Blog Archives
bill
Here lies Bill, according to that sign painted on the brick wall. I don’t have any reason to doubt it.
And I guess that our departed friend Bill found it necessary to leave behind a styrofoam carry-out container, thereby confirming the suspicion that you can’t take it with you.
Galena, Kansas
photographed 1.28.2023
century bridge
My dad was a civil engineer; his specialty was water- and sewage-treatment. It was not uncommon when we were on vacation that he’d drive us to a treatment plant that was of particular interest to him. (And: they held little to no interest to me.)
He also like bridges; once when I lost out on a summer job because of a late-spring bout of mono, he took me with him on a business trip as some sort of a consolation. Along the way, we stopped to look at a bridge that had recently been washed out in a flood. He told me about the design flaws that had put the bridge in peril. (And: that held little to no interest to me.)
Yet somehow I ended up here, getting myself quite interested in this bridge. It’s called the Rainbow Bridge (named before that term’s current connotation) and it’s 100 years old this year. It is only one lane wide and is a single-span design called a Marsh arch, after its designer James Barney Marsh. And, it’s the only surviving bridge of this design on the entire 2,448 miles of Route 66.
near Baxter Springs, Kansas
photographed 4.5.2023
nine-foot road
I am going to guess that when you think about Route 66, it doesn’t look like this. I mean – there’s no fixed-up 1950s style diners, no quaint old gas stations, no official logo anywhere.
This is a relic of the road that’s known as the Sidewalk Highway because the main roadway was only nine feet wide. The author of the guidebook I’ve been using on this Route 66 adventure lamented the current road condition, saying it has “VERY ROUGH (rub-board) GRAVEL” (his emphasis*) and that it is only for the “die-hard.” But honestly, it didn’t seem that much worse than certain sections of the Oklahoma turnpikes that I paid actual money to drive on and that I am not at all bitter about.**
near Narcissa, Oklahoma
photographed 4.5.2023
*dramatic much?
**dramatic much?
left alone too long
There are certain mundane things that I like to photograph – those self-service, drive-through car washes are on that list. I’m not sure why I always photograph them, especially since I almost never post those images.
So, as I wandered through Luther, Oklahoma, the other day, I spotted a car wash and pulled in to get some photos. And then, just on the very next lot, I saw these two old cars (which, ironically, were definitely unwashed) and the house in a state of abandonment.
And that’s how it ended up not being about the car wash at all.
Luther, Oklahoma
photographed 4.4.2023
except locks: he can’t help with locks
I don’t even want to admit how hard I laughed at this particular juxtaposition of signage. Apparently, he can’t help with locks?
Claremore, Oklahoma
photographed 4.5.2023
One Day | One Image 