Category Archives: House

Animals, Black & White, House, Iowa State

Elaine the Fair, Elaine the Loveable,

April 21, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett 12 Comments

I need to start this post with warning you that if you are the type of fool that believes the false narrative that I hate cats, then you will want to turn back now! You will surely misinterpret what lies below to be anti-cat propaganda. It is not anti-cat propaganda. It is pro-public health propaganda. For the record, I agree with Orwell’s assertion that all art is propaganda. Don’t misinterpret this art as anything but pro-public health propaganda.

I feel like I should do a little bit better job documenting my cleaning. However, most of my cleaning is already done, unless you want to discuss the basement. I don’t want to discuss the basement. Why did you bring the basement up?

Last week I completed two minor, but majorly annoying cleaning projects. One was cleaning out my cupboard of all expired food. I didn’t realize that would mean pretty much throwing away everything thing that was in my cupboard. I suppose I should have.

I had lasagna noodle that expired in 2011. A bread mix that expired in 2013. I didn’t buy many groceries before this pandemic. I won’t be buying much to restock my cupboard. I clearly don’t use what I bought in the past, so replacing it would be throwing good money after bad.

I took a couple pictures though:

Everything in that bag is from the cupboard.

This is what the cupboard looks like now.

The other major, but minor thing I accomplished was getting rid of all my empty pop cans. I only drink pop once a week now, so I don’t produce a ton of empty cans, yet somehow my giant garbage can dedicated to empty cans had overflowed a long time ago. The recent winds have blown empty cans all over the yard.

Here is my dichotomy. I fully support the can deposit program. Have you ever been to a state that doesn’t have a can deposit program? Trust me. Tennessee is filthy. It makes Missouri look like Minnesota.

The other side of that coin is that I hate taking my cans in. As far as I know, Boone closed its can redemption center years ago. Taking it to Walmart is scarier than any abandoned rest area horror movie you’ve ever seen. The people there. Terrifying.

Plus the smell! The smell is absolutely unbelievable. Not in a good way. Not in the I can’t believe it’s not butter, kind of way. I would describe the smell as high fructose corn syrup and skunk.

And, it gets worse, everything is sticky. A deep sticky too. A deep sticky that makes you wonder if this is just dried up sugar.

You can see the bind I was in, and then the answer came to me out of thin air. Then landed in my cell phone in the form of a text message.

My inside guy (who shall remain nameless to protect their identity because I know that people who own cats suffer from a wide range of mental maladies) texted me to tell me that the fact that cats can get the coronavirus puts the future of the Community Cat Program in danger.

I have long been an opponent of the repugnant Community Cat Program in Boone. Mostly because having cats in the neighborhood lowers your property value. I didn’t buy this house to have Johnny 3 Cat move in next door and drop the value of my house 15%.

I certainly don’t need a cat strolling around my neighborhood on the government dime doing the same thing.

The text jogged something loose in mind. The Boone Area Humane Society has a spot where they accept cans to help fund their activities. I could drop my cans off there!

However, I wanted to make sure they knew that my generous donation of maybe 7 bucks didn’t got to the Community Cat Program, which now, due to cats being able to contract the coronavirus, is a matter of public health safety.

So I made a graphic called Coronacat-Banned:

I printed 3 of them out and taped them to my 3 bags of cans to make it was clear that the money raised from these cans are not to be used to supported the Community Coronacat Program:

It is a matter of public health safety. I’m sure they will have no problem deciphering my graphic.

Remember, “All art is propaganda; the other hand; not all propaganda is art.”

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This collection from the 2019 backlog are from pictures I took around Lake LaVerne.

I have one more swan collection from this day spent on the most beautiful campus in the entire world.

Black & White, Candid Portrait, Flowers, Formal Portrait, House, Steph

2009-08-29

February 8, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

The pictures from the folder named 2009-08-29 are mostly from a photo session I did with Stephanie. If I recall correctly, these pictures were supposed to be a headshot for her music career. I decided to convert those to black and white and save them for posterity.

The other pictures in this folder are from my garden.

This is the first time that I’ve published any of these images.

Next week’s walk down memory lane will involve Ottumwa, Iowa and fire.

Animals, Candid Portrait, Ernie, Flowers, Formal Portrait, House, Jill, Mom, Photoshop, Shorty

2009-08-15 & 2009-08-20 & 2009-08-21

January 18, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

The pictures in the folders 2009-08-15, 2009-08-20, and include pictures from an anniversary dinner for Shorty and Doris and pictures from that time I actually tilled up part of my backyard and planted a garden.

