This is the final collection of images I took while on a road trip with Michelle to harvest the town signs of Linn and Jones County. Most of these are in Jones County, but the last two are in Linn County.
Wyoming
Oxford Junction
Morley
Martelle
Mount Vernon
The next County we are going to visit the next time we hit the open road is Cedar County.
Many of my post titles come from the titles of songs or from quotes. I don’t usually reveal the source of the post title, because I hope that the reader thinks on it for at least half a second.
To share how I get to where I get, so you can get a small inkling on how my mind walks around this planet, I thought I would share how today’s title came about.
The pictures I am sharing today were taken near Lost Lake in Ledges last November. One of them you have seen before because it is the September image of the 2022 Photography 139 Calendar.
Because they were taken near LOST lake, the basis of the title is from the following words about being lost:
Sometimes being lost is the best way to find yourself.
-LJ Vanier
Here are some pictures that helped me find myself:
Can anybody figure out what this says?
A quick thought on graffiti. I am a big fan of graffiti. One of the things I like about living in a railroad town (besides it provides jobs to a few of my friends) is because every day when the trains roll through town it is like a mobile museum. Now much of the art isn’t great, but usually I see at least one thing that I enjoy. In fact, when I work at the Ames Computer Mine, I frequently head down 17 and then take Old 30 into Boone, even though it takes longer, just to check out the graffiti on the parked railroad cars that are usually by the Jordan elevator.
With all of that being said, I can’t stand graffiti in nature. The sayings here that are drawn in this with chalk or a media that will quickly fade away. I’m cool with that. But using spray paint. I’m not down. Tag up a railroad car or the side of a building or a bridge. I’m down with that.
This is your reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is #INSTAGOOD:
#INSTAGOOD! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!
But what is a #INSTAGOOD picture? #INSTAGOOD is the second most popular hashtag used on Instagram. As of this morning, it has been used on Instagram 1,531,803,168 times. You might be thinking, “Well, that is an interesting statistic, that doesn’t tell me what it means!”
Don’t worry baby birds, I’m gonna feed you.
The #INSTAGOOD hashtag is used when an Instagram user thinks that the picture is particularly good. Not just your average picture, but a good picture. For our uses, this week’s theme is to send me you best picture you took during this week. From between 12:01 PM today and 10:59 next Monday.
So that brings me to the new rule for this week’s theme:
SEND ME ONE AND ONLY ONE PICTURE!! THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE BEST PICTURE YOU TOOK THIS WEEK! DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT SENDING ME MULTIPLE IMAGES AND TELLING ME TO PICK THE BEST ONE. I WILL NOT DO IT!! I WILL COUNT THAT AS ZERO SUBMISSIONS! I’D HATE TO SEEN ANY STREAKS ENDED CAUSE OF A TECHNICALITY!
This is one of two themes that will have special rules this year. The other one is also coming up pretty soon.
Surprisingly, I’ve already received a couple of submissions. I love the bravado! It isn’t even the weekend yet and people have decided, this is it! This is the best picture I can take this week! I mean it is possible that I have already taken the best picture I will take this week already. But I’m also arrogant enough to think the next click of the shutter will be the best picture. Then the click after that will be even better.
Happy photo harvesting!
Back in October I picked up a new Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 Di III VXD lens. I always meant to right and in depth piece on it, and well, here we are… almost seven months lately and I haven’t even gotten to look at the first set of pictures I took with the lens. Until today!
Here are some of the specs of the Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 Di III VXD lens:
Focal Length: 28-75
Max Aperture: f/2.8
Aperture Blades: 9 (circular)
Minimum Focal Distance 7.1″ (Wide)/15″ (Tele)
Filter Size: 67mm
Minimum Aperture: f/22
Here are the first pictures I took with this lens. Mostly pictures of Naima:
So far I have loved this lens. It is a good standby lens since it covers the focal distances that are used the most. My lens philosophy is still that it is best to use a prime lens over a zoom lens, but zoom lenses have come a long way. I do still enjoy giving somebody a camera with a prime lens and asking them to take a picture, just to here them ask, “How do I zoom?”
