Time Less Images

A classic by any name

The definition of the word "classic" has come to mean many things to different people, and not just in the arena of music. A movie fan might casually toss the term around to describe his favorite film; a collector of art or antiques might use the word sparingly, for only the most significant pieces; a literature professor might reserve it for only a tightly defined group of works.

But the definition is sure to vary depending upon whom you ask. How old must a car be before it can truly be called a classic? If its your car, and you need the money, and you are about to place the ad in the newspaper...are you going lose a day to research the criteria? I doubt it!

Not everyone is as specific as an art historian when labeling something a classic. Within days of its opening, many movies become an instant classic. How many FM radio stations proclaim their programming as "all classical all the time"?

My brother just sent me an email that he is off on his bike to go see The SARATOGA CLASSIC HORSE SHOW. The show, inaugurated in 1927 and brought back to life in 1998, is a highlight of the early summer season in Saratoga Springs. This top-level historic competition attracts many of the country's best horses and riders, and benefits scholarships to Skidmore College students.

In Saratoga Springs the rider of the Grand Champion horse during Grand Hunter Champion week will receive a special award, a Lawn Jockey/ Yardell that will be painted in their own/preferred barn colors.

A Lawn Jockey/ Yardell is a small statue of a man in jockey clothes, intended to be placed in yards. Most today are white jockeys, but historically black jockeys were commonplace. The lawn ornament, popular in certain parts of the United States in years past, was a cast replica, usually about half-scale, of a black man dressed in jockey's clothing and holding up one hand as though taking the reins of a horse. The hand sometimes carries a lantern or a metal ring suitable for hitching a horse.

I am sure those in attendance at the Maine Common Ground Fair in Unity Maine were not dressed as well, nor did many drive the same kind of cars, as those at the SARATOGA CLASSIC. Although some of the Amish farmers in the Unity Maine area may find a Lawn Jockey/ Yardell useful to lean their bicycle against (I doubt many would be using a bicycle lock), the real winners at the Donkey and Mule Show most likely would probably prefer some bags of oats, bunches of carrots or loads of hay for winning the annual donkey jumping contest.

"To really appreciate donkeys and mules, you must watch us (the donkeys and mules) working with our servants (they call themselves our owners). We are loving creatures who want to please and are willing to do the unusual biddings of these folks. Watch us jump, pull wagons and haul logs, carry our servants on our backs, follow them around obstacles and encourage them to play silly games. Come to our show and join the fun! Talk to the people who think they own us."

The Fair allows fairgoers to make connections with a rapidly expanding base of organic farms in the state of Maine.

May I recommend for your enjoyment: Drink at least a cup of coffee with lunch

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I am by no means ready to die! So, with that fact established, let's begin at the beginning: See links for all the Genesis posts to date: Genesis Through My Eyes

In my not too distant past, if I were to see a street person, a bum, sleeping in a door front or on a park bench, I would have kept my distance and perhaps shrugged my shoulders.: He had the "smarts" to ask someone where to go, I didn't

Fortune has allowed me to come full circle and return to my earlier interest in photography. I am at that age were some weight loss would be beneficial. I certainly don't believe all photographers need to starve, but my initial goals are realistic, if not humble. The industry has changed tremendously, but the possibilities are unlimited. I am grateful that my parents' gave me a generic name. It's allowed me to explore numerous paths unhindered.

"I continue to seek exquisite beauty in my images, exploring all techniques, old and new".

web blog: Epicurean Health

web blog: Comics Legends and Lore

web blog: Timeless Snippets

More Signs Of Spring...Naught

Naught - complete failure; "all my efforts led to naught"

• THE wind is howling through the winter night,
• Like to a pack of angry wolves that cry.
• My hapless willows bend before its might;
• Their broken branches in the garden lie.

The Wind Is Howling Through The Winter Night By Avetis Isahakian

"One attraction in coming to the woods to live was that I should have leisure and opportunity to see the spring come in. The ice in the pond at length begins to be honey-combed, and I can set my heel in it as I walk. Fogs and rains and warmer suns are gradually melting the snow; the days have grown sensibly longer; and I see how I shall get through the winter without adding to my wood-pile, for large fires are no longer necessary. I am on the alert for the first signs of spring, to hear the chance note of some arriving bird, or the striped squirrel's chirp, for his stores must be now nearly exhausted, or see the woodchuck venture out of his winter quarters." Walden; or, Life in the Woods Henry D. Thoreau

I know, its only day five!

May I recommend for your enjoyment: They got out of their cars and walked straight into oncoming traffic

You may also enjoy reading: Getting old isn't for sissies

I am by no means ready to die! So, with that fact established, let's begin at the beginning: See links for all the Genesis posts to date: Genesis Through My Eyes

In my not too distant past, if I were to see a street person, a bum, sleeping in a door front or on a park bench, I would have kept my distance and perhaps shrugged my shoulders.: He had the "smarts" to ask someone where to go, I didn't

Fortune has allowed me to come full circle and return to my earlier interest in photography. I am at that age were some weight loss would be beneficial. I certainly don't believe all photographers need to starve, but my initial goals are realistic, if not humble. The industry has changed tremendously, but the possibilities are unlimited. I am grateful that my parents' gave me a generic name. It's allowed me to explore numerous paths unhindered.

"I continue to seek exquisite beauty in my images, exploring all techniques, old and new".

web blog: Epicurean Health

web blog: Comics Legends and Lore

web blog: Timeless Snippets

Always hug the tree

There is a famous quotation about sounds in the forest: "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" I don't know what happens when no one is around, but I can state that when humans are around, a falling tree makes a lot of noise.

The next time I photograph my friend working in the woods I will be better prepared. He knows what he is doing, but I don't. I found some pretty good information that I will carry with me on my next trip North:

• Hug the tree and look up it, assessing the lean.
  
• When you cut a tree you need to watch out.
  
• Escape the Falling Tree:

• As soon as the tree shows signs it is going over, make your way quickly away from the tree down the escape route.
• Never turn your back on the tree.
• Be far away, and look out for broken branches in surrounding trees.

My friend is selectively culling trees in poor health or trees ready for harvest. He is also ensuring that younger, healthy trees will have access to the sun. Maybe ten, twenty or thirty years from now future generations of his family can enjoy the fruits of his labor.

"No shade tree? Blame not the sun, but yourself." Chinese Proverb

"I think that I shall never see, a billboard lovely as a tree. Perhaps, unless the billboards fall, I'll never see a tree at all." Ogden Nash 

May I recommend for your enjoyment: Curry up now

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I am by no means ready to die! So, with that fact established, let's begin at the beginning: See links for all the Genesis posts to date: Genesis Through My Eyes

In my not too distant past, if I were to see a street person, a bum, sleeping in a door front or on a park bench, I would have kept my distance and perhaps shrugged my shoulders.: He had the "smarts" to ask someone where to go, I didn't

Fortune has allowed me to come full circle and return to my earlier interest in photography. I am at that age were some weight loss would be beneficial. I certainly don't believe all photographers need to starve, but my initial goals are realistic, if not humble. The industry has changed tremendously, but the possibilities are unlimited. I am grateful that my parents' gave me a generic name. It's allowed me to explore numerous paths unhindered.

"I continue to seek exquisite beauty in my images, exploring all techniques, old and new".

web blog: Epicurean Health

web blog: Comics Legends and Lore

web blog: Timeless Snippets