Welcome! I hope I bring a spot of calm and happiness into these uncertain times. I blog about my photography adventures, flowers, gardening, the importance of chocolate in a well lived life, or anything else on my mind.
Today, in keeping with my theme of Traveling Through Time and Space, I am posting some pictures of a visit last year to Durham, North Carolina.
Durham, years ago, lost one of its major industries. Much of its fortune was built on the bright leaf tobacco industry. It is said that the bright leaf process was accidentally discovered by a slave. By the end of the Civil War, Union soldiers occupying North Carolina had discovered this tobacco, and brought their love of it back home to the North.
But, in more recent years, the tobacco warehouses that once held the tobacco that brought prosperity to this part of North Carolina lay vacant. Now, these tobacco warehouses are being re-purposed into housing and indoor malls. Urban renewal seems to be working.
Royal Burgundy Cherry and Dogwood, Duke University, April 2014
Here are some pictures of downtown Durham's Central Park.
I love outdoor art in all its forms. And Central Park did not disappoint with this bench.
Or this signpost.
Or this sign painted on a building being repurposed.
Or its flowers and sculpture.
North Carolina attracts people from my area of upstate New York with an almost magnetic pull. It's easy to see why. So many people from my area end up retiring in North Carolina.
It was the cemetery people were dying to get into.
No, really. Years ago, it was, for a time, the second most popular tourist attraction in the United States.
In Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, you are not that far from the skyscrapers of Manhattan but in many ways, it is a different world. Many tourists never venture from the canyons of midtown Manhattan. They should.
They should come to Brooklyn, once a major city itself.
In its midst, there is a green gem that must be experienced to get the true experience of New York City. Today, we visit the final home of many of its most famous residents.
There are two types of people - those who love to visit cemeteries when they are in a city, and those who are totally spooked by the thought.
I am one of the former, and today, I'd like to show you a National Historic Landmark in the heart of Brooklyn.
"By the early 1860s, it had earned an international reputation for its
magnificent beauty and became the prestigious place to be buried,
attracting 500,000 visitors a year, second only to Niagara Falls as the
nation’s greatest tourist attraction. Crowds flocked there to enjoy
family outings, carriage rides, and sculpture viewing in the finest of
first generation American landscapes. Green-Wood’s popularity helped
inspire the creation of public parks, including New York City’s Central
and Prospect Parks."
February 29 is the bonus day we only get once every four years here in the United States, where we use a secular calendar called the Gregorian calendar.
Instead of talking about the architecture, which Paurl does an excellent job of, I will blog a about the musical pillars.
Hollow pillars at the temple, if hit correctly, produce musical sound. Parul tells the story of how the British, fascinated, cut open two of the pillar to see what was making the music. The pillars turned out to be hollow
You don't have to travel far to hear that music - just click on the link.
Interesting and (for an American) rare-just like a leap day.
Finally, as a bonus for this bonus day, here is the #1 song on the charts as of February 29, 1960: Theme from A Summer Place. A totally different style of music, but one appropriate (I think) for those of us wishing for the days of summer. Enjoy!
Did you used to have a favorite movie theatre growing up?
I did. This contest made me think back to my childhood, growing up in the Bronx (a borough of New York City) in the 1950's and 1960's.
Back in the 1950's and 1960's, instead of going to the local shopping mall and going into an cinema with multiple screens, you went to a local movie theatre. There was one screen, and you got two pictures for your admission fee.
My parents were far from wealthy, and we rarely went to a movie. But when we did, it was a big event. This is a picture of the local movie theatre in my childhood neighborhood in the Bronx. Several blocks away was a bigger theatre.
But the best one of all was the Loew's Paradise. I graduated from elementary and junior high school there.
Where I live, near Binghamton, New York, there are no more family theatres. The remains of some, abandoned for years, exist, slowly crumbling.
So what better thing would there be to do on a cold winter's day in upstate New York than to sit down and write an essay so that I can own my very own movie theatre.
I am not a cinema buff but perhaps one of my readers is. And I know at least one of my readers lives in Maine. So..(disclaimer: I do not know these people, and I am only reporting something I saw online. I am not at all connected with this contest or responsible for it in any way.)
To quote from the Temple Theatre website:
" The Temple Theatre is at the center of Market Square in historic
downtown Houlton, Maine. The Temple building is over 6000 sq. ft. on
each floor, built to last in 1918 of wood, steel, and brick as a proud
architectural addition to Houlton.....
The theatre and building are in fully operational condition.
The theatre has run almost continuously since 1918. There is space and approved plans for expansion of theatre space.
The Temple Theatre is the quintessential small town movie theatre.
There is steady attendance and good community support for the theatre."
The new owner will also win $25,000.
There is even a video on You Tube showing the theatre.
Houlton, Maine is a town of about 6,000 close to New Brunswick on the Canadian border. At one time, it was rich due to its logging and potato farming industries. Those times have passed.
I have to wonder about a town that still has a neighborhood movie theatre. What an interesting town it must be.
Would you like to own a movie threatre? Do you remember local theatres?
The name of the ballroom intrigued me - Pla Mor. I wonder where that name originated?
This ballroom, in an unassuming building, was built in 1929. It is still used for various dance events, including Big Band nights. I read online that greats such as Lawrence Welk and Count Basie performed there once, but it appears the writer could have been thinking of a Pla-Mor ballroom in Kansas City.
I hope someone can solve the mystery of what "Pla Mor" stands for.
For some reason, reading about this ballroom reminded me of a building in downtown Binghamton, New York. Once it was a venue for the greatest performers of the day.
Now, it is a ruin. It was a ruin when I wrote the following post in 2013 (edited slightly), and it still is a ruin.