To which I always get to respond, “With your feet.”
Here is another collection of auxiliary images I took on my road trip with Michelle to harvest the town signs of Linn County and Jones County. All of these pictures were taken in Jones County.
Cascade
Michelle wouldn’t go down these stairs. What’s the matter Colonel Sanders, chicken?
Onslow
I do love when I find churches that are unlocked and you can go inside and check out there beauty. I say that even more cause I sit through Trustees meetings for my church… well that is all I’m going to say on that matter at this time.
Harvesting the town signs of Lyon County was a two step process. I was hoping to get it done in one trip, but my first trip to the northwest corner of Iowa was halted by bad weather. I ran into a hail storm when I was in Rock Rapids. It was bad enough, that I decided to head south and then back east. Then I went back up there a few weeks later with Teresa and harvested the rest of the signs that weather had prevented me from grabbing.
Here are some facts about Lyon County:
+ The population is 11,800 making it the 64th most populous county in Iowa. Below Chickasaw County and above Shelby County.
+ The largest town and county seat is Rock Rapids.
+ County was originally named Buncombe County, but name was changed in 1862 to honor General Nathaniel Lyon who was killed in the Battle of Wilson’s Creek in Missouri during the Civil War. He was also involved in massacring members of the Pomo tribe in the Bloody Island Massacre, so not really a great guy. Perhaps they should go back to Buncombe County. There is a chance that Buncombe was a great guy. Not much of a chance, but you never know.
+ Home of the Gitchie Manitou Preserve which contains some of the oldest exposed bedrock in the United States and was also the site of a mass murder of teenagers in 1973.
+ Major highways are US-18, US-75, IA-9, and IA-182.
+ Adjacent counties are: Osceola and Sioux.
+ Population peaked in 1920 at 15,431.
The Lyon County Courthouse looks an awful lot like the Boone Courthouse:
The Lyon County Freedom Rock is located in George, Iowa:
With Lyon County conquered, here is the updated Photography 139 Conquest Map:
68 counties completed. 68.7% of the Cyclone State conquered.
Here are the town signs of Lyon County:
George, Iowa
WELCOME TO GEORGE
A Great Place to Raise a Family
Population: 1,077 (-3)
Inwood, Iowa
Welcome to Inwood
Population: 928 (+114)
Larchwood, Iowa
Weclome!
TO LARCHWOOD
CORNERSTONE OF IOWA
Population: 926 (+60)
Doon, Iowa
Welcome to DOON
Population: 619 (+42)
Little Rock, Iowa
LITTLE ROCK
HOME OF THE CORN SHOW
Population: 439 (-20)
Lester, Iowa
Village of Lester
Welcome – please drive safely!
Population: 296 (+2)
Alvord, Iowa
Welcome to ALVORD
Population: 206 (+10)
I think Lyon County has a solid collection of signs. There isn’t a show stopper, but there isn’t a bad sign. If I had to pick the worst sign, it is clearly Rock Rapids and their boring sign. Rock Rapids also has a bunch of really cool murals, so it is a shame that their sign is so boring.
But who takes home the purple ribbon? I like the signs of Larchwood, Little Rock and I find Doon’s sign to be fascinating. But I’m going to have to give it to George. It looks like it was painted by their Jr. High art class, but not the best students in the art class. In a word, it is amazing!
