Category Archives: Politics

Clayton County Aux. – Vol. 6

I need to start today by wishing Carla a happy birthday. Happy birthday Carla!


Slice of Life Volume 1

I hope your birthday is as full of as much joy as you can handle!

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I also need to wish Monica a happy birthday. Happy birthday Monica!



I also hope your birthday is as full of as much joy as you can handle!

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A reminder that you have until Thursday at 11 AM (Central) to get your picks in for Year 18 of the Roundball Oracles. Click on the link below to join:

Roundball Oracles – Year 18

It costs nothing to participate. First Place gets a trophy. Last Place Adult that gives full effort also gets a trophy. Hope many of you participate!

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Finally, I also need to wish Nathanial a happy birthday. Happy birthday Nathanial!


SELFIE PROJECT - ALTERNATE - JUNE 2022

I also hope your birthday is filled with as much joy and photography opportunities as you can handle!

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It is time to share the final collection of images I took while harvesting the town signs of Clayton County. All of these were either taken at Pikes Peak State Park or in Marquette.


Pikes Peak State Park
Pikes Peak State Park

Pikes Peak State Park

Pikes Peak State Park

Pikes Peak State Park

Pikes Peak State Park

Pikes Peak State Park

Pikes Peak State Park

Pikes Peak State Park

Clayton County -
Marquette

Clayton County - Marquette

Clayton County - Marquette

Clayton County - Marquette

Clayton County - Marquette

Clayton County - Marquette

Clayton County - Marquette

Clayton County - Marquette

Clayton County - Marquette

Clayton County - Marquette

Clayton County - Marquette

Clayton County - Marquette

Clayton County - Marquette

Clayton County - Marquette

Clayton County - Marquette

Clayton County - Marquette

Clayton County - Marquette

Clayton County - Marquette

Clayton County - Marquette

Clayton County - Marquette

Clayton County - Marquette

Clayton County - Marquette

Clayton County - Marquette

The next time we hit the open road to look at auxiliary images for THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT, we will visit Wapello County.

Washington County Aux. – Vol. 2

Time to share the second collection of auxiliary images from my road trip to Washington County to harvest their town signs. A few of these are still in Riverside. Which I consider to be a must visit for anybody that likes Star Trek.


Washington County - Riverside
Riverside

Washington County - Riverside

Washington County - Riverside

Washington County - Riverside

Washington County - Riverside

Washington County - Riverside

Washington County - Riverside

Washington County - Riverside

Washington County - Riverside

Washington County - Riverside

Washington County - Riverside

Washington County - Ainsworth
Ainsworth

Washington County - Ainsworth

Washington County - Ainsworth

Washington County - Ainsworth

Washington County - Ainsworth

Washington County - Ainsworth

Washington County - Crawfordsville
Crawfordsville

Washington County - Crawfordsville

Washington County - Crawfordsville

Henry County - Olds
Olds

Henry County - Olds

Henry County - Olds

Henry County - Wayland
Wayland

Washington County - Coppock
Coppock

Washington County - Coppock

Still one more collection of images to share from this road trip!

Fat Mum Slim – November 2022

Taking a Formal Portrait Sunday off to share November’s Fat Mum Slim Photo A Day Challenge images. Only one month left for this challenge as I’m not going to continue it into 2023. I think I’ve kind of run my course with it.

Here are the November images:


November 1
November 1 – A Collection

November 2
November 2 – A Book Cover

November 3
November 3 – A Shop Front

November 4
November 4 – A For Sale Sign

November 5
November 5 – A Bridge

November 6
November 6 – A Fence

November 7
November 7 – I Didn’t Make This

November 8
November 8

November 9
November 9 – An Unmade Bed

November 10
November 10 – Power Lines

November 11
November 11 – An Arrow

November 12
November 12 – In My Pocket

November 13
November 13 – A Closed Sign

November 14
November 14 – A Flock of Birds

November 15
November 15 – Hand Shadow

November 16
November 16 – Running Water

November 17
November 17 – Wrinkles

November 18
November 18 – An Empty Table

November 19
November 19 – Rocks

November 20
November 20 – Afternoon Light

November 21
November 21 – Half Full

November 22
November 22 – Graffiti

November 22
November 23 – An Ugly Food

November 24
November 24

November 25
November 25 – A Spiderweb

November 26
November 26 – A Funny Shape

November 27
November 27 – A Splash

November 28
November 28 – Something Hidden

November 29
November 29 – A List

November 30
November 30 – A Family Member

Here is the list of the December themes:

