Tag: featured

Glade Creek Grist Mill at Babcock State Park 

Color Photography, West Virginia

The Glade Creek Grist Mill at Babcock State Park in West Virginia is one of our most popular places. It’s especially popular with artists and photographers.  I think the reason why we’re so atracted to it.  The mill harkens us back to a simpler time when life was more organic.  The days when water and horses powered our technology. This allowed for a life that was less micro managed.  There was time for friends and family to meet beside a steam and enjoy life.  Small stones accumulated in a pool near the bank hold an entire world of colors and shapes.  Insects and crayfish dart around in the pool like waterborne fairies performing a dance.  This is what real life is. 

 The mill is still in operation certain times of the year.  We have friends who still take grain to the mill and grind it flour.  Home baked bread from home raised grain has a smell and a flavor not found in the bleached out over processed chunks of starchy foam that comes in a plastic bag.  Real bread is a wonderful experience.  

Today the subject of automation is discussed at length.  There are doubts and fears as well as hopes and dreams.  I  look at the image here that represents the automation of the past and I’m reminded that  before the mill all that flour had to be ground by hand.  There would have been no time for observation of life in the water.  No time for pleasant conversations about life.  I have hope that automation of the future will provide the same benefits if we are wise with it’s use. 

If you’re interested in visiting the Glade Creek Grist Mill at Babcock State Park in West Virginia  you might want to check out the link below.  

Glade Creek Grist Mill at Babcock State Park 

Taking A Coffee Break 

Color Photography

The railroad bridge at Gauley Bridge, West Virginia is one of my favorite photo subjects.  I stop there occasionally and raise my camera to get a feel for lines and angles.  The petina of the rusted steel and texture of the vine covered masonery works well with the water and foliage.  Just a few feet away the Gauley River joins with the New River to form the Kanawha River.  The water here is clean. It’s a great place to fish, kayak or just sit back and watch the river.  On this particular morning I stole back about 10 minutes from the daily grind to enjoy some coffee and watch the fog lift.  Anytime we have the opportunity to take control over the clock and enjoy our own lives it’s a good day. 

Pretending 

Color Photography

Today circumstances colluded to prevent me from participating in the corporate Monday.  (I’ll try to hide my disappointment  😁) My moment of freedom allowed the opportunity to drop by Cathedral Falls and catch an image of the frozen waterfall.  The winter scene awakened the child in me and soon I could imagine myself as some Paleolithic hunter tracking a woolly mammoth on the ice. Never lose your ability to pretend. Adulthood doesn’t always mean that can’t play hooky and have an adventure.  

Cultivate Life

black and white photography, encouragement, Thoughts and Musing

This old barn near Summerville West Virginia always seems to have something to offer my lens.  I  was raised in agriculture.  I  look at the old barns and think about the life that was housed there. Not just grain, hay and farming supplies but the people who worked the land. I can hear the ghostly echoes of conversations about life and love,  business and pleasure.  I can hear the footsteps of young people who think that they’re up to mischief but really are just learning about life.  People who share work are investing in each other.  Work parties often ended in generations of close friends.  You may not have barns where you live but odds are that you do have people.  I want to encourage you to reach out to a neighbor and offer to share in some work.  You’ll be surprised to see how large your family really is. 

Goodbye 2017

Color Photography, Thoughts and Musing

The old year is fading away like the last few minutes of the setting sun.  I’ve spent the past few days listening to talk about New Year’s superstitious.  If you’re to ensure a prosperous New Year there’s a laundry list of do’s and don’ts.  Does it work? Well,  that depends.  Ceremonies formalize intention.  It helps us focus on actions and actions bring results.  

I can’t tell you what your 2018 goals should be.  I  can’t tell you what you should leave behind in 2017. What I can tell you is that resolutions without actions are just another wish list.  

I plan to spend the last day of 2017 creating a playbook for 2018.  Each entry will include a goal,  actions that will be needed and a blank page for adjusting the actions.  

My 2018 wish for you is that your plans are actionable.  🙂