Perfect

In a bizarre heat wave, the temperatures this weekend reached 80 degrees. We took advantage of the weather by doing some photography. On Saturday, we discovered an abandoned industrial area, bordering on a trailer park, near a Tibetan monastary and a city park. And yes, it was just as weird as it sounds ...

Michael's photos turned out better than mine; he used slide film and had it cross-processed so the colors are really rich and just a bit off. His photos are here. Here are a few of mine:


Reminder of mortality


Awaiting work


Fall as they may

We then spent some time at the Moore's Creek SRA at Lake Monroe. I sat on the rocks with my feet in the water and collected geodes and bits of fossils. I also finally mastered the ability to skip rocks. My dad, grandpa, and Michael are all really good at it, but I've always had trouble. I've discovered that it's a lot easier if you're sitting because you're lower and more likely to hit the water horizontally. Oh, and it helped that a majority of the rocks there were incredibly flat. In the spirit of this guy, Michael tried balancing some rocks:



On Sunday, we started driving in search of somewhere to photograph. We accidentally stumbled on Patricksburg, Indiana, the most godforsaken town on earth. The place was littered with trash and boarded-up, abandoned buildlings and some places that should have been unlivable but apparently weren't. Places like that make me wish I was still a journalist; it helps legitimize the many questions I wanted to ask. Who are you? What happened to this town? So many houses are for sale. Where are you moving to? Do you work? Where? If so, why do you still live like this? Are you happy, because you break my heart? Why are there satellite dishes attached to your crumbling homes?

I didn't ask any questions, and we came up with some friendly responses when we were questioned by a man with only one eye that opened ... "No, we're not from the newspaper. It's just a hobby." He seemed concerned that we might break into "King's Furniture Store" which for whatever reason happens to sell groc, sof drinks, and motor oil. Here are some photos from Patricksburg (the rest are available here):


The people of Patrickburg to God: Why has thou forsaken me?


Home of ghosts


No one knows


Door to nowhere

Oh, and as a side note, Michael's photo was chosen as one of the five finalists for the Assignment: Indiana group on Flickr. Basically, the admin selects a topic for each month (March's topic is industry) and then people submit two photos about that topic. The best five are selected, and then members vote. So far he's ahead because of the awesomeness of this infrared photo taken in Bedford:



Way to go, baby!