December 1 – I Love This!
December 2 – I Bought This!
December 3 – Starts with T
December 4 – I Held This
December 5 – Something Red
December 6 – Peace
December 7 – tree
December 8 – Looking Up
December 9 – Small
December 10 – Out + About
December 11 – Free Choice
December 12 – Lights
December 13 – Something Green
December 14 – Decoration
December 15 – A Star
December 16 – Candy Cane
December 17 – A Hat
December 18 – I Made This!
December 19 – Joy Is…
December 20 – Begins with S
December 21 – On the Floor
December 22 – A Gift
December 23 – A Tradition
December 24 – Someone I Love
December 25 – My Day
December 26 – This is Delish!
December 27 – Colourful
December 28 – A Book
December 29 – Us
December 30 – How I Relax
December 31 – Best Part of 2022

Seems like a pretty good list. I think I’ve already done some good work this month!

Pufferbilly Days Parade – 2022

This year was the first year I made it to the Pufferbilly Days Parade where I wasn’t in it, since I don’t know when. At least a decade. I decided I better photograph it.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the parade:


Pufferbilly Days Parade - 2022

Pufferbilly Days Parade - 2022

Pufferbilly Days Parade - 2022

Pufferbilly Days Parade - 2022

Pufferbilly Days Parade - 2022

Pufferbilly Days Parade - 2022

Pufferbilly Days Parade - 2022

Pufferbilly Days Parade - 2022

Pufferbilly Days Parade - 2022

Pufferbilly Days Parade - 2022

Pufferbilly Days Parade - 2022

Pufferbilly Days Parade - 2022

Pufferbilly Days Parade - 2022

Pufferbilly Days Parade - 2022

Pufferbilly Days Parade - 2022

Pufferbilly Days Parade - 2022

Pufferbilly Days Parade - 2022

Pufferbilly Days Parade - 2022

Pufferbilly Days Parade - 2022

Pufferbilly Days Parade - 2022

Pufferbilly Days Parade - 2022

Pufferbilly Days Parade - 2022

Pufferbilly Days Parade - 2022

Pufferbilly Days Parade - 2022

Pufferbilly Days Parade - 2022

Pufferbilly Days Parade - 2022

Pufferbilly Days Parade - 2022

Pufferbilly Days Parade - 2022

Pufferbilly Days Parade - 2022

Pufferbilly Days Parade - 2022

Pufferbilly Days Parade - 2022

Pufferbilly Days Parade - 2022

Pufferbilly Days Parade - 2022

Pufferbilly Days Parade - 2022

Pufferbilly Days Parade - 2022

Pufferbilly Days Parade - 2022

Pufferbilly Days Parade - 2022

Pufferbilly Days Parade - 2022

Pufferbilly Days Parade - 2022

There is generally nothing I find more boring than a parade, except for maybe fireworks. But I got enough enjoyment from going. At least from seeing the people I knew that were in it.

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This is your reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is VIOLET:


WEEK 369 - VIOLET
VIOLET

VIOLET! What a great theme for year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what exactly is a VIOLET photo. It is simply any picture where the color VIOLET (or purple if you will) plays an important part of the composition. It can be a picture of something that is VIOLET. Or it can be surrounded by VIOLET. Heck, you can crack out a VIOLET filter and make everything VIOLET.

Happy photo harvesting!

Fat Mum Slim – September 2022

Another month done in the Fat Mum Slim Photo A Day Challenge. I have to confess that I spent some time on the struggle bus this month. I don’t know if I lost some steam or if I just want feeling some of the themes. Being sick for a few days in September didn’t help either. With that being said, I think there is still some good work in there.

