Empty benches

Inviting but vacant.

Waiting and patient.

A pause on the journey.

Passed by, in the hurry.

Seen better days

Rochester was known as the Flour City until 1850. Wheat from the Genesee valley made its way to the city to be turned into baking ingredients needed by rapidly growing eastern citys like New York. The Erie canal made inexpensive transportation possible.

Soon the demand for more wheat shifted the productive fields westward, to Ohio, Illinois and other midwest areas. The wheat could travel through the Great Lakes in large ships, but once at the easten end of Lake Erie it hit the barrier of Niagra Falls and the relatively small width and depth of the Erie Canal. This, along with the development of railroads, meant that Buffalo had the opprotunity to become the new Flour City. Here, not only was the wheat milled, but it was also stored in the silos to insure product through the long winter.

So here we see a grain elevator and mill on the Buffalo waterfront. But it does not look too productive. What changed in 1930's was the opening of the Welland Canal and St. Lawrence Seaway, which allowed the large grain carrying ships to bypass Niagara.

Still some elevators and mills do operate in Buffalo,, most notably General Mills and Gold Medal Flour. But this is only a shadow of the golden days during the 1920's when dozens of elevators and mills operated and employed thousands.

Neglected

Several years ago we put a cast iron and wooden bench in our garden. It was never used much and it has taken the brunt of several years of rain and snow and other forms of mistreatment. Frankly it is ready to collapse, so we will not be sitting there anyway.

There is advancing growth extending from the garden to the bench. Recently the vines seem to have taken a liking to the seat and I have not taken the time to train the growth back.

Nature always looks for the opportunity to recapture. And maybe that is a good thing.

PS: Also that vine might be poison ivy!

Chiropractic humor

I will let you ponder the meaning of the Enter and Exit signs for this chiropractor's office. Took me a minute to realize the cleverness.

Bird on a wire

When I first spotted this view I saw 4 birds along with some interesting utility pole shapes. After looking more closely I now know the "birds" are apparently splices, or some other equipment devices, but the picture still appealed to me.

Breakfast club

I had grabbed some breakfast and sat down at the harbor in Montauk.  In a few moments I was joined by this gull, looking for some breakfast himself no doubt.  He (she?) was only about 5 feet from me and kept eyeing my chow.  But he did not get any of it.

I was surprised by the size of this bird.  Upon more careful observation I came to realize there are a number of species of gulls, and this one was the biggest.

At least he was not so rude as to try to steal my food.  Once he realized there was no handouts in the offing he flew away, looking for a more benevolent benefactor.

Who is that up there?

Tucked away two stories above the street, someone decided to paint these characters up on the ledge. Not sure if they gave up or if it is a work in process. Not sure why they would even do this. It is apparent that whoever the artist is they have some talent.

But the message is certainly not clear... at least to me.

Now that's a superstore

OK, not a great photo... but this is my idea of a candy store (well, at least a low calorie candy store).

Of course this is the world famous B&H superstore in NYC. I have on quite a few occasions left more than a few dollars there. This picture shows only the high-end counter for D-SLRs and accessories. There are over 30 counter stations, and most of the time people are waiting in line to get called up to a postion (this was taken early in the morning so not too busy yet).

And this is only a small section of the store that also includes lighting, pro-audio, video, computers, even musical electronics, used equipment and lots more. And most of their business in done on-line!