Category Archives: Ruins

Them Degeneffe Boys – Volume 2

As Pufferbilly Days wound to a close, I would like to share the photos that were selected by popular vote and how they did in the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest:


Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest - 2018
No Love.

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest - 2018
No Love.

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest - 2018
No Love.

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest - 2018
3rd Place – Hidden Treasures of Boone County.

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest - 2018
1st Place – Photojournalism.

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest - 2018
1st Place – Photoshop.

As far as I know, there wasn’t anybody else in the contest that I know. Once again, they didn’t put any names on any of the photos. In years past they had at least put a sheet of paper at the bottom of the display with a list of who finished 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. It is what it is.

I started entering the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest again 2 years ago because I was worried that the amount of entries had gotten really small. the last couple of years the numbers had ballooned. This year, the amount of entries atrophied again.

Hopefully it bounces back again next year.

+++++++

We are so close to the end of the 2016 backlog that you can probably feel it. After this post, there is only one photo shoot left to publish.

But before we get to that, we need to finish up with the pictures of Austin and Porter at a McHose Park playground.


Degeneffe Boys

Degeneffe Boys

Degeneffe Boys

Degeneffe Boys

Degeneffe Boys

Degeneffe Boys

Degeneffe Boys

Degeneffe Boys

Degeneffe Boys

Degeneffe Boys

Degeneffe Boys

Degeneffe Boys

Degeneffe Boys

Degeneffe Boys

Degeneffe Boys

Degeneffe Boys

Degeneffe Boys

Degeneffe Boys

Degeneffe Boys

Degeneffe Boys

Next Sunday, when hit the 2016 backlog, we look at a commercial photo shoot I did for a Minnesota leather company.

Mill Creek Stone Bridge

As the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest polling was drawing closer, I felt that I should go out and take one more picture for the Hidden Boone County Treasures.

I knew I wanted to take a picture of the Mill Creek Stone Bridge. It is located near what was once The Kate Shelley Museum. I suppose that it probably still is The Kate Shelley Museum, but I can’t imagine a day in the future where it is open again.

The Boone Historical Society has become something of a town embarrassment I’m told. Which makes me sad because I grew up somewhat in its shadow. On one of the bookshelves (humble brag, I know how to read) in my bedroom I still have an extensive collection of Trail Tales from the 80s. A magazine put out by the Boone Historical Society. My Dad was a frequent contributor.

From what I know of the debacle, The Boone Historical Society recently decided to close down the Mamie Eisenhower Birthplace. The director had a whiz-bang plan of turning it into a bed & breakfast. Which if you’ve ever been inside the house, you would know is a pretty terrible idea.

This raised the dander of the former members of a separate historical society that used to run the Eisenhower Birthplace because they sold the house to the Boone Historical Society for a $1.

Apparently meetings got pretty heated. Enough so, and for no apparent reason, they started having armed guards at them. Whenever guns get involved, you know it has gotten stupid.

The city and the county started withholding their funding for the Historical Society.

The Historical Society then sent out some kind of pledge to its members asking them to pledge to “stop talk so much trash about us” in the social media world. I’m sure that worked really well for them. Because telling people to “stop talking about how bad we are at our jobs because it makes us look bad at our jobs” seems like a sound strategy. Seems like something Donnie Moscow would try to do. A pledge my Mom refused to sign.

It recently came to a head, where due to lack of funding, the Historical Society had to terminate its director, administrative assistant, and cleaning crew. They also announced that they will have to put the Eisenhower Birthplace on the market.

I don’t know what the future of the Boone County Historical Society holds, but I imagine a major re-direction is on the horizon. Hopefully maybe some day they will put some work into the Kate Shelley Museum.