Here are the September images:


September 1
September 1 – Something I Saw

September 2
September 2 – Plastic

September 3
September 3 – Paper

September 4
September 4 – Somewhere I Went

September 5
September 5 – Hobby

September 6
September 6 – Green + Blue

September 7
September 7 – Before Bed

September 8
September 8 – An Emotion

September 9
September 9 – Opposites

September 10
September 10 – I Can Hear…

September 11
September 11 – Paint

September 12
September 12 – Symmetry

September 13
September 13 – Tasty

September 14
September 14 – Odd One Out

September 15
September 15 – A Food Shop

September 16
September 16 – 12:34

September 17
September 17 – Lucky

September 18
September 18 – Car Park

September 19
September 19 – What’s on TV

September 20
September 20 – Texture

September 21
September 21 – Nature

September 22
September 22 – Tree Trunk

September 23
September 23 – Crunchy

September 24
September 24 – I Can Smell…

September 25
September 25 – Laneway

September 26
September 26 – The Moon

September 27
September 27 – Open Door

September 28
September 28 – My Culture

September 29
September 29 – Not My Style

September 30
September 30 – Sentimental

As you can tell, the woman who runs this challenge is Australian and there were some terms in there I had to look up, cause I had no clue what a laneway is.

Remember, you can follow on for my daily posts on the dedicated Instagram Account.

@fmsbennett

These are the themes for October:

1. White
2. Black
3. Green
4. Red
5. Orange
6. Blue
7. Yellow
8. Purple
9. Aqua
10. Pink
11. Grey
12. Brown
13. Pop of Colour
14. Stripes
15. Floral
16. One Colour
17. Two Colours
18. Pattern
19. Black and White
20. Rainbow
21. My Fave Colour
22. Matching
23. Natural
24. Dark
25. Light
26. Pastel
27. Bright
28. Gold
29. Fresh
30. Mellow
31. Dots

Some good ones in there. Should be a good month!

FAT MUM SLIM – AUGUST 2022

Another month done in the Fat Mum Slim Photo A Day Challenge. Think there is some good work in there this week. Having so much going on in August certainly helped. We’ll see how September goes.

Here are the August images:


August 1
August 1 – I AM…

August 2
August 2 – I LOVE THIS COLOUR

August 3
August 3 – I WALKED HERE…

August 4
August 4 – I LIKE TO…

August 5
August 5 – I LIKE THIS TIME OF DAY…

August 6
August 6 – I LOVE…

August 7
August 7 – I MADE THIS…

August 8
August 8 – I WORK HERE…

August 9
August 9 – I HELD THIS…

August 10
August 10 – I WROTE THIS…

August 11
August 11 – I SAW…

August 12
August 12 – I LIKE TO DRINK…

August 13
August 13 – I STOOD HERE…

August 14
August 14 – I DO THIS ON SUNDAYS…

August 15
August 15 – I ONCE…

August 16
August 16 – I NEVER…

August 17
August 17 – I WENT TO…

August 18
August 18 – I READ THIS…

August 19
August 19 – I DID THIS GOOD THING…

August 20
August 20 – I LOVE THIS VIEW…

August 21
August 21 – I DON’T LIKE TO…

August 22
August 22 – ON MONDAYS I…

August 23
August 23 – I SAT HERE…

August 24
August 24 – I LIKE TO EAT…

August 25
August 25 – I HAVE TO…

August 26
August 26 – I WORE THIS…

August 27
August 27 – ON WEEKENDS I…

August 28
August 28 – I WATCHED THIS…

August 29
August 29 – I CAN…

August 30
August 30 – I CAN’T…

August 31
August 31 – I BELIEVE…

Remember you can follow these as they drop on the daily on my dedicated FatMumSlim Instagram account @FMSBENNETT.

