CONTEMPORARY EXPLORER

My Trusty 2010 Ford Escape I just put what probably will be the last set of tires on my trusty 2010 Ford Escape. I had a lot of cars, way to many. Every nameplate you can think of. I never drove a car more than 40,000 miles when I was in business. Always a new car or image beckoned.  This one has stuck though. Now I have over 135,000 miles on “old dollar.” I bought it in the desert and roamed almost everywhere since then. The high desert of Eastern Oregon, Canada, the vast Sonoran, across the country a couple of times (west to east and back again), big cities up North and now the gentle roads of the South who reveal themselves so slowly. I thought about a new car from time to time, not because of ego, like in the past, but because of concern about dependability. Still “old dollar” continues to move down the road flawlessly. More important it fits in everywhere. It still looks proud enough to take uptown, but not too gaudy for the small towns and rural South. Big splashes don’t work her

    These pandemic times spur a virtual Ferris wheel of divergent thoughts. Call it what you want, free flowing, spontaneous, reaction or non linear. They push and pull, manifesting themselves in new and numerous ways. There’s the romantic versus the practical. You dream about travel when it’s all over. You remember the well planned short trips of the past. Now though, your thoughts touch on the romance of taking a train or long voyage. Traveling through several cities on the way to your destination. Trips taking a month instead of a few days. There’s isolation versus being part of the whole. At times you just want to get away from it all. To divorce society and live remotely. But the extra time you have because of the pandemic affords more time to observe. And when you do, you see more about humanity. How hard people work, how they strive and at times struggle. How joy can be found in all walks of life. How rich and thick life is.  It makes you want to be part of the whole. Ther

  They were just marks on the pavement, but somehow they resonated in me. One time I worked for a very regimented company. Their rules were stringent down to dress code and punctuality. Every morning I drove my car and parked in the company lot. Surprisingly, almost to the minute other co-workers from my unit would arrive in their cars. Every morning was the same. Now mind you, these people lived in all corners of the city and took many different routes to work. Still, they all found themselves in the lot at the same time.  Being a work alcoholic at the time, I often left the office late. The lot empty by that time. All that remained were tire marks on the pavement of those leaving. Some gentle pull outs, others dramatic statements of wanting to get away.  I clearly was in the later group and eventually left that place for other adventures, but remember the marks on the pavement...some still there. David Young

  Rivers run next to rocks, next to grass, surrounded by birds and animals. How is it possible for all to exist side by side? It’s all about 92 natural elements that exist and how they interact with each other to form our world. The pure atoms of life. Only four elements make up 96.2% of all humans; oxygen, hydrogen, carbon and nitrogen. Eleven other elements make up trace amounts in our bodies. No matter what your origins, race or culture, we are all the same. Our lives are played out in a world that comprises beautiful elements, like gold and silver, and dangerous ones like mercury, polonium and radium. There is so much we don’t know about the natural elements and how they make life work. It’s like an abstract puzzle that dances around us. One we study, trying to figure it all out. The beauty and wonder of life is to behold, to embrace, to enjoy and be thankful for it. Above all though we are part of the natural elements, the world. We are all the same. David Young

  The age of digital photography is all about chasing perfection. Constant improvements create ever sharper photos and bolder colors. While they all look wonderful on the screen. There’s something about being able to hold a photograph in your hand. Not just a digital image produced by phone or camera, a real physical record of the shot you just took. Thats the allure of Instant Photography.  With time on my hands during this pandemic, I took the plunge buying two instant cameras (Polaroid Now and Fuji Neo Classic) and three, count them, three instant printers (Canon Selphy 1300, Lifeprint and Fuji instax). I really got the bug. Over the last fifteen years, I have just taken digital photos, my film cameras long departed. So I wanted to try something new. Thus began my instant photography adventure. After running around and playing with these devices, would I recommend them? The answer is NO, YES, MAYBE.. . The cameras produce what can be disappointing results. With Polaroid, you f

          Plant Windows - Wadesboro NC