So under that cloud, I sojourned out to Moingona to photograph one of the more interesting abandoned train bridges in Boone County. Here are some of those images:


Mill Creek Stone Bridge

Mill Creek Stone Bridge

Mill Creek Stone Bridge

Mill Creek Stone Bridge

Mill Creek Stone Bridge

Mill Creek Stone Bridge

Mill Creek Stone Bridge

Mill Creek Stone Bridge

Mill Creek Stone Bridge

Mill Creek Stone Bridge

Mill Creek Stone Bridge

Mill Creek Stone Bridge

Mill Creek Stone Bridge

Mill Creek Stone Bridge

Mill Creek Stone Bridge

Mill Creek Stone Bridge

Since we talkin’ trains. Reminder that Pufferbilly Days starts on the morrow. You can see the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest in the window of the KWBG building. 9th and Keeler.

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Entry Selection Process

It is once again time for me (and by me, I mean you guys) to pick out my photos to enter in the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. Once again, I am going to leave it up to a popular vote.

The Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest allows you to enter up to 6 photos.

There are 4 Categories:

1. Nature
2. Photojournalism
3. Photoshop Enhanced
4. Hidden Treasures of Boone County.

I was told that voting for the Boone County Fair was too complicated. A computer guy even told me it was a tough nut to crack. Therefore, I have made the process as easy as I can conceive this time. I had the QA guy from the Computer Mine Beta Test for me. Thanks Micky!

I have selected 60 images for you to consider. To simplify things, I have split the 60 photos into 6 sets of 10. If you wish to exercise your enfranchisement, clicking on the link below will take you to Poll #1. Vote for one of those pictures and then move onto the next poll, until you have voted in all six polls.

The winner of each poll will be entered into the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest.

Click on the link below to start voting:

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominees

Voting will end at midnight, August 8.

If you want to study up beforehand, keep scrolling down to see the nominees here:

POLL 1 – PHOTOSHOP

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#1

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#2

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#3

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#4

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#5

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#6

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#7

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#8

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#9

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#10

POLL 2 – PHOTOJOURNALISM

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#1

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#2

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#3

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#4

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#5
2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#6

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#7

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#8

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#9

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#10

POLL 3 – NATURE (FLOWERS)
2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#1

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#2

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#3

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#4

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#5

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#6

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#7

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#8

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#9

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#10

POLL 4 – NATURE (ANIMALS)
2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#1

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#2

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#3

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#4

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#5

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#6

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#7

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#8

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#9

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#10

POLL 5 – HIDDEN TREASURES OF BOONE COUNTY (GROUP 1)
2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#1

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#2

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#3

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#4

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#5

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#6

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#7

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#8

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#9

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#10

POLL 6 – HIDDEN TREASURES OF BOONE COUNTY (GROUP 2)
2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#1

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#2

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#3

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#4

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#5

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#6

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#7

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#8

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#9

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#10

Thank you in advance for your time and your opinions!

Boone County Fair Photo Contest Entry Selection Process

It is time to select my photos for the Boone County Fair Photo Contest and you get to help select the pictures that go.

I have placed 50 images in a SmugMug Photo Gallery. I would like you to go to that Photo Gallery and vote for up to 5 images in the gallery. You can also rate the images on a 5 star scale.

I will enter the 5 pictures with the most votes. The tie-breaker will be image with the highest star rating.

You will vote for an image by leaving a comment on the image you want to vote for.

Once you are at the gallery, look for something that looks like this:



The one caveat is that you need to have either a Facebook or a Google+ account to leave a comment.

Click on the link below to go to the gallery to vote:

BOONE COUNTY FAIR PHOTO CONTEST ENTRY SELECTION

The deadline to vote is next Tuesday at midnight.

Here are the nominees:


No. 1

No. 2

No. 3



No. 5

No. 6

No. 7

No. 8

No. 9

No. 10

No. 11

No. 12

No. 13

No. 14

No. 15

No. 16

No. 17

No. 18

No. 19

No. 20

No. 21

No. 22

No. 23

No. 24

No. 25

No. 26

No. 27

No. 28

No. 29

No. 30

No. 31

No. 32

No. 33

No. 34

No. 35

No. 36

No. 37

No. 38

No. 39

No. 40

No. 41

No. 42

No. 43

No. 44

No. 45

No. 46

No. 47

No. 48

No. 49

No. 50

Thanks for helping pick the Boone County Fair Photo Contest Entries!

