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"Wrightston Fog, Arizona" (c) 2011 Stu Jenks
Happy Halloween and Happy Birthday to Mary Jenks. She would have been 85 years old today, but she died on July 7th.
Rest in peace, Mom. Maybe I'll see you floating above the streets tonight, or maybe I'll feel your spirit in the days and nights to come.
Know that you were loved, Mary.
"Brahman" by Susan Toplikar (c) 2004 Susan Toplikar & Photos by Stu Jenks
A painting by North Carolina artist Susan Toplikar. I love her. I love her work. I love her husband Mike Cindric too.
I had the privilege to sleep under this painting, when I standed with Susan and Mike earlier this month in the beautiful Oakwood section of Raleigh.
Fun fact: There are six paintings in this series (I think) and they are huge, around 6 feet by 4 feet.
Quote by the artist: "These paintings really aren't about horses."
You got that right, as Victoria Hardy would say.
I sleep well with these colors above my head. (Actually, I was a bit restless those nights, but not due to the beauty created by men and women, but rather because of the ugliness of some people.) I hope to sleep beneath this horse again someday.
To see more images of 'Brahman', go to Susan's website at this link.
"East Village, New York City" by Craig Acorn (c) 2007
Craig found an old roll of black and white and gave it to me to develop. Here are two of his images from that mystery roll of film.
"The Cotton Near Bells, Tennessee" (c) 2011 Stu Jenks
We grow cotton in Southern Arizona, but nothing like the robust fields I saw in Western Tennessee. Like a blizzard of cottony goodness.
"The Tehachapi Loop At Night, California" (c) 2011 Stu Jenks
This negative was exposed for around three hours on a moonless night, using my old Rollei, loaded with Efke Infrared film. The infrared was just what I had in the camera at the time, but it may have made the hills in the distance glow more than they would have, if I had been shooting with my usual Ilford Delta film. The f-stop was 5.6, if you care.
I was parked, that night, atop a hill overlooking this wonderful engineering feat in the southern Sierra Nevadas. I slept during most of the exposure, awakened on occasion to the grinding of steel on steel or to the high squeeks of wheel bearings or to the low rumble of a many-tonned locomotive passing by below me. I smiled each time I awoke.
My guess is you are seeing the lights of around a dozen trains in this photograph, maybe more. And as I've said before on the StuBlog, if you are ever on California 58 east of Bakersfield, you need to stop and experience The T-Loop.
Lastly, the sepia tone was added in Photoshop, the negative was scanned at Photographic Works in Tucson, and the map below was lifted from trainweb.org.
"At The White House, Washington, D.C." (c) 2011 Stu Jenks
Some Images From this year's Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, San Francisco, California (c) 2011 Stu Jenks
"Noelle Scaggs of Fitz And The Tantrums at HSB"
"Noelle & Fitz of Fitz And The Tantrums at HSB"
"Buddy Miller at his soundcheck at HSB"
"Buddy Miller" (Photo by Cathy Spann)
"Cathy Spann Waving at HSB"
"Craig & Claire at Ocean Beach"
"Abigail Washburn at HSB"
"Buddy Miller, Patty Griffin & Robert Plant at HSB"
"A Bike Valet at HSB"
"Elbow at HSB"
"Burning Down The Amherst House" (c) 2011 Stu Jenks
To read the stories of The Amherst Fire and The 1200 Pounds Of Firewood To The Dump, go to the StuTube to see a video of that fire and the little story too.
The stills of that last-minute adventure, before I closed on the house, are here.
Sadly, I just received an email from an old neighbor on Amherst. The new owners have cut down all the trees on the property, save three.
Bastards.
"Catawba Falls Hoop Dance, North Carolina: for Bo & Cathy Petersen" (c) 2011 Stu Jenks
Coming to the top of a graveyard bench, in a cemetery probably not near you. (except for y'all, Glenn & Brad.)
P.S. We caught the typo in 'Courage', so don't worry.
P.P.S. In Jackson, Tenn. right now. Plan on taking some blue highways to Memphis today.