Tuesday, Sep 20, 2022

[Don]

Good morning - I couldn't start Tuesday without commenting on all the nice posts from yesterday.

Patty, I have never visited the Nacoochee Indian Mound but it looks like an interesting place. We have camped down at Kolomoki Mounds State Park which is another good place to camp. They have a museum there as well.

Great shots on the pups, Lorell. Nice treatment too, it's perfect for the shot.

That is one beautiful car Rich. (I had a '53 Chevy for a bit as a teenager). Looks like they have done some extensive customizing on that one. I remember buying all the custom car mags as a teenager, as well as auto mags in general. I seem to remember that a lot of lead was used when customizing the body, but might be remembering that wrong. There used to be articles on how to do it. I would love to see the engine - I believe Chevy did not start putting a V8 in their cars until 1955. Looks like they "chopped the top" as well, as it looks lower than stock. Lots of work done on that baby.

Interesting article Dave, and as Lorell said, a good ending. Sad to see the rose struggling to survive after having been tended to so many years.

I wonder if mounds were only a custom of Native Americans in the eastern part of the country?

Our nature photo meeting is tonight. I wasn't sure about going, but then I was notified that the subject is "Favorite Florida Birding Hotspot" so I figured it might be interesting. I hope more folks show up for this one than the last one, when I gave a presentation. Only 4 folks as I recall. At least it gives me an excuse not to do another program in the future.

Rich, I think I probably mentioned before, but my pinhole camera uses a standard 4x5 film holder, so I get 2 shots for each holder, and can swap out of another so I can shoot as long as I have film. I am actually thinking of riding the bike up to FDR state park where there is a stone over pass built by the CCC that looks interesing. Lots of buildings in that state park built by the CCC.

I think I have my travel book about done. Not much in there for the south Florida trip, just reservation numbers and addresses of hotels. We decided to break up the first leg of the trip from home to Ft. Meyers with a stop in Ocala, Fla. Then we can drive directly to Sanibel Island, have lunch, and explore the J. N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge before driving back over to Ft Meyers to check in. We'll be in that area 4 nights, then on down to Miami for another 4 nights so we can visit the Everglades and other areas around.

Whew, long post...

[Dave]

Don, that sounds like a terrific trip you have planned. We are in for a treat when you return and share photos with us.

You wondered if Native American mounds were built only in the eastern part of the US.

I think that's true for earthen mounds, which are found from the Canadian border to the Gulf; as far east as Florida and the Carolinas and as far west as South Dakota (Rich has posted about the Mitchell site not far from his home.) The typical earthen mound is a burial mound; another type is the larger platform mound which is sometimes multi-terraced and often had structures at the top serving as homes for the political/spiritual leaders or places to gather for events and rituals (in some cultures involving human sacrifice) important to the societies. An example of another type is the Serpent Mound in southern Ohio; a low, long and twisting depiction of a snake.

At many sites mounds of any sort did double duty by being precisely oriented to serve as astronomical observation positions.

I suspect two reasons why earthen mounds aren't found further west: 1) a lack of cohesive soil in the more arid west; and 2) the difficulty of digging in dry and rocky soil.

But I don't want to sell these other cultures short. Tribal cultures in the US Southwest created some amazing structures. These included large living structures, ceremonial areas and structures, and stations for impressively accurate astronomical observations. Sites such as Mesa Verde, Nine Mile Canyon, Canyon de Chelly, and Chaco Canyon come to mind.

Our early Native American cultures were far more advanced than most people realize.

[Dreamin]

Hi, Don. Looking forward to your trip photos. As I don't travel much anymore, it's the only way I get to travel!!
Hi, Dave! You know a lot about Native Americans. That's great.
Yesterday as I was throwing the ball for our shepherd, she ran to something and started barking and poking and jumping back. Seems she found a 7" snapper.......must be looking for water, as it's still very dry...I popped it down to the big ditch which still had water in it. I did not want it here as I might mow it with the grass!! 