Here are the prompts for September:

September 1: Something I Saw
September 2: Plastic
September 3: Paper
September 4: Somewhere I Went
September 5: Hobby
September 6: Green + Blue
September 7: Before Bed
September 8: An Emotion
September 9: Opposites
September 10: I Can Hear…
September 11: Paint
September 12: Symmetry
September 13: Tasty
September 14: Odd One Out
September 15: A Food Shop
September 16: 12:34
September 17: Lucky
September 18: Car Park
September 19: What’s on TV
September 20: Texture
September 21: Nature
September 22: Tree Trunk
September 23: Crunchy
September 24: I Can Smell…
September 25: Laneway
September 26: The Moon
September 27: Open Door
September 28: My Culture
September 29: Not My Style
September 30: Sentimental

Should be a good month. I think there are some good prompts in there. The woman who runs this challenge is Australian. There must be some Australian things in here cause I have no clue what a “Car Park” or a “Laneway” is, but I’ll find out.

Cedar County Auxiliary Images Vol. 2

Here is the second collection of auxiliary images I took while harvesting the town signs of Cedar County. A few of these are taken in Muscatine County. A few are taken in Benton County. The majority of them are taken in West Branch at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library.

Herbert Hoover was the first president born west of the Mississippi River. He is also the only president born in Iowa. I always thought it was embarrassing that the worst president in history was born in Iowa. But then I looked it up. Herbert Hoover was not the worst president. Just one of the worst. John Tyler. Worse. Millard Fillmore. Worse. William Henry Harrison. Worse. Franklin Pierce. Worse. Warren G. Harding. Worse. Donald Trump. Worse. James Buchanan. Worse. And according to presidential scholars, historians, and political scientists. Andrew Johnson. The worst.

If you are wondering, the three presidents that are currently considered the best are:

3. Abraham Lincoln
2. Franklin D. Roosevelt
1. George Washington

And while one of the worst presidents was the only president born in Iowa, think of sad states like Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota, North Dakota, Colorado, Idaho, Maine, Florida, West Virginia, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arizona, New Mexico, Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama… to name a few… that haven’t even had a sad sack like Benjamin Harrison (the president ranked just ahead of Herbert Hoover) born there. He was born in Ohio. Just like William Henry Harrison, Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, William McKinley, William H. Taft, and Warren G. Harding.

Enough presidential birthplace history. Here are the rest of the pictures from my Cedar County road trip:


Muscatine County - Wilton
Wilton

Muscatine County - Wilton

Cedar County - West Branch
West Branch

Cedar County - West Branch

Cedar County - West Branch

Cedar County - West Branch

Cedar County - West Branch

Cedar County - West Branch

Cedar County - West Branch

Cedar County - West Branch

Cedar County - West Branch

Cedar County - West Branch

Cedar County - West Branch

Cedar County - West Branch

Cedar County - West Branch

Cedar County - West Branch

Cedar County - West Branch

Cedar County - West Branch

Cedar County - West Branch

Cedar County - West Branch

Cedar County - West Branch

Cedar County - West Branch

Youngville Cafe
Benton County – Junction of Lincoln Highway and Red Ball Highway

Youngville Cafe

Youngville Cafe

Youngville Cafe

Youngville Cafe

Youngville Cafe

Youngville Cafe

Youngville Cafe

Here is some information about the Youngville Cafe from the Wikipedia:

Youngville Cafe, also known as Youngville Station, is a historic building located northwest of Watkins, Iowa, United States. It was a one-stop roadside business that included a café, a Skelly gas station, and three cabins for travelers to stay in. The cabins have subsequently been removed. The building calls attention to increasing business opportunities for women. The Tudor Revival building was built in 1931 by Joe Young on his pasture land for his widowed daughter Lizzie Wheeler to support her and her children. The main building also contained residential space where the family lived. It is located on U.S. Route 30, which at this point had been the Lincoln Highway. The café/station also served as a bus depot for the Greyhound and Jefferson bus lines.

When Wheeler retired to Cedar Rapids, she rented out the business to others to run. She returned to the café/station in 1967 after the lease ended, but it closed that year because it didn’t have enough parking and vehicles could no longer park along the highway. The building was used as a residence into the 1980s, when it was abandoned. The Benton County Sesquicentennial Commission acquired it as a restoration project to celebrate Iowa’s 150th anniversary of statehood in 1996. It is now owned by the Youngville Highway History Association and open as a café on a limited basis. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.

The cafe has been closed since 2020 because of the pandemic and because of damage it sