Some new photos from Fort Wayne

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

This lone pine tree grows on a hill covered in wildflowers on the east side of Branstrator Road, just south of Lower Huntington Road, in rural Allen County, Indiana. I photographed it on a foggy autumn morning.

9-30-23

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Sherlock is one of the two resident cats at Hyde Brothers Books in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

He is extremely fat (even his tail is thick!) because he spends most of his time lounging and eating. He's not very sociable, and gets annoyed with me for photographing him. The store's staff has been trying to get him to lose weight, with little success. He bullies the store's other cat and steals her food if they don't closely supervise her eating.

Hyde Brothers is an incredible locally-owned used book store on Wells Street in Fort Wayne. As long as I can remember, they've always had at least one cat in residence.

6-28-23

Update: After I posted this photograph on one of the cat groups on Facebook, a young woman commented: "That face has CUSTOMER SERVICE written all over it!" So true!

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Sherlock is one of the two resident cats at Hyde Brothers Books in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

He is extremely fat (even his tail is thick!) because he spends most of his time lounging and eating. He's not very sociable, and gets annoyed with me for photographing him. The store's staff has been trying to get him to lose weight, with little success. He bullies the store's other cat and steals her food if they don't closely supervise her eating.

Hyde Brothers is an incredible locally-owned used book store on Wells Street in Fort Wayne. As long as I can remember, they've always had at least one cat in residence.

9-21-23

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

A tire pump and vacuum stand in front of a giant American flag painted on the side of the Marathon gas station on the corner of US-24 and Ellison Road in Fort Wayne, Indiana. I photographed it very early in the morning, before the sun came up.

After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, gigantic American flags were painted on the sides of most of the company's locations in the city. Some of them have since been painted over.

10-31-23

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

A field of sunflowers on a foggy September morning at Hardy's Farm Market on Knoll Road, between Ardmore Avenue and Smith Road, just outside Fort Wayne in rural Allen County, Indiana.

This farm grows sweet corn, pumpkins, and several other vegetables that they sell from a shop in a large building behind the fields. This year, they had a field of sunflowers; one of my favorite plants to photograph.

This is the fifth of several photographs that I made of the sunflowers at Hardy's.

9-30-23

 

[The Spastic Image]

Not quite accurate.

As Chris wrote, some states don't require a front plate, but all require a rear plate.

The rear plate cannot be anything we want. When you get your plate from the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) you can get a choice of:

- ordinary plate consisting of a letters and numbers (e.g. ABC 1234) which are just generated and manufactured in sequence with naughty combinations removed

- a vanity plate, usually your initials or business name, but the format is restricted in length, but you can get something like 365GTB V12 (I've seen it). Funniest one I ever saw was XYZZY. Best one I ever saw was P51ACE, on a Cadillac westbound on I-84 in Portland; it was driven by an old woman with an old man in the passenger seat. I should've followed them so I could meet him; instead, stupidly, I drove to work.

- some sort of commemorative plate - usually this is just a regular plate with a different background design

- some sort of "collector" or "historical" vehicle plate

Not to mention license plates for drivers/passengers with disabilities. I am a wheelchair user/driver who has one.

 

[The Spastic Image]

The European micro-cars of post-WWII were seen more as a big step up from a bicycle or a moped, relative to which they wouldn't have seemed so dangerous in their day.

I've always liked small cars (though not micro-cars), like the original VW Beetles and other cars of similar size, as they were just fun to drive. I'm less likely to go for something like that now, as I'm old and I have a bad back. 😡
(I still drive a stick shift, though!)

- Murray

I need a larger vehicle due to being a wheelchair user/adaptive athlete, and also my wheelchair is rigid frame/non folding. I drive a minivan with automatic/power steering/power brakes. And use Sure Grip push/rock hand controls, and a spinner knob to drive. My license specifically states I need adaptive equipment. I own several physical challenges., was born preemie! The only Stick Shift I can drive is a Gates Radio Company/QRK/Russco broadcast turntable/tonearm with a 3 on the tree speed selector gearshift lever. When finished, leave in neutral!

 

[froyd]

Fantastic capture. Two seasons in one shot!

 

[The Spastic Image]

Fantastic capture. Two seasons in one shot!

Yes, a superb photo. Love the change of seasons/lighting/mood of this photograph. Portfolio worthy I think, Superb composition!

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

A stopped train at sunrise blocking railroad crossing on Sandpoint Road in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It is near my house in the neighborhood where I grew up.

Trains stop on this crossing a couple times a day, blocking it for as much as an hour at a time.

10-1-23

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I made this series of four abstract photographs of the sky on the morning of November 2 in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Here's the last one that should have been in the previous post. For some reason it would not let me put more than 3 images in one post.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

A few minutes ago, I went to shut the back door of my house when I saw a small brown praying mantis trying to climb the inside of the door frame! It would have been squished if I had shut the door. I caught it in a plastic cup and let it go outside; but first I made some photos of it. Here's the first; I'll post more after I edit the others.

Good thing that Sneaky is sleeping; he would have eaten it!

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Washing her walking legs!



Looking at me.



More photos of the praying mantis that I caught in my house yesterday afternoon. I took her outside in a plastic cup and photographed her on the hood of my car before releasing her into the tall bushes in my front yard. She's still on one of the branches, hopefully going to lay eggs.
This has been identified as a Carolina Mantis. She is small; only a couple inches long. That's a lot smaller than most praying mantises I see in Fort Wayne and northeast Indiana.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Heyerly's Bakery is on the southwest corner of Mill Street and Jefferson Street (State Road 1) in the small town of Ossian, Indiana. The front of the long, narrow building has a big overhang that people can park their cars under; and one of the front windows has a large American flag.

They've been open since 1931, and are famous for their donuts. A lot of people drive down there from Fort Wayne early in the morning just for that. I photographed the bakery in the late morning, after the rush had died down; because I wanted to see the American flag in the window without any cars parked in front of it. There is a customer inside buying a box of donuts; the racks were pretty empty by that time.

Ossian is a small town on State Road 1 in the northern part of Wells County. It is about eight miles south of Fort Wayne.

11-17-23

 

[yanchep_mike]

Heyerly's Bakery is on the southwest corner of Mill Street and Jefferson Street (State Road 1) in the small town of Ossian, Indiana. The front of the long, narrow building has a big overhang that people can park their cars under; and one of the front windows has a large American flag.

They've been open since 1931, and are famous for their donuts. A lot of people drive down there from Fort Wayne early in the morning just for that. I photographed the bakery in the late morning, after the rush had died down; because I wanted to see the American flag in the window without any cars parked in front of it. There is a customer inside buying a box of donuts; the racks were pretty empty by that time.

Ossian is a small town on State Road 1 in the northern part of Wells County. It is about eight miles south of Fort Wayne.

11-17-23

Hi, Criss thank you for your effort to bring the USA into my life. Never visited, planned it a couple of times but life got between it. But through your work, I see inside a lot of detail which i really enjoy.

 

[Retro-Grouch]

Hi, Criss thank you for your effort to bring the USA into my life. Never visited, planned it a couple of times but life got between it. But through your work, I see inside a lot of detail which i really enjoy.

The part of the USA that Chris documents, the "fly-over" country between the coasts and away from the big urban centers, may well represent the larger part of this country, socially and economically. I will not fall into the trap of calling it the "real" America, as so many Populist pundits do, but I will say that it's a part of America that's under-represented in the popular media. As someone who lives in a rural, fly-over area, I deeply appreciate the job that Chris is doing in documenting his corner of this big country.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

EZ Bowl Bowling Center is an old bowling alley on Scott Street in the small town of Bluffton, Indiana. Small, old-school bowling alleys like this have largely disappeared from Indiana's larger cities in favor of larger, more modern places; but a lot of them still operate in small towns like Bluffton.

9-29-23

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

This beautiful old house looks like a little castle. I've always liked it, even when I was a child. It is on Spy Run Avenue, just south of Tennessee Avenue, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Over the years, it has been home to several businesses, including a law office. I think someone lives there now.

9-21-23

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Klemm's Kafe has been a fixture on Fort Wayne's Wells Street for more than 30 years. The neon sign in the window claims that they have the best breakfast in town!

9-21-23

Update: The building was painted gray about a month after I made this photograph. It had been brown as long as I could remember.