This photo taken at Newport Beach tickles my funny bone and makes me smile. It’s even in the place of honor on my iPhone lock screen. If you have an appropriate caption for it, let me know!
Sea Watch
Reflected
I think there’s nothing more serene than looking out at water, especially a still Alaska lake with reflections of the shore. This is NOT my daughter’s cabin, but I am now thinking I need to take my camera out in their boat and take a similar photo.
Exhale. . .
We have just returned from a week visiting our daughter’s family in Alaska. Most of the time was spent at their family cabin on a small lake. I can’t imagine a more relaxing spot- especially at sunset. This iPhone shot was taken after 11 pm, when the light was just beginning to dim. Ahhhh….
City Hall
Here’s one more building from downtown Manchester, Kansas, where my husband’s grandparents lived their whole married lives. Lonnie remembers the building as a church with a steeple and stairs in the front, but it appears to be the city hall. I don’t know if it is currently in use, because so many buildings in the downtown have been abandoned. It was a sad trip down memory lane.
West Coast Memories
I’ve been going through old photos. Like most photographers, I have so many on my hard drives that have never been edited. This is from a trip to San Diego (Mission Bay?) about ten years ago. Our son was living there and was still single- how things have changed!
More on Main Street
This is downtown Manchester, Kansas- Main Street. Although there are some small farms and homes within walking distance of these old buildings, the tiny downtown is becoming a ghost town. My husband remembers the building on the left as a hardware store and the telephone company on the right. Out of the frame is what remains of a building his grandfather owned- all that is left is the crumpled metal awning lying amidst the rubble.
My husband’s grandparents died in 1982, and I had only driven through the town once since then. In searching for photos of what Manchester used to look like, I came across a wonderful website- https://www.lostamericana.com/
The website is run by photojournalist Vincent Johnson who is documenting the abandoning of rural America. There is a photo of Manchester’s Main Street on the home page- taken maybe ten years ago. The buildings in my photo can be seen as well as Lonnie’s grandfather’s building next door. You can explore Vincent’s excellent photographs of America’s abandoned towns state by state on the website. My genealogist heart loves this project, although it makes me sad.
Kansas Memories
We have just returned from Kansas, where we took some time to visit the remains of the very small farm community where my husband’s grandparents lived and his father was raised. My husband’s family drove to this little town every week for Sunday dinner, and Lonnie spent weeks there during summer vacations. He knew almost every inch of town- and most of its inhabitants.
The grandparents both passed away in the early 1980’s, and since then much of the town has seen a terrible decline. The last time we drove by, we noted that their front porch was sagging and was coming away from the house. This time, we saw that the old farmhouse had burned to the ground, and only the garage remained. The downtown buildings are either gone or falling apart. Yet, in some parts of town you can see that people are still living- like on this road where there seems to be enough traffic to warrant a lopsided stop sign.
Sunset X 2
Above is a diptych I created for my photo group- two images of sunset over Kachemak Bay, Alaska. The assignment was to choose two favorite images from 2021. Sunset over water at 11:30pm was an unforgettable sight as we celebrated our 50th anniversary last July!
Alaska Green
This was taken last summer on our drive to Homer- somewhere near the Kenai River, I believe. Nothing but GREEN!
Classic View
I can’t believe I didn’t post this right away after our Alaska trip. This is Denali- viewed from a gas station in Eagle River. We actually saw it on two consecutive days in the middle of our trip. We had never managed to see it without cloud cover on our 5 previous trips, so we were delighted with this view!
Vintage
I enjoyed a presentation by Hazel Meredith last night at our camera club, so I used some of her techniques in Topaz Studio 2 to edit this rural scene shot in Alaska last summer.
Into the Blue
White sails on a blue sea- is there anything more peaceful?
Moody Morning
Sunlight broke through the fog and rain clouds, illuminating some of the waters of Kachemak Bay as cars and trucks began heading out the Homer Spit last summer. After a day and a half of rain, the sun was a welcome sight!
Surfer Girl
We spent a few hours at Huntington Beach, which has just been reopened after the oil spill. As always, we were transfixed by the surfing action, and I especially enjoyed watching the girls as they rode the waves.
Patch of Blue
Just a bit of blue sky was starting to show through the rain clouds on Kachemak Bay- a promise of the beautiful day to come.
melinda anderson photography 