I’m Feeling It; You Don’t Like It Then Deal with It; And if God Ain’t Real; Real Isn’t

While it is true that Photography 139 doesn’t take holidays, it is also true that Photography 139, okay me, can try to rush stuff together and throw it all together because while they will still post on say Memorial Day, they don’t have all that much time.

This lead me to making a couple of regrettable errors in yesterday’s initial blog posting.

#1 – I mistakenly credited a series of photos to Linda Bennett (my aunt and occasional submitter) instead of Linda Clark. This error has since been corrected.

#2 – Kim Barker submitted 3 photos, but I only posted 1.

A pox upon me for a clumsy lout.

You can see the corrections by clicking on the link below:

Weekly Photo Challenge – Week 141 – Store

Below are my alternates for the WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE:


Store - Alternate

Store - Alternate

Store - Alternate

Store - Alternate

Store - Alternate

Store - Alternate

Store - Alternate

Store - Alternate

You’re welcome wold!

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 141 – STORE

Before I get into the business of the WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE, I need to point out that today is Memorial Day. Happy Memorial Day. Don’t forget what this day celebrates.


Memorial Day - 2018
Iowa Veterans Cemetery – Van Meter, Iowa

The WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE took its customary holiday hit for participation rates. I also know that STORE is not the most popular theme, even though I enjoy it. However, as we close in on another new set of 52 themes, I would advise you to suggest themes for the next 52 themes. The best way to do that is to leave a comment in the “Comments” section of this here blog.

The only theme suggested for this next 52 has been BREAKFAST by Andy Sharp. Only 51 theme ideas to go!

However, you didn’t come here to talk all tommyrot about participation rates, you came to see the submissions:


WEEK 141 - STORE - KIM BARKER
Kim Barker

WEEK 141 - STORE - MICKY AUGUSTIN
Micky Augustin

WEEK 141 - STORE - BECKY PARMELEE
Becky Parmelee

WEEK 141 - STORE - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT
Christopher D. Bennett

WEEK 141 - STORE - LINDA BENNETT
Linda Clark

WEEK 141 - STORE - LINDA BENNETT
Linda Clark

WEEK 141 - STORE - LINDA BENNETT
Linda Clark

WEEK 141 - STORE - KIM BARKER
Kim Barker

WEEK 141 - STORE - KIM BARKER
Kim Barker

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:


WEEK 142 - RELIGION
RELIGION

RELIGION! What a great theme! But what is a RELIGION photo? A RELIGION photo is any photo that involves the practice of religious belief. That could be a religious book, a religious building, religious art, or religious ritual.

As usual, I look forward to seeing your interpretations!

HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

1. The picture has to be taken the week of the theme. This isn’t a curate your pictures challenge. This is a get your butt off the couch (my personal experience) and put your camera in your hands challenge. Don’t send me a picture of you next to the Eiffel Tower, when I know you were in Iowa all week. I will point out that I have let that slide some in the past. I will not in the future. Since it is literally about the only rule.

2. Your submission needs to be emailed to bennett@photography139.com by 11 AM on the Monday of the challenge due date. It should be pointed out that this blog auto-publishes at 12:01 on Mondays. So it wouldn’t hurt to get your picture in earlier.

That is it, them’s the rules.

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DIVISION

Nobody showed class, taste, and sophistication this week by signing up for a Photography 139 email subscription. I’ll try and do better next week.

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 WEBMASTER

2 out of the last 3 days and 3 times in the last 30, the publishing of the blog has caused the website to crash. I’m currently working on the matter. Hopefully this post didn’t crash the website. This will possibly lead to a new page being added to the website. We will see.

**************************************

That’s all I got for today, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will commune right here again next Monday. Hopefully it will be a very religious Monday!

