childhood memories – Page 2 – LLOYD'S LENS PHOTOGRAPHY LLC

The Days Of Battle Run

Color Photography, Summersville Lake, West Virginia

Hello Friends! Tonight’s Feature Image is titled “Battle Run 60921p” and is available for purchase by clicking the thumbnail and reaching out to me on the contact page.

The afternoon sun floods through the parking lot of the big lake. Youthful memories rush back as the hourglass of my mind flips over allowing the sand to flow back to the top. The song coming from the speakers would have been “Good Times Roll” by The Cars. The door opens and the music stops. In those days you could only open the trunk with the key. Not the one that starts the car but the little one with a round head. The trunk hinges squeak as the lid raised and the smell of suntan oil hits me in the face as I reach for the large towel. We really didn’t need much more than a towel to sit on. And I We didn’t really sit on the shore much. The Keys were dropped in the toe of a shoe and the shoes were laid next to towel. Perhaps there would be an igloo cooler with a few snacks and something to wash it down with. All was left in the grass without a second thought that it might not be there when you returned from a swim. The water would be slightly warm in the shallow but as we waded in deeper it was cool on the bottom. Take a breath and let yourself fall into the deep. I was always a person that kept his eyes open underwater. I’d look around for any items that might have been dropped and left behind under the water. Occasionally we’d find a pair of sunglasses or something lost by another swimmer. We’d hear the clicking of the screws on the big boats as they idled into the campground. The water was the best way to stay cool on hot days. And you had to swim from the beach to the campground and back at least once before packing up and going home for dinner. It’s traditional! Summer is meant for carefree days and no schedules. There’s no place better than the lake to accomplish that.

Good night friends and be blessed throughout your days.

Announcement 2.0

For those who have been following me on Facebook and know of the struggle content providers have to get circulation from big tech I’ve been recommending for people to adopt MeWe as a social media platform. One of the problems I’ve run into on MeWe is that people don’t know how to navigate the platform. So to help with that I’ve created a permanent page on my website as a basic Basic Beginner’s Guide To MeWe I’ve tried to anticipate all basic questions there and You can bookmark the page to have as a reference and if you have any questions or suggestions don’t hesitate to contact me. I do still have a day job and I help admin several pages on both platforms so replies might be a little slow but I will answer you.

We also have the Lloyd’s Lens Photography Discussion Group on MeWe that is set up as a fully functional community. There you’ll not only be able to see and connect with me but you can also make your own posts and interact with each other.

I want you to join my group on MeWe: https://mewe.com/join/lloydslensphotographydiscussiongroup

Click the link below to jump to the Basic Beginner’s Guide To MeWe.https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/guide-to-mewe/embed/#?secret=GJGnIQEVHc

Hey Friends! Just a quick reminder that Lloyds Lens Photography is available for portraits!

To book me simply reach out using the Contact Page and we’ll set a date. If you’re within a 50 mile radius of Summersville West Virginia all travel fees are waived.

If you’re enjoying my blog and don’t want to miss a post then you can sign up for email alerts on my website.

WELCOME TO LLOYD’S LENS PHOTOGRAPHY

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Lloyds Lens Photography web link — Click here to visithttps://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/

Have you checked out the Zazzle Store?

I’m now using Zazzle to fulfil orders. What this means for you is a secure way to place an order, discount codes & a broader product selection! Simply use the contact form on my websiteand tell me which image you want and I’ll reply with a direct link to where you can place the order.

Clicking on the photo takes you tohttps://www.zazzle.com/lloydslensphotos?rf=238248269630914251Lastly, all of the photos and writings are my original work unless otherwise specified and are not to be copied or reproduced without expressed written permission from the photographerThank you again for your support of my page!♥️

A Creek To Play In

Appalachian Heritage & Culture, Color Photography

Bare feet carefully tread through ankle deep water on a hot day. The feeling of slime on your toes isn’t exactly pleasing but does bring up slight giggle in flash of memory and reliving that past incident of witnessing as friend fell in slow motion and was soaked to the bone. The indignation of slipping and rising again covered in green goo was the very thing that made slapstick fun so long as pride bore the only injuries. Often the excuse for wading in was the collection of bait for a fishing expedition. Flipping over rocks and watching for crawldads to dart away. Your reflexes have to be lightning quick to catch one and do so without receiving a pinch. The crawldads are masters of defiance and sometimes catching one ends with wishing for the ability to let go. The caddisfly larvae cling to the underside of the rocks in a cocoon of silk and stone. In places where the painted sandstone is found the cocoon can be quite colorful and resemble jewelry. Some artists will even raise the insects in captivity and give them little bits of gold, silver and semiprecious gems to spin into their silken armor and mount the cocoon in a set once it’s discarded.