The picture of Jill that is edited in a couple different ways is her with a car that she described as her mid-life crisis. But that can’t be the case. She was only like 30 when she bought that car.

This is the first time that these pictures have been published. Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will definitely involve the Iowa State Fair and Teresa and Ernie. But not in a way that is connected.

Animals, Black & White, Dawn, Flowers, House

2009-08-06

January 4, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

The pictures from the folder 2009-08-06 are taken in my backyard. They are mostly of the products of my garden. The first year I lived in my house, I actually planted a garden. I believe I had some mixed results, but I did manage to grow a few things here and there.

That year Dawn came over and picked the currants. She then took the currants and made me a cheesecake. I think this event closed the chapter in my life where beautiful women would come over and pick things from my garden and then feed me.

I never brought the garden back because, I didn’t really do anything with the stuff I grew. Then I got to the point where I like uninterrupted grass in my yard. I have often thought of doing hay bale gardens, but I have yet to find a good source of hay bales. By that I mean, the one person I asked doesn’t do square hay bales.

This is the first time these pictures have been published.

The next walk down memory lane will involve a road trip to eastern Iowa.

Alexis, Baseball/Softball, Becky, Candid Portrait, Carla, Flowers, House, Jason, Jaycees, Jesse, Kelly, Lowell, Mom, Music, Saydie, Shannon

2009-06-29

October 26, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

The pictures from the folder 2009-06-29 are mostly from a softball game between Alexis’ team and a team coached by Jesse and Lowell. I assume Alexis’ team won the game because of… Bennett genetics.

There are some pictures of Larry Howard in this post. Larry passed away earlier this year. He isn’t the first person to have passed on, that has surfaced on these walks down memory lane, but one of the closest.

Here are some pictures:

None of these pictures have ever been published before. They were lost to the ages until now.

The pictures at the end are from the Ames on the Half Shell performance by a band called Otter. I was in charge of booking the bands that year and I won’t deny that I booked Otter because their drummer was a pretty loyal Ames Jaycee.

This could be a false memory, but I believe I got some pushback on that. Definitely a lack of enthusiasm about it from some other Jaycees. I found this weird because every single year the Jaycees booked this absolutely terrible band called Saucy Jack based on the fact that a member of the band was a brother or ex-boyfriend of an ex-Jaycee. They booked a terrible band based on somebody that wasn’t in the band and wasn’t even a Jaycee any longer. And they were terrible.

Almost all the Half Shell bands fell into the category of generic classic rock cover band. Saucy Jack was in that same category. But they played every song about 10% slower than it is supposed to be played.

I remember once they played “Everlong” by Foo Fighters, which is a Top 100 song for me, and it took me about 45 seconds to even figure out what the hell they were playing.

But booking the slightly stoner band with a Jaycee drummer, that isn’t cool man.

But I digress…

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve the Boone City Band.

Carla, House, Mom, Ruins, Slice of Life, Teresa

Time and Memory

October 22, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

I read a quote recently from Thomas Wolfe who that is reminiscent of a recent event of some note that happened in Boone, Iowa. An event that, while it escaped the pages of the “Boone News Repbulican”, will no doubt echo through the pages of time. The quote went something like this:

“You can’t go back home to your family, back home to your childhood … back home to a young man’s dreams of glory and of fame … back home to places in the country, back home to the old forms and systems of things which once seemed everlasting but which are changing all the time – back home to the escapes of Time and Memory.”

The event was that the boyhood home of Christopher D. Bennett was demolished. It was going to be the future site of the Christopher D. Bennett Museum, but now I suppose future generations will have to find a new location to venerate me.

I had two boyhood homes. One on West 15th Street where I lived until the 2nd Grade. It was torn down a long time ago. The only thing that remains of it is a garage that once held the Bennett Antique Store.

Between 1st Grade and 2nd Grade we moved to 415 Greene Street. This was important because it was after this move, I would meet most of the people that would matter in the shape (what there is of it) and direction (which there is even less of) of my life.

Life is far from linear, but in the story that is Christopher D. Bennett, moving to that house sent a million different things into motion. I wouldn’t be sitting where I am right now, typing what I am right now, if it wasn’t for that move.

Whether that is good or bad, you can debate behind my back ad nauseam.

I can remember having a sinking suspicion when my Mom moved out of that house that it would fall into a further state of disrepair. The house was not in bad shape, but it certainly was in need of a little love and elbow grease here and there.