There are a few alternate town signs in Lyon County:
Larchwood – Alternate
Inwood – Alternate
Here is the current list of Best in Shows:
Best in Show – Adams County
Best in Show – Audubon County
Best in Show – Benton County
Best in Show – Boone County
Best in Show – Bremer County
Best in Show – Buena Vista County
Best in Show – Butler County
Best in Show – Calhoun County
Best in Show – Carroll County
Best in Show – Cass County
Best in Show – Cedar County
Best in Show – Cerro Gordo County
Best in Show – Cherokee County
Best in Show – Clarke County
Best in Show – Clay County
Best in Show – Clinton County
Best in Show – Crawford County
Best in Show – Dallas County
Best in Show – Decatur County
Best in Show – Franklin County
Best in Show – Fremont County
Best in Show – Greene County
Best in Show – Grundy County
Best in Show – Guthrie County
Best in Show – Hamilton County
Best in Show – Hancock County
Best in Show – Hardin County
Best in Sow – Harrison County
Best in Show – Humboldt County
Best in Show – Ida County
Best in Show – Iowa County
Best in Show – Jackson County
Best in Show – Jasper County
Best in Show – Jones County
Best in Show – Kossuth County
Best in Show – Linn County
Best in Show – Lucas County
Best in Show – Lyon County
Best in Show – Madison County
Best in Show – Mahaska County
Best in Show – Marion County
Best in Show – Marshall County
Best in Show – Mills County
Best in Show – Monona County
Best in Show – Monroe County
Best in Show – Montgomery County
Best in Show – O’Brien County
Best in Show – Osceola County
Best in Show – Page County
Best in Show – Palo Alto County
Best in Show – Pocahontas County
Best in Show – Polk County
Best in Show – Pottawattamie County
Best in Show – Poweshiek County
Best in Show – Ringgold County
Best in Show – Sac County
Best in Show – Shelby County
Best in Show – Story County
Best in Show – Tama County
Best in Show – Taylor County
Best in Show – Union County
Best in Show – Warren County
Best in Show – Wayne County
Best in Show – Webster County
Best in Show – Winnebago County
Best in Show – Worth County
Best in Show – Wright County
The next time we hit the open road for THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT, we will hit the open roads of Sioux County.
WARNING: READ THE RULES FOR NEXT WEEK’S THEME CARFEULLY. THERE IS ONE CHANGE FOR NEXT WEEK’S THEME!
LETTERS OR NUMBERS has proven to be a fairly popular theme.
As of 12:01 PM on Monday, April 18, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks:
+ Evie Gorshe – 1 week
+ Sarah Karber – 1 week
+ Kim Barker – 2 weeks
+ Sara Lockner – 2 weeks
+ Becky Parmelee – 2 weeks
+ Joe Duff – 3 weeks
+ Dawn Krause – 3 weeks
+ Linda Bennett – 4 weeks
+ Suzie Brannen – 4 weeks
+ Monica Henning – 4 weeks
+ Logan Kahler – 5 weeks
+ Teresa Kahler – 13 weeks
+ Tamara Peterson – 13 weeks
+ Carla Stensland – 13 weeks
+ Michelle Haupt – 14 weeks
+ Micky Augustin – 15 weeks
+ Andy Sharp – 16 weeks
+ Bill Wentworth – 17 weeks
+ Cathie Raley – 21 weeks
+ Elizabeth Nordeen – 22 weeks
+ Shannon Bardole-Foley – 24 weeks
+ Kio Dettman – 27 weeks
But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates or streaks. You came to see the submissions and what streaks continued and what streaks flamed out:
Teresa Kahler
Sara Lockner – 3 weeks
Elizabeth Nordeen – 23 weeks
Andy Sharp – 17 weeks
Evie Gorshe – 2 weeks
Micky Augustin – 16 weeks
Joe Duff – 4 weeks
Kio Dettman – 28 weeks
Kio Dettman
Kio Dettman
Kio Dettman
Tamara Peterson – 14 weeks
Angie DeWaard – 1 week
Bill Wentworth – 18 weeks
Christopher D. Bennett
Carla Stensland – 14 weeks
Carla Stensland
Michelle Haupt – 15 weeks
Becky Parmelee – 3 weeks
Linda Bennett – 5 weeks
Shannon Bardole-Foley – 25 weeks
Logan Kahler – 6 weeks
Kim Barker – 3 weeks
Dawn Krause – 4 weeks
Dawn Krause
Cathie Raley – 22 weeks
Jesse Howard – 1 week
Suzie Brannen – 5 weeks
Monica Henning – 5 weeks
Monica Henning
31 submissions from 24 participants! That is a great week!
Only 1 “streak” was snapped. Sarah wasn’t able to built on her submission from last week. However, to balance that out, Angie participated for the first time in Year 9. Hopefully this is the sign of big things to come!
Here are the current top streaks:
1. Kio – 28 weeks
2. Shannon – 25 weeks
3. Elizabeth – 23 weeks
4. Cathie – 22 weeks
5. Bill – 18 weeks
6. Andy Sharp – 17 weeks
7. Micky Augustin – 16 weeks
8. Michelle Haupt – 15 weeks
9. Teresa Kahler – 14 weeks
9. Tamara Peterson – 14 weeks
9. Carla Stensland – 14 weeks
But enough dwelling on the past. Time to look to the future. We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives. And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future! This week’s theme:
#INSTAGOOD! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!
But what is a #INSTAGOOD picture? #INSTAGOOD is the second most popular hashtag used on Instagram. As of this morning, it has been used on Instagram 1,531,803,168 times. You might be thinking, “Well, that is an interesting statistic, that doesn’t tell me what it means!”
Don’t worry baby birds, I’m gonna feed you.
The #INSTAGOOD hashtag is used when an Instagram user thinks that the picture is particularly good. Not just your average picture, but a good picture. For our uses, this week’s theme is to send me you best picture you took during this week. From between 12:01 PM today and 10:59 next Monday.
So that brings me to the new rule for this week’s theme:
SEND ME ONE AND ONLY ONE PICTURE!! THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE BEST PICTURE YOU TOOK THIS WEEK! DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT SENDING ME MULTIPLE IMAGES AND TELLING ME TO PICK THE BEST ONE. I WILL NOT DO IT!! I WILL COUNT THAT AS ZERO SUBMISSIONS! I’D HATE TO SEEN ANY STREAKS ENDED CAUSE OF A TECHNICALITY!
So now that is clear. When considering possible subjects for your best picture this week, meditate on these song lyrics from a song from THE KARATE KID:
Try to be best
‘Cause you’re only a man
And a man’s gotta learn to take it
Try to believe
Though the going gets rough
That you gotta hang tough to make it
History repeats itself
Try and you’ll succeed
Never doubt that you’re the one
And you can have your dreams!
You’re the best!
Around!
Nothing’s gonna ever keep you down
You’re the Best!
Around!
Nothing’s gonna ever keep you down
You’re the Best!
Around!
Nothing’s gonna ever keep you down
I look forwarding to seeing the best you got next Monday!
The picture has to be taken between 12:01 PM today and 11 AM next Monday. This isn’t a curate your photos project. This is a get your butt off the couch (unless you are taking your picture from the couch) and take pictures challenge.
You can send your images to either bennett@photography139.com OR you may text them to my Pixel 5.
That is all I got, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will all be sharing your idea of #INSTAGOOD in this place that is nothing more than the best I got next Monday.
Time for another Formal Portrait Sunday. Time once again to check-in with the photo shoot I did for Jayton’s Senior Pictures.
Here is the third volume of pictures:
Next Sunday’s formal portraits will check back in with Kyle and his Senior Pictures.
The Saturdays of repairing broken “An Artist’s Notebook” post from the past are gone. At least I think I hope they are. I’m sure there is still work to be done still. There always is work to be done.
Therefore, I’m not sure what will occupy Saturdays. It will probably just be a random collection of things until maybe I get caught up on the backlog. And then it is quite possible we will start taking Saturdays off. Of course, I’ve been saying that for years, so we will see what we see.
Here is a collection of pictures I took while harvesting the tow signs of Linn County and Jones County. Linn County was done over two trips. One where I got most of the town signs of Linn County and another where I went back and got some troublesome signs like Cedar Rapids and Hiawatha and Robins. I didn’t take many auxiliary images in Linn County. On the second trip where I cleaned up Linn County, Michelle was my “navigator”. It was also a windy day. It seems like whenever Michelle and I get together, it is a windy day.
Here is the first collection of Auxiliary images from Linn and Jones County:
Jones County – Stone City
As you can tell, Grant Wood and “American Gothic” is important to Jones County. Stone City is a cool little unincorporated town. Although, there is much there now but memories. It is too bad that nothing remains of that hotel pictures on the sign. It looked beautiful. I wish we would have been able to visit the inside of the “General Store”, but it wasn’t open yet when we got there.
There are plenty more pictures from this road trip to share in the future!
Going to share a couple of tenderloin experiences today. One was from a couple months ago when I went to Freddy’s with Teresa and had their tenderloin, which was a limited time thing. Usually I don’t record (or even eat) fast food tenderloins, but I figured, what the heck. Freddy’s isn’t a dump like the Evil Clown Empire or Burger King or Wendy’s. Freddy’s is a premium fast food restaurant. Or as those in the biz say, a quick service restaurant.
Here are some cruddy cell phone pictures from the experience:
The quick take is, that for a fast food tenderloin, Freddy’s really nailed it. I don’t lower myself to fast food tenderloins very often, even at B-Bop’s (and you all know how I stan for B-Bop’s), but I would definitely get the Freddy’s tenderloin again.
I don’t think there is a need to break it down any more than that. If you’ve been to Freddy’s you know it is the bomb. Except for their fries, which kinda suck. Go for the onion rings and all will be well in the world! And if you leave without getting a Freddy’s frozen custard, are we even friends?
Recently the phone at the Tenderloin Appreciation Society’s headquarters rang. It was team member Michelle with a hot tip on a Ames tenderloin worth checking out. The tip came somebody within Michelle’s sphere of influence. The newish local pancake house Flip’N Jacks was rumored to have a tenderloin of some consequence.
Michelle and I made lunch plans on a particularly windy day to give it a shot.
Here are some cruddy cell phone pictures from the day:
The Flip’N Jacks tenderloin is pretty good. In fact, at first I thought it was great. The first few bites, I was really impressed, but as I went on, I became less impressed. It was like the closer I got to the middle the more it tasted like dirty oil. I’ve never experienced that before, so may be it was an illusion. I would definitely go back and order this tenderloin again. But I’d rank it the second best tenderloin in Ames behind The Filling Station. Michelle however, would rank it higher than The Filling Station.
Here is the breakdown:
+ Toasted bun.
+ Good thick cut of meat.
+ Good breading.
+ Good flavor.
+ Cooked to perfection.
+ Onions, lettuce, and tomato on the bottom bun. I didn’t like this at first, but the more I think about it, this might be the wave of the future for tenderloins.
+ Fries were good.
+ Served Pepsi products.
+ Brioche bun.
+ Meat to bun ratio all sorts of out of whack.
+ Lettuce and tomato served by default.
+ Service was a little slow, but not terrible.
+ The middle of the tenderloin tasted oily, not in a good way.
It was very good, but I have a confession. I did not finish it. I’m sorry that I have failed you, but I have to be honest. You guys demand it.
This is your reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is LETTERS OR NUMBERS:
LETTERS OR NUMBERS! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!
But what is a LETTERS OR NUMBERS picture? A LETTERS OR NUMBERS picture is simply any picture that features LETTERS OR NUMBERS or both! They can be used to create words or they can just be a random jumble like in the theme reveal image.
Happy photo harvesting!
Another Thursday collection. Another day to share some flower pictures. Believe it or not, I don’t have many flower pictures from 2021 left. It is still too early to take flower pictures this year. Although in about a week or so I do want to head down to tulip pictures. I like to go down there a week before their tulip festival because most of their tulips are blooming and it isn’t lousy with people.
I was hoping to hit the Orange City Tulip Festival this year, but looks likes I’m going to be in Miami that weekend doing a little computer mining. My flight leaves on my birthday at 6 AM. Looks like I’ll be celebrating my birth at a baseball game that night tentatively. At least I hope so, as I have ordered a baseball cap for the occasion.
Here are those flower pictures:
That is it! The last dedicated flower collection from 2021. Not sure what I will share next Thursday. It is a riddle. Wrapped in a mystery. Inside an enigma.