In the deeper eddies it’s not uncommon to find a green newt hovering just below the surface. They know that the fish won’t get them because they are poison but that doesn’t stop the children from catching them and making them into a temporary pet. In the young imagination they are really dragons and dinosaurs. Just very small ones. Spotted salamanders wriggle in shallow drainages that feed the creek and they too go into a bait can if caught.

At the end of the day it’s too late to do much fishing. Let’s just let them all go and they’ll be there for us next time. It really wasn’t about the fish anyway.

Good night friends and be blessed throughout your days.

Announcement 2.0

I want you to join my group on MeWe: https://mewe.com/join/lloydslensphotographydiscussiongroup

Click the link below to jump to the Basic Beginner’s Guide To MeWe.https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/guide-to-mewe/embed/#?secret=GJGnIQEVHc

Hey Friends! Just a quick reminder that Lloyds Lens Photography is available for portraits!

To book me simply reach out using the Contact Page and we’ll set a date. If you’re within a 50 mile radius of Summersville West Virginia all travel fees are waived.

If you’re enjoying my blog and don’t want to miss a post then you can sign up for email alerts on my website.

WELCOME TO LLOYD’S LENS PHOTOGRAPHY

https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/embed/#?secret=ZBipPVJdZw

Have you checked out the Zazzle Store?

The Old Climbing Tree

Color Photography, Landscapes

A cold breeze disturbs the sleeping reeds and unkept weeds near old route 19. This old snag has drawn my attention ever since I was a child. In fact I think it’s been standing there dead for most of my life. But at one time it must have been the favorite haunt of adventurous kids for decades. The unusually large lower branches are the size of full grown trees. The way they form a latter to the crown denotes a tree that loves to host climbers. Of course today the wood is unstable and it shouldn’t be risked but not too long ago that tree would have drawn every kid in the area. I have no idea what kind of tree it is but it had to be virgin timber. It’s hard to tell from the distant perspective but the tree is not just tall but thick. I imagine that the local hawks frequently roost in what’s left of it as they keep their sharp eyes out for the stray snake that lives in the marsh across the road. Even in death this tree serves its purpose as part of the forest.

Perhaps many years ago when the nation was young this old tree saw the meeting of natives and settlers. This old tree could have been a marker for a trading spot. The surrounding marsh would have been rich in furs and such. I’ve been told that not far from this spot there have been Paleolithic artifacts found. Such a find means that this place has been productive for a long time. So the descendants of those people would have also exploited the same resources.

Some years later the tree would have witnessed the land after the Civil War as a nation rebuilds itself.

It would have seen the birth of the industrial age with it’s blessings and challenges.

Sons may have spent time beneath it’s branches when they came home from 2 world wars and the Asian conflicts that arose afterwards.

Now in the modern eara of the 21st century the old tree no longer grows but instead stands as a natural monument to the lives of the people. Their voices are embedded into the very wood as an echo of those who brought us this far. They tell us that the only consistency in our lives is change. Be at peace they say. We come from strong peoples and they have faith in our ability to do good when bad things happen.

Good night friends and be blessed throughout your days.

Announcement:

I am adding additional social media to my network. Eventually, I’ll be leaving Facebook behind for a multitude of reasons. Even though the Lloyd’s Lens Photography page is strictly non-political I have been restricted from interacting with followers with no explanation for why. But it’s not just that. For years now Facebook has throttled content providers in general. They encourage us to grow our audience and then want to sell us back the access to them. In addition, they collect and sell the data from our interaction. So Facebook has become an entanglement of thorns. In response I have created the Lloyd’s Lens Photography Discussion Group on MeWe. We can still interact directly on the blog but starting today I’ll be looking for more platforms that respect the privacy of my followers and don’t limit who gets to see the post.

I want you to join my group on MeWe: https://mewe.com/join/lloydslensphotographydiscussiongroup

Hey Friends! Just a quick reminder that Lloyds Lens Photography is available for portraits!

To book me simply reach out using the Contact Page and we’ll set a date. If you’re within a 50 mile radius of Summersville West Virginia all travel fees are waived.

If you’re enjoying my blog and don’t want to miss a post then you can sign up for email alerts on my website.

https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/

Have you checked out the Zazzle Store?

The Old Main Building 2021

Architecture, Color Photography

Hello Friends! Tonight’s Feature Image is titled “Upon The Hilltop 10521a” and is available for purchase by clicking the thumbnail and reaching out to me on the contact page.

I was asked several days ago if I had pictures of the Old Main Building in Summersville West Virginia. I do but I wanted to provide some new ones.