   

[damar]

Thanks for starting us off, Don! Your trip sounds great!
I love the Ocala area.
Horse farms. rolling hills and springs!
Have you ever posted a photo of your pin hole camera? If so, I may have missed it.

Hi Dave!
Interesting info! The Mounds on the Etowa river...they build a V shaped barrier in the river and it helped them
catching fish. Brilliant!

Hi Natalie! Great catch! LOOK at the claws on that turtle!
Cool photo.

Well this is from Sunday's ride. We always stop here (I have taken snapshots here many times)
Sometimes it's cotton, sometimes it's sod and sometimes soybean. This year it's sod.
Probably because there is so much house building going on.
New residential construction is almost always finished with sod landscaping rather than seeding.
It comes in cut squares or long strips rolled up and is laid out like carpet.
Around here it's low bermuda turf.

I have put almost 90,000 miles on my scooter


   

[Rich]

Don, yes I remember that now about the film holder. I made mine out of a cardboard box. One shot, then back to the darkroom! I would like to see a photo of it too!
Have fun at the meeting. The ones that didn't show for your presentation missed a good one! Sounds like a good trip to FL!

Thanks for the comment, yes that was my favorite car of this show. Truly a custom car. My friend in Oklahoma has restored a 55 Chevy to pretty much original except for a bigger engine, didn't like the 54. Said the taillights were from a 55 and thought it was chopped too much. Each to his own.

Thanks for the info Dave. It is amazing what they were able to build!

Natalie, I remember those snappers quite well. We used to go snapper hunting in the swamps of northern Nebraska back in the early 70's when I was there for a spell. Had a hunter called Johnny One Thumb.

Patty, a beautiful shot. The red abd green contrats is visually appealing. Good looking scooters! We have sod farms up here too, usually blue grass.




I should have posted these on 9/11 day but didn't think of it. From a trip out east in 2004. The pit of the twin towers.

[Don]

Good afternoon all.

I wouldn't want to get too close to that snapper! Could do some damage.

I may have said it before, but those are fine looking scooters Patty. I'll bet they are fun to ride too. That is a heap of miles - I have a little over 7k I think on  mine.

Pit of the towers - sad...

I'm posting a pic of my pinhole 4x5. To open the pinhole you just move the little yellow tab down for the number of seconds required, then move it back up to the closed position. The film holder goes in a slot at the back, and of course you remove the dark slide before opening the pinhole to expose the film. Put the dark slide back in and good to go. Flip the film holder over if you haven't exposed both sheets and ready for another shot.

The film I am using now is a less expensive on, compared to the Ilford HP5 or FP4. But the reciprocity failure is a lot worse. For example, if you have an exposure of 10 sec, you have to use 80 sec. I can't see myself going much over 30 sec, which would be a meter reading of 5 sec. I can calculate the reciprocity of the Ilford film, but I use a chart for the Fomapan. I have since taped a table on the top of the camera for Fomapan 100.

Yeah, looking forward to doing some traveling again. Nothing planned (yet) for next month, but Nov is the annual trip to the Smokies, Dec is the south Fla trip and Feb is the Texas trip to Laredo. We have a camping trip on the calendar for Dec but that will depend on whether or not we have our trailer back.

[damar]

Thanks Rich,
Twin Towers…still uncomfortable to look at where they were. But your photos are well taken.
The last one has a ghostly looking skyscraper looking between the other buildings. Really puts a mood on what we know about that place and time.

Thanks for posting your PH camera, Don! I had no idea what it looked like. I am now even more impressed with the images you are getting with it.

Those scooters exceeded our expectations for quality and durability. They are still running on original piston, cylinder and rings. No rebuilds on the carbs either.
Just tires, synthetic oil routinely and coolant from time to time.
They are fun. Quite, agile, and fast enough for the roads we travel.
DH did add a tach to his.

It is getting scary out there though.
People drive mindlessly and fast and obviously with no reverence for life.