patriotic hydrant

patriotic hydrant, originally uploaded by mhall209.

This hydrant really takes me back. I was a freshman in high school in 1976 when the country went through its bicentennial celebration. Everything was painted a stars and stripes theme. I don't know that this hydrant paint job is 30 years old, but it sure could be! When I saw it, just for a moment, I was 15 again!

Explosives

Explosives, originally uploaded by mhall209.

Continuing with the history of the area theme I seem to be on is this powder shed. After the easy pickings of gold from the streams and riverswas exhausted, miners in the California gold rush turned to bigger, faster, and more productive ways to find the gold. This shed seems to date back to those days when hard rock mining was practiced with little attention given to the safety of things like we would today.

A friend of ours in his 50's tells stories of his father's exploits as a gold miner. Not too long ago it was common practice around here that when you needed a little extra money, you went and found some gold. His dad did that alot. He remembers as a child his dad always kept a box of dynamite on the floor of his pickup truck. Next to an old salami that rolled around ("in case dad got hungry." The blasting caps were kept in the glove compartment. Our friend talks about riding around in his dads pickup truck with his feet on the case of dynamite!

Times have changed, and we do not store explosives like this. But every now and then an old timer will pass on, and when the family goes through the belongings, the county bomb squad will have to be called in because of some old explosives! In my days on the volunteer fire department we were called in because someone had found a container of 100 year old nitro glyceryn. It went boom! (Under controlled circumstances, of course!)

The Vet Shack

The Vet Shack, originally uploaded by mhall209.

This old miners shack is along the highway in front of out vet's office. We drive by it regularly, and have for years. I didn't notice it until someone placed a geocache there and now the shack seems right out in the middle of everything. I never found the geocache. Even when the owner gave me a hint, telling me exactly where it is. I know the spot within inches, but cant find it. The woman who put it there makes some purely evil geocaches!

This is one of many many old miners shacks in the area that date back to the late 1800's. Some, like this one, are rather anonymous. Others have a known history, like Mark Twains cabin over on Jack Ass Hill. He stayed there when he wrote the short story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County."

I really like the way the old shacks appear in the medium format camera I used here, and I think I will make a concerted effort to capture more of these shacks while they are still standing.

Morning Tree

Morning Tree, originally uploaded by mhall209.

The morning commute after a rain storm means one of two things; a beautiful ride to work, or horrific fog. We had a pretty good rainstorm last night, and we were a bit worried about the commute this morning. Fortunately there was no fog, just a really beautiful sun rise.
I saw a jillion good shots on the way into work- lots and lots of standing water with really cool reflections. Most of these shots thou were in places with no safe place to pull over, so I was rather limited. OK, I did get out the door a little late so I was a little worried about time as well. I did manage to pull over for this shot. Hope you enjoy it.

Gold Rush Building

Gold Rush Building, originally uploaded by mhall209.

I am not sure, but it looks like this building was built around 1863. For California, that's a pretty old building. I love these old buildings. We come across them often as we walk around the old gold rush towns here in northern California. This one is in Jackson, California where my wife and I frequently stroll.

For this shot I used a borrowed Yashica medium format film camera. On the up side, using this camera really makes you slow down and look at the photo you are taking. Looking through the viewfinder means you are looking through a mirror, so everything is backwards. There are two zoom tools; your left foot and your right foot. These features mean it is a lot of work framing your shot. Which means you slow down and really think about it. Ditto for the aperture and shutter speed.

On the down side, I figure it costs about two dollars each time I click the shutter, between film and processing costs. That makes me really think about the shot in the viewfinder. Do I like this shot $2 worth? I notice that when the film comes back from the lab (A whole other issue) I am happy with a much higher percentage of shots than when I use the digital camera.

So I think I will keep using the Yashica as long as I can afford it. Or until my brother takes it back!

Girl

Girl, originally uploaded by mhall209.

The area I live is famous for the gold rush that occured beginning with James Marshall's gold discovery in 1848. Hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children rushed to California in search of gold. Some people became rich, though most of them did so not by mining but by selling goods and services to the miners. The 49rs, as they are now known, did not get all of the gold. There is still plenty of gold free for the taking in the many rivers and streams in the area. We have a gold bearing creek in the backyard. But it is WAYYYYYYto much work to pull the gold out.
But I digress. The miners left many other signs of there presence. Besides the physical scars on the land- hydro mining cliffs, tailing piles, and mine shafts, there are many cool buildings and cemeteries. This statue of a little girl is in a local catholic graveyard that is often neglected. Many of the statues like this one were placed here 150 years ago.

I like going into these areas to read the names, look at the dates, and just wonder what the people were like.

Red Tractor

Red Tractor, originally uploaded by mhall209.

I caught this tractor out of the corner of my eye on my to to work this morning. It was still too dark to get a shot so I made a mental note to see if it was still there on the way home. Sure enough, there it was in the middle of what I remember as a strawberry firld. It obviously isn't going to be strawberries this year.

The yellow flowers are mustard. Mustard is commonly grown in the area in the springtime as a cover crop. It grows quickly, and then is plowed under to act as a fertilizer. This little old tractor that seems to be about to be overtaken by the mustard will soon come to life and turn all these beautiful yellow flowers into the soil to become worm food.