Just Them

Hyper took a road trip to another part of blogger land to meet up with Donna of "Just Me"http://donna-justme.blogspot.com/ online fame and her husband Cliff. They live just west of Wellington, Missouri on sizable acreage above the Missouri River Valley. It's a beautiful place with critters and nice hospitality. Below, the couple outside on a marvelous day.

For a brief time it was dueling cameras as we both wanted photos for a blog entry or two....

But then we got to talk tractors.... Cliff's second love.

Below, the Oliver 1855 which Cliff completely restored.... it's huge....

Iris kept an eye on me..... as is advisable.

Cliff had a number of tractors.... some in storage for friend and family and some for restoration.... he sold two of them on Craig's List the day after I visited.
Iris' official portrait.

I got an official tour of the property.... lots of rolling hills and stands of trees.

A very rare picture of Hyper with Donna..... Bloggers United For Mutual Topic Acquisition. This picture was taken by Cliff.... as are the ones of Donna on her blog... which is: http://donna-justme.blogspot.com/

The famous tractor picture.... which shows the restored Oliver.....


The super-secret blogger area (above) where "Just Me" is created....
The herd.
Jody the cow....affectionate and big brown eyes....


Tree line in the distance is the Missouri River bank.... when the Mighty Mo floods the waters come right up to the base of this hill.



The garden... a panorama with dog.. of what will be bursting with veggies this summer.... (possibly not ALL of it.... Cliff likes to plow :) )

A great afternoon in good company..... Cliff even gave me some bootlaces when I had a blow-out... I'm for sure going back this summer when all is leafed out.....

1st Day of School

August 29th, 1994 The Kid (Kelly) got ready for her first day at St. Regis..... shoes, Mom fixing hair, pose with younger dad with dorky glasses and then off to meet Miss Lupercio and Kelly's fellow students....
Nikon F4, T-Max 400, flash.. used to do all my own processing (cheaper). Scans from 35mm negative.

I think she was Table 3, but don't quote me on that. Kelly is now approaching her 23rd birthday on March 10th....and is a Graduate Student at George Washington University...

Fannie's Barn Knob Noster

A few more shots from 1990 down in Knob Noster.... A very old barn, since burned, that made use of whole trees in its construction.... rather rustic though. Beautiful countryside on a rainy day. All black and white, T-Max 400.. digital tinting in most of the barn pix.

Harold's Truck, August, 1990

Tmax 400. Nikon F4 with 50mm lens. Never really cared for T-Max when it came out... particularly when Kodak discontinued Panatomic X which I LOVED. My displeasure was the beginning of the end for Kodak.

Fannie and Nema, Sisters, Knob Noster, Missouri August 2nd, 1990

One of my favorite images. Toyo View, 90mm lens, exposure unrecorded. T-Max 400 sheet film.

Colonnade, Fog 1994

Heavy fog on this night. I headed up to the Colonnade at the Concourse and with tripod and Nikon F4 took this exposure on Kodak T-Max 400. I seem to remember it was F11 at 1 second. There is a light in the structure and there was a streetlight behind the roof which provided all the light. Pretty good noise/grain in the image which just adds to the effect...

Incoming

Helen, Dorothy and Princess 1990

A Northeast scene. Two wonderful neighbors who sat in front of the garage each evening into the fall... Toyo View Camera, 180mm lens, t-max 400, exposure unrecorded. Taken September 15th, 1990. All have passed on now.

Before Van Brunt Boulevard, A Dairy Farm

These two pictures were taken ca. 1899 and were titled "East Boulevard." They show the proposed site of the newest road to be constructed in Kansas City. At the time these were taken the land was a dairy farm. Cows are visible in both shots and, in the shot above, a barn is barely visible behind the trees in the upper right. Not sure at all of directions in these shots, but, if the lay of the land is any indication, the land slopping up would probably be toward the north. East Boulevard was later renamed "Van Brunt Boulevard." My personal guess is that this is north of St. John and that the ridge in the bottom photo is where Gladstone Boulevard eventually was constructed. There was a large pond where Elmwood Avenue and Windsor intersect that was used for watering the cattle.

Lone Tree At Reservoir

From the archives.... bored after a winter snow in February of 1993 I went looking for images.. Drove by the old city reservoir and saw this shot.... which was totally monochromatic.

Drove home and got the view camera and set up for this shot. Took two exposures, unrecorded. Toyo View 180mm lens, T-Max 400 4x5 sheet film. Taken around 3pm with low hanging clouds. Fence is now overgrown and this tree is long gone. I still love film and the simple shots. There is a Pepsi can on the fence toward the right which I desperately wanted to get rid of... but didn't want to track in the snow to do it. I could remove it digitally, but it's a part of history now..... in many ways things were a lot slower just that short time ago.

A Cinematic Pendleton Heights

Apocalipservice

And thus it was written in the time of the waning dragon by Tuz the Mayan, "When the contrails meet in the west in the pyramid of the setting Sun God Turkemangal and the House of the Night Sun Dinarkus is half visible in the eastern sky, the end times begin when all mankind will become God dust and devolve into lint bunnies under the cot of Megoth the Pharisee. Know ye by these signs that your fate is sealed for it is written on the Calendar of the 5, 321st year that these things shall happen and The End will Begin in Pendleton Heights." Thus spake the Tuz.