Sunday, January 02, 2011

An uncommon sight


Temps dropped into the high teens last night and didn't climb out of the 20s until well into today. Meanwhile, an automatic sprinkler went on down the street from us. I hurried on down with my camera and found two other folks with the same idea.

My Dad used to take his camera everywhere and made pocket change selling photos to the local newspaper in Massachusetts, so that inspired me to do the same with this one. Who knows if the Las Cruces Sun-News will use it, but ice is something of a phenomenon in these parts.

A photo can spark memories and inspire a writer to record them. Dad chased many a fire in his day, and I recall seeing old black and white photos of burnt-out houses coated in ice, or firefighters with icicles hanging from their hats and fire hoses. He'd spend hours in his dark room, developing prints that smelled of acetate and placing them between soft towels to dry. When he died, his prints and color slides stayed with Mom in dusty closets, drawers, and cabinets. When she died, they all wound up with me. Unfortunately, Dad didn't label many of them, and I can only guess at the ages and locations. He left behind a glossy 8 x 10 portrait of four young men who were members of a band. They were all dressed up in plaid jackets and skinny ties, smiling at the camera. I can picture Dad with the camera on his tripod, barking instructions on how to pose. He was quite a curmudgeon, and many people found him hard to like. Anyway, in this particular print,  one of the young gents has his hands by his side and is giving my Dad the finger.

13 comments:

Helen Ginger said...

The band story is wonderful. You made me laugh out loud.

The photo of the frozen tree is great. I hope it makes the paper.

Notes Along the Way with Mary Montague Sikes said...

Great photo. I've taken freelance newspaper photos for years and know that it really helps develop a creative eye. Good luck with the paper.

Monti

NotesAlongTheWay

Anonymous said...

What a great photo. I grew up in Michigan so I remember seeing similar odd events. We had our share of raging ice storms that would shut the place down for a few days.

Jane Kennedy Sutton said...

The photo has a surreal look to it – nice job! Your dad sounds like he was quite a character. Your story about him made me laugh.

N. R. Williams said...

I like the iced over tree. I can already envision several wizards at work, one trying to repair the tree and the other so angry his wand is frozen.
Nancy
N. R. Williams, fantasy author

Ruth L.~ said...

This brought back to me the smell of my father's developing solution. I'd forgotten.

Bet the ice made you nostalgic for Massacusetts. :>)

Bob Sanchez said...

Ruth, Massachusetts has a lot of things going for it. Winter isn't one of them. :-)

Christina Rodriguez said...

Great photo, Bob! We're used to seeing ice here in MN, but this is beautiful.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

That is a wild photo.
Looking forward to your Top Ten songs tomorrow, Bob. Thanks for joining the fun!

Lydia Kang said...

Wow! what a picture. Did you see the frozen lighthouse one on the internet lately? It's nearly as amazing!

Lola Sharp said...

I stopped by for Alex's music blogfest...but even though you don't have that post up, I decided to stick around. :)

I really enjoyed your story about the guy in the band picture giving him the finger. Very funny. Your father must have been quite the character.

M Pax said...

Wow, what a picture! That is inspirational.

Jean Henry Mead said...

Great story and photo, Bob. My dad was also an avid photographer with his brownie camera. I guess I inherited his love of photography because I developed my own b&w film in my bathroom before I had my own darkroom. I much prefer digital cameras now. :)