I Wreck these Stages, Real Talk, Better Give Me Space ‘Cause I Am Chasing

The world wasn’t ready for these ARCHITECTURE pictures on Monday. I’m not sure the world is ready for them now, but I can’t hold them back any longer…


Architecture - Alternate

Architecture - Alternate

Architecture - Alternate

Architecture - Alternate

Architecture - Alternate

Architecture - Alternate

Architecture - Alternate

Architecture - Alternate

Architecture - Alternate

Architecture - Alternate

Architecture - Alternate

Architecture - Alternate

Architecture - Alternate

Architecture - Alternate

Architecture - Alternate

Architecture - Alternate

Architecture - Alternate

Architecture - Alternate

Architecture - Alternate

Architecture - Alternate

Architecture - Alternate

Architecture - Alternate

Architecture - Alternate

Architecture - Alternate

Architecture - Alternate

I took all of these photos while I was out looking for town signs. They range from Roland to Cambridge.

You’re welcome world!

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 137 – ARCHITECTURE

A good week of submissions for ARCHITECTURE. I have no doubt that my outhouse picture inspired many a person to submit this week. This week, the Photography 139 Empire extended as far east as Chicago. As far north as Roland, Iowa. As far west as the Des Moines Airport. As far south as the Indianola area. There is some guesswork in these estimations.

The exciting development this week is that we have a first time contributor! Linda Clark submitted 2 photos. I’m expecting big things from her in the future!

But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates. You came to see the submissions:


WEEK 137 - ARCHITECTURE - ANDY SHARP
Andy Sharp

WEEK 137 - CARLA STENSLAND
Carla Stensland

WEEK 137 - ARCHITECTURE - LINDA CLARK
Linda Clark

WEEK 137 - ARCHITECTURE - KIM BARKER
Kim Barker

WEEK 137 - ARCHITECTURE - LINDA CLARK
Linda Clark

WEEK 137 - ARCHITECTURE - SARAH KARBER
Sarah Karber

WEEK 137 - ARCHITECTURE - TAMARA PETERSON
Tamara Peterson

WEEK 137 - ARCHITECTURE - TAMARA PETERSON
Tamara Peterson

WEEK 137 - ARCHITECTURE - ANGIE DEWAARD
Angie DeWaard

WEEK 137 - ARCHITECTURE - ANDY SHARP
Andy Sharp

WEEK 137 - ARCHITECTURE - ANDY SHARP
Andy Sharp

WEEK 137 - ARCHITECTURE - SHANNON BARDOLE
Shannon Bardole

WEEK 137 - ARCHITECTURE - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT
Christopher D. Bennett

WEEK 137 - ARCHITECTURE - CATHIE RALEY
Cathie Raley

A solid week of submissions!

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:


WEEK 138 - CITY
CITY!

CITY! What a great theme! But what does it mean? CITY photography would be a picture of a CITY or a picture that takes place uniquely in a CITY. But what is a CITY?

Here is a handy dandy breakdown of settlement hierarchy Wikipedia:

Ecumenopolis – a theoretical construction in which the entire area of Earth that is taken up by human settlements, or at least, that those are linked so that to create urban areas so big that they can shape an urban continuum through thousands of kilometers which cannot be considered as a megalopolis. As of the year 2009, the United Nations estimated that for the first time more than 50% of the world’s populations lived in cities, so if these were linked, the total population of this area would be about 3,400,000,000 people as of 2010.
Megalopolis – a group of conurbations, consisting of more than ten million people each.
Conurbation – a group of large cities and their suburbs, consisting of three to ten million people.
Metropolis – a large city and its suburbs consisting of multiple cities and towns. The population is usually one to three million.
Large city – a city with a large population and many services. The population is <1 million people but over 300,000 people.

City – a city would have abundant services, but not as many as a large city. The population of a city is between 100,000 and 300,000 people.
Large town – a large town has a population of 20,000 to 100,000.
Town – a town has a population of 1,000 to 20,000.
Village – a village is a human settlement or community that is larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town. A village generally does not have many services, most likely a church or only a small shop or post office. The population of a village varies; the average population can range from hundreds to thousands.
Hamlet – a hamlet has a tiny population (<100) and very few (if any) services, with only a few buildings.
Isolated dwelling – an isolated dwelling would only have 1 or 2 buildings or families. It would have negligible services, if any.