Will the Stone Opera House ever experience a rebirth?
Answer: this building in downtown Binghamton, New York.
This is the Stone Opera House
on Chenango Street. It was a grand old opera house once, but its flag
waving days are long over. This 120 year old plus building,
neglected and possibly close to its final days, patiently sits as passerbys walk by without a glance. It's the shame of
Binghamton.
In the 1930's it became the Riviera Theatre, and closed for good in 1973. Now it sits, rotting and boarded up.
(This links to a You Tube video that, for some reason, I can't post directly on my blog.)
Actually, there are abandoned theaters all over this country. Can we
ever hope for someone to rescue this building and do something for it?
As of today, to the best of my knowledge - nothing has happened.
Even as crumbling buildings downtown are renovated and turned into student housing, the Stone Opera House waits. And waits.
Is it possible to have spring beauty in a downtown urban setting?
YES!
We in upstate New York had a cold winter, and now we are having a cold spring. I work in a small city of about 47,000 with a downtown that is starting to recover from some less than ideal last 20 or so years. But, it isn't hard to look and find some real beauty in downtown Binghamton, New York.
Part of the beauty of photography is being able to play with natural light. On Friday, when these pictures were taken, it was mostly cloudy with some breaks of sun. and I took a picture of a magnolia from a couple of angles at around noontime. Here, everything is dark.
This is when the sun came out.
A small weeping cherry near a monument on the lawn of the Broome County Courthouse. Don't you love the blue building in the background? This is the Perry Block, designed by architect Isaac Perry (the architect who designed our Albany state capitol), and construction on this building started in 1876. This is the only cast iron building in our area
Some white blooms in our Broome County library garden. Yes, our downtown library has a garden. I wonder if the library will be "lending" seeds this year, which it has done for the past two years.
To remind us that it is, indeed spring, I will try to bring you some mspring photography for several days this week. And, if I get any requests, I can feature more of the architecture of downtown Binghamton.
Is it spring where you live? What is the weather like?
Not just folk art. But fine art, the museum quality art of people such as Arthur Dove, Gilbert Stuart, John Singleton Copley, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, and others. And, it is FREE.
In the Northwest Arkansas city of Bentonville, where the giant chain Wal-Mart got its start, the family of the late Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton opened a world class art museum called Crystal Bridges a couple of years ago. It is sponsored by the Walton family - so, when you shop at Wal-Mart, think of this place as your reward.
It is worth seeing. You can get right up close, and sketch if you want. It is a dream for those who love to study art. I am not any kind of art expert, but I enjoyed the little bit of the exhibit I saw.
We visited briefly this evening, but were just slightly overwhelmed. Yes, a blogger who grew up in New York City, overwhelmed by an art museum.
Can you imagine retiring in this area, and having something like this in your backyard?
The museum is nestled into a ravine cut by Crystal Spring (hence, the name) with the spring in the middle.
It really fools you - you think the building is on multiple levels, but (we were assured by a docent) it is only due to the topography.
A Friday concert being set up, near the spring.
One of the many outdoor sculptures (it was in the 90's, and we just didn't have the stamina after a full day of sightseeing to explore the extensive grounds.) But tomorrow, we hope to explore some of the trails.
This is one of the art works I enjoyed. It is called "Winter Scene in Brooklyn" by Francis Guy. Photography (without flash) is permitted and I hope it is OK to post this. This scene is from the early 1800's and I loved the scene.
There are even two George Washington paintings by Gilbert Stuart, the man who created the portrait that is on the American one dollar bill.
Arkansas - land of surprises. The rural Benton County I remembered from 27years ago has grown up.
Tomorrow is my last day in Arkansas. I will return with a lot of memories.
Answer: this building in downtown Binghamton, New York.
This is the Stone Opera House on Chenango Street. It was a grand old opera house once, but it's flag waving days are long over. It's over 120 years old, and sits, neglected and possibly close to its final days. It's the shame of Binghamton.
In the 1930's it became the Riviera Theatre, and closed for good in 1973. Now it sits, rotting and boarded up.
Actually, there are abandoned theaters all over this country. Can we ever hope for someone to rescue this building and do something for it? As of today, to the best of my knowledge - nothing has happened.
Now, this is the kind of blog that I would have loved to have written if I had never moved out of New York City - assuming that
a. I had been interested in architecture 40 some years ago, and
b. I had a cell phone camera.
If you check out the "Scouting New York Guide" on the above blog, you will find an awesome (and I don't use that word lightly) guide for anyone who plans to visit New York City. Or, better yet, already lives there.
Because something strange happens when you live in a place - many times you just don't notice it. If you live in New York City, well - you have to make a living, raise your children, make dinner and file your taxes. Inbetween all of those things, are you running around with a camera and visiting top New York City attractions?
I would bet money that you aren't.
One of the best things that ever happened to me was leaving New York City. Because now, I look at "the City" through the eyes of a tourist. I'm "that person" who you curse at on the Brooklyn Bridge because I am blocking your way as you walk or bike the bridge for the 4,509th time. Meantime, it's my first time out, and I have my camera out. (One day I should post some of those pictures, taken several years ago.)
But if I lived in New York City and worked in the area (this is four blocks from the Empire State Building), I'd probably be rushing past it every day, not giving it another thought.
The Bronx is one borough that doesn't get much respect - but I spent 21 years in the Bronx, and I spent many happy hours on the Grand Concourse as a child. My years in the Bronx did not end happily, however, and if I ever complete my "chicken memoir", you will find out why.
But still...reading about the places I once knew makes my heart beat fast.
Have you ever become a tourist in your own home town?
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