the right/wrong time to capture an image that will be something truly unique or historic! Or maybe I will just continue to photograph things I love, and just try to make it through another year of my life. It's all good. But, I am reminded daily of, Memento Mori.

It's Life.

Happy New Year

2019

~Mood: Quiet

~Me :)