For a lot of us this was the junior high school. Up until this point we were used to spending most of the day with one teacher but junior high was a multiple building campus. Some of the busses stopped at the top of the but the majority lined up at the bottom. Which meant a climb up that ice covered road if your homeroom was in the Old Main like mine was. There was a science building and a vocational building ( now gone ) as well as the new building, a large gym and at the bottom of the hill the Red Brick Building. ( Also now gone. But the Old Main was special and it still is.

The Old Main Cornerstone 10521 — The Cornerstone of the Old Main Building.

The Cornerstone was laid July 4th, 1913. The beautiful Renaissance architecture was the work of H. Rus Warne who seemed share my affinity for cut stone in place of bricks. By the early 80s the building seemed to have a few problems. It was damp and cold just like a proper castle. In fact, when I was there certain parts of the building was blocked off. The 3rd floor was a no go zone but that was because the board of education had some offices up there. The steam heating system seemed to always freeze up on the coldest days but high energy kids did pretty well with our padded coats.

Image Titled “Old Main Building 10521b” showing the front entrance.

The majestic old stone building had plenty of places to enjoy your lunch if you were a “brown bag” enthusiast. On warm days there were a few benches along this walk where I could sit quietly and watch my beloved nature. The one time I got in trouble though was when it was cold and a hibernating bat had slipped from its roost and lay in the snow unable to move. Always the prankster I collected said bat in my empty brown bag and carried it into class. That would have been bad enough but I was the first person back from lunch and my teacher’s desk was unguarded. How funny would it be if she opened her drawer to find the sleeping bat? Only by the time she opened the drawer the bat was warm enough to wake up and fly! It almost flew up her nose and began circling her head. I got away with that one until now.

Image Titled “Old Main Building 10521c”.

The back of the building was oriented towards most of the campus and this is angle I most associate with. The kids in my clique all hung out on the steps to right between classes and with most of us being farm kids discussed important matters like fishing and hunting.

Image Titled “Old Main Building 10521d”.

Today it’s a historic landmark which is awesome. As I understand it the Old Main now hosts senior services and an art center which I should probably look into. But the great thing is that it’s being maintained so that we’ll have it around for a long time.

Good night friends and be blessed throughout your days.

Hey Friends! Just a quick reminder that Lloyds Lens Photography is available for portraits!

To book me simply reach out using the Contact Page and we’ll set a date. If you’re within a 50 mile radius of Summersville West Virginia all travel fees are waived.

If you would like to Follow me on Facebook the web address is

https://www.facebook.com/aviewfromthelens/

If you’re enjoying my blog and don’t want to miss a post then you can sign up for email alerts on my website.

https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/

Have you checked out the Zazzle Store?

I’m now using Zazzle to fulfil orders. What this means for you is a secure way to place an order, discount codes & a broader product selection! Simplymessage me on Facebookoruse the contact form on my websiteand tell me which image you want and I’ll reply with a direct link to where you can place the order.

Snow Days

Color Photography, Landscapes

Hello Friends! Tonight’s Feature Image is titled “December Passage 120220” and is available for purchase by clicking the thumbnail and reaching out to me on the contact page.

My big blue truck slowly idles down the country lane on Peter’s Creek as I watch the edges for the wildlife. The wintery scene that stretches out before me takes me back at least 40 years to the country lane where I grew up. Every time a single flake of snow landed on the ground we prayed for a snow day. In those days it wasn’t uncommon for the school bus to get stuck in the ditch long before it reached my house. It wasn’t really that winter was any harsher. But the roads were smaller and less maintained increasing the chances that they would call school off. On those glorious winter days snowball fights and sledding were almost obligatory. Having access to large open fields meant hosting the sled races. Everyone had their secret to winning the race. For some it was the position that they sat in. By shifting all your weight to the front it was believed to provide more momentum. Other secrets included turtle wax, candle wax and even bar soap on the runners. Different types of sleds came into play too. The steel runner sleds vs the homemade wooden runner sleds. Believe it or not the homemade sleds normally proved to be faster. Disk sleds were fast too but they were harder to control and there were often kids flying downhill screaming at the top of their lungs as they spun the whole way down. But the ultimate sleds were the old car hoods. They had the weight, the stability and the sickness even if they harder to stop at the end of the course. The snow day if properly conducted ends with hot coco and cartoons in front of a fireplace or wood stove. And perhaps a little debating on who actually won the race. But no matter what it was a way for kids to be kids and unencumbered by the demands of the outside world.

Good night friends and be blessed throughout your days.

Hey Friends! Just a quick reminder that Lloyds Lens Photography is available for portraits!

To book me simply reach out using the Contact Page and we’ll set a date. If you’re within a 50 mile radius of Summersville West Virginia all travel fees are waived.

If you would like to Follow me on Facebook the web address is

https://www.facebook.com/aviewfromthelens/

If you’re enjoying my blog and don’t want to miss a post then you can sign up for email alerts on my website.

https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/