Quite frankly, I don’t care what you call a CITY. I mean, unless you call Beaver, Iowa a city. If any of you send me a picture of Beaver, Iowa… God help you! But on the other hand, go nuts in Story City or Albert City or Charles City or Dakota City or Decatur City or Prairie City or Promise City.

As always, I look forward to seeing your interpretations!

HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

1. The picture has to be taken the week of the theme. This isn’t a curate your pictures challenge. This is a get your butt off the couch (my personal experience) and put your camera in your hands challenge. Don’t send me a picture of you next to the Eiffel Tower, when I know you were in Iowa all week. I will point out that I have let that slide some in the past. I will not in the future. Since it is literally about the only rule.

2. Your submission needs to be emailed to bennett@photography139.com by 11 AM on the Monday of the challenge due date. It should be pointed out that this blog auto-publishes at 12:01 on Mondays. So it wouldn’t hurt to get your picture in earlier.

That is it, them’s the rules.

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DIVISION

The latest person to show taste, class, and sophistication and sign on for a Photography 139 Email Subscription is Linda Clark. I honestly don’t know much about her, other than she is a relative of Andy Sharp and he says she has an interest in photography. Welcome aboard Linda! If you see her, feel free to give her a knowing glance and teach her the super-secret Photography 139 Handshake.

**************************************

That’s all I got for today, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will commune right here again next Monday. Hopefully it will be a very urban Monday!

Miller Estate Auction

This is one of probably 2 entries for An Artist’s Notebook about my Saturday morning last. This is about the later part of my morning, but you must know a little bit about the early morning to understand how this strange turn of events happened.

The earliest part of my morning was spent at Dickcissel Park with Naima. Things there went slightly sideways and I ended up having to be late for my normal Saturday morning breakfast with my Mom. We normally breakfast at The Whistle Stop Cafe because they have tasty pancakes (and I’m what you would call an expert on tasty pancakes #pancakelife), good service, and they are literally the only breakfast game in town since The Legal Limit shuttered their doors.

I mean, a person could lower themselves to eating at The Avenue of the Saints Cafe, but it is the answer to the age old question:

Is it possible to make something worse than Golden Corral?

Answer: Yes, The Avenue of the Saints Cafe.

The main drawback to The Whistle Stop Cafe is that it is tiny. There are maybe 4 booths, a couple of tables thrown up on the side, and maybe 10 or so counter stools. When we drove by the Whistle Stop Cafe, we were saddened to see that it was overflowing with customers. We needed a new plan.

We decided to head out to the Don Williams Clubhouse. It is about a 15 mile drive from Boone, but it served breakfast and it is under new management. We wanted to see if the new management has game.

The easiest way to get from the Whistle Stop to Don Williams is to head by Water Works and on past Fraser. However, on Wednesday night, Carla contacted me to let me know that there was a flock of swans (possibly) at the J. Carlson Wildlife area, between Boone and Ogden.

On Wednesday night I went out there and had a peek. It turned out that it wasn’t a bevy. It was a brief or a pod or a pouch or a scoop or a squadron. It was a group of pelicans is what I was getting at. On Wednesday I efforted to get a photo of them, but I couldn’t get a good angle on them.

On Thursday, I went back. They were gone. However, I did get a photo of an egret, so not all was lost.

On Saturday morning, I decided to take Old 30 to Ogden and then up County Road P70 to Don Williams to see if those pelicans had returned. They were, but none of that is important to the story.

Due to the chosen route, we picked up Carla and made our way towards breakfast.

On our way through Ogden, at the intersection of Old 30 and P70, we stumbled across a sizable auction. My people have auction in their blood from way back*. Possibly why I had a cousin once state:

I’m impressed how well you and your siblings turned out, considering the white trash you come from. #neverforget

But you know that he has the complete and utter moral ground to make statements like that. It isn’t like he ever ended up in prison or anything like that. I can’t hate.