I was worried that the house would fall into the possession of some notorious area slum lords, but it didn’t. It ended up being worse than that. The people who bought that were hoarders and they took a house that needed a few touches and ran it straight into the ground.

In less than a score of years, the house was condemned. Beyond reclamation. Slated for history’s ash heap.

Last Tuesday, the house was euthanized. Put out of its final misery. It was no longer a home. No longer a place of hopes and dreams. It was just a house. A collection of brick, beams, wood, pipes. It was time for it to go.

I got stuck at the computer mine a little late last Monday. I was a little behind schedule on my way home when Carla called me with the news.

I wasn’t sad to hear the news. It was actually relief. I have avoided driving down that street for years because it filled me with anger to see the state the old girl was in. After years, that rage had turned into sadness. Now it was over. I can drive down that street again.

Here are a few pictures of the house when it was a home to be remembered:

Here are pictures from the destruction of the house on 415 Greene Street:

I honestly thinking the house being torn down hurt my friends more than it hurt me or my sisters and Mom. It shows what it meant to so many people.

Baseball/Softball, Candid Portrait, Dawn, House, Jesse, Lowell

2009-06-23

October 12, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

The pictures in the folder are mostly from a Little League game I attended that was coached by Jesse and Lowell. It doesn’t appear that I ever published those pictures before.

There are a couple of pictures of the Garden of Eden that is my backyard. Grapes, raspberries, garlic, and currants are all proudly on display!

I eventually tore out the currant bush because I couldn’t find anybody that wanted them. Dawn took some and made me a currant cheesecake, but that was about it. I kind of wish I still had the bush now, but I also wish that I took better care of my raspberry bush.

By adding these pictures to the Photography 139 Gallery, I was able to restore the following historic “An Artist’s Notebook” entry to its original glory:

What the Hades?

Next week’s walk down memory land will involve flowers!

Animals, Baier, Black & White, Candid Portrait, Derrick, Ernie, Event, Faust, House, James, Jay, Jen, Jesse, Jill, Logan, Monica, Russell, Sara, Scottie D., Shannon, Steve, Teresa

2009-05-29

September 1, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett 1 Comment

There are a wide variety of pictures in the folder 2009-05-29. They range from pictures of socks that Shannon made to Ernie trimming trees to baby worst birds to invites to my housewarming party to pictures Sara took at my housewarming party.

The guy in the picture with me and Jesse was my neighbor across the street from me. He would sometimes drop by at all hours of the night. He was a good guy, but his struggles overcame him and he passed away a couple years after this picture was taken.

However, looking at these pictures, it does inspire me to bring back the birthday party in 2020. I’m about 95% sure that I will.

By adding these pictures to the Photography 139 Gallery, I was able to restore the following historic “An Artist’s Notebook” entries to their original glory:

The Fruit of the Mystery Trees
Mr. Bunyan
Memorial Day Backyard
Shindy
Housewarming Invites

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve flowers.

Black & White, Flowers, History, House, James, Politics

2009-04-28 & 2009-05-01

August 10, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

There are only 3 days left to vote for what pictures I enter in the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest.

If you don’t think you have the time or energy to vote in all 6 polls right now, you can vote for one of the Nature polls right now!

Nature Set 2

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If you are ready to vote in all 6 polls, click on the link below:

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest

Thanks for voting!

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The pictures in the folders 2009-05-01 & 2009-04-28 are from my backyard when I was still trying to figure out what I had in my backyard.

Except one picture is of a text message I got from James on the day he was given one of the most basic human rights. Hard to believe that it was only 10 years ago. It is hard to believe that such a basic human right was “given” 10 years ago.

It is a reminder that we have come some ways in the civil rights in this country. Even though we have had a major regression in the last couple of years.

By adding these pictures to The Photography 139 Gallery I was able to restore the following historic “An Artist’s Notebook” entries to their original glory:

The Land Awakens
Cardinalidae
Don Lockwood
State of Enlightenment

Next week’s walk down memory lane will feature Shannon, very well dressed.

Art, House, Still Life

2009-04-07

July 6, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

The pictures in the folder 2009-04-07 are mostly of the paint, light fixtures, and fans I put in my house when I bought it.

By adding these pictures to the Photography 139 Gallery, I was able to restore the following historical “An Artist’s Notebook” entries to their original glory:

The Kitchen
The Great Room
The Master Bedroom
My Favorite President
October Leaves

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve the Junck electric car.