Category: travel

Iowa – Fall 1974: Gingles Farm Revisited

Perhaps you recall a post a few months ago (The Gingles Farm, 1973).  During this later 1974 visit to my parents (living in another part of Iowa), I made a couple of day treks back to the Castana community and the old Gingles farm.  

On one of these outings, an L.A. friend stopped off on a flyover to the East coast long enough to accompany me. I picked him up at the Omaha airport and we drove up to Castana area.  We spent much of our time hiking the steep, rugged, dense area known to me and my siblings when kids as “The Wilderness”.  (SIDEBAR: My friend Mike, himself a avid photographer and backpacker, had in earlier years introduced me to the Sierra Club and pulled me into a good number of backpacking, mountain climbing, rock climbing, peak-bagging and snow-caving excursions around California in the late 60s and early-mid 70s.)  Herewith:

Iowa – Fall 1974: The Buick

Looks like today I have come upon old negatives from one of my trips to the old Iowa farm homestead.  And let’s start with these long-lost images of my brother’s old Buick.  This may have been his very first car; he must have had it in the late 50s or very early 60s.  So on this 1974 visit home, I find the Buick’s carcass literally out in the pasture.  I see that it has 1965 Iowa plates, but I am sure that it met its demise well before that; I will have to check with Dennis on the details of the car’s provenance and distinguished history.

New York – November 1974: Yet Even More

Like the guest from hell, the guest who won’t leave, old negatives from New York keep appearing.  Maybe this is the last batch …

More from New York City

New York – November 1974: And Some More

During these visits, a typical day might involve joining Dennis in the early morning to walk Gabrielle to school (kindergarten).  We would walk and/or ride bus or subway until school was over, seeking out bookstores and museums and galleries and libraries.  And grabbing a quick deli lunch.  Then it was a return to the apartment, where Dennis would probably write for the next many hours and I would hit the streets again solo for more exploration and photography.  During the week, Gabrielle’s mom would be at work doing lawyer things, but all of us would go exploring on the weekend, often in Central Park and wherever playgrounds could be found.

More from New York City

And for more of Gabrielle, see the special collection (linked in the left side panel).

Herman, Somewhere

In Scotland, I think.   See correction below:
DSCN0196

CORRECTION: Herman himself offers up this information:

This is along the western (southish) coast of Ireland. Look west of Kenmare, the lower finger and we were about near the tip. Sheep farms everywhere, a few cattle and goats. Sheep get out on the road, but they are super curvy, so you aren’t going too fast. I guess the grass looks greener to them as well. They’ve had a lot of rain, so the grass was quite lush. H

Friends Abroad

At this momentous Brexit time, friends Herman and John are traveling in Europe, respectively in County of Cork, Ireland and the Marais district of Paris, and they send

along these enticing photos.

And this comes on the heels of Corb’s wonderful photo-documented trip to Central Asia (you’ve probably already seen his great stuff on FB and Flickr), and just when Larkin and Conor are probably a short distance away from Herman in their own Irish adventure (be sure to see those FB photos as well — I especially liked the stone stairs and the terrific floor-to-ceiling library book stacks!).