While my tummy made the decision that we didn’t have time to stop at this auction at this time, there was little doubt that we would hit this auction on our way back to drop Carla off at her home.

Breakfast went fine. The new management serves a tasty breakfast. My one critique would be that portion sizes are somewhat small. However, the small portion sizes are reflected in the prices. The 3 of us ate breakfast for something like 18 dollars, American.

On the way back we stopped at the auction and this is where things got a little bit strange.

As I was walking around the auction, I noticed that some of the stuff seemed a little familiar. There was a Patio Pros (represent!) car in the driveway. There was a ton of plumbing and heating and cooling type stuff in the auction.

I began to suspect that this was an estate auction for Olivia’s Grandpa Dean. He passed away a few months back and I was a pallbearer at his funeral.

I saw Olivia’s cousin Jim there and approached him and he confirmed, this was indeed Grandpa Dean’s Estate Auction.

I took a few photos while I was there:


Miller Estate Auction

Miller Estate Auction

Miller Estate Auction

Miller Estate Auction

Miller Estate Auction

Miller Estate Auction

Miller Estate Auction

Miller Estate Auction

Miller Estate Auction

Miller Estate Auction

Miller Estate Auction

Miller Estate Auction

Miller Estate Auction

Miller Estate Auction

Miller Estate Auction

Miller Estate Auction

Miller Estate Auction

Miller Estate Auction

Miller Estate Auction

Miller Estate Auction

Miller Estate Auction

Miller Estate Auction

Miller Estate Auction

Miller Estate Auction

I never would’ve stumbled upon this auction IF:

+There weren’t pelicans at the J. Carlson Wildlife Area on Wednesday.
+If the pelicans would’ve been there on Thursday.
+If Naima hadn’t decided to do something stupid on Saturday morning.
+If the Whistle Stop Cafe wasn’t super packed.
+If Carla didn’t move out between Boone and Ogden.
+If the Don Williams Clubhouse hadn’t just re-opened for the season.

It was not the Saturday morning I envisioned when I closed my eyes and went off to slumberland on Friday night.

I didn’t buy anything, but Carla purchased a few nuggets. Grandpa Dean had his own plumbing business. Carla purchased a whole package of his business calendars from 1975 and 1976. Never opened. I’ll be giving some of those to Nate and Bethany next time I see them.

*I was almost born at the Hillbilly Auction after all.

You Ain’t Never Been in My Book and I Got a Problem with It, Why? ‘Cause You Acting Like You Read My Pages!

The world wasn’t ready for these GOVERNMENT pictures on Monday. I’m not sure the world is ready for them now, but I can’t hold them back any longer. Here are GOVERNMENT alternates:


Government - Alternate

Government - Alternate

Government - Alternate

Government - Alternate

Government - Alternate

Government - Alternate

Government - Alternate

Government - Alternate

Government - Alternate

Government - Alternate

Government - Alternate

Government - Alternate

Government - Alternate

Government - Alternate

Government - Alternate

Government - Alternate

Government - Alternate

Government - Alternate

Government - Alternate

Government - Alternate

Government - Alternate

Government - Alternate

Government - Alternate

Government - Alternate

Government - Alternate

Government - Alternate

Government - Alternate

Government - Alternate

Government - Alternate

Government - Alternate

Government - Alternate

Government - Alternate

Government - Alternate

Government - Alternate

Government - Alternate

Government - Alternate

Government - Alternate

Government - Alternate

Government - Alternate

Government - Alternate

Government - Alternate

Government - Alternate

Government - Alternate

Government - Alternate

If you are wondering why the bird photos are considered GOVERNMENT, it is because those pictures were taken on Boone County Wildlife Conservation Areas.

The last picture should not be seen as an endorsement of the lottery. It is the stated position of Photography 139 and all of its employees and subsidiaries, that the lottery is a scam. It is a self-imposed tax that is designed to move the tax burden from the wealthy to the poor and poorly educated.

You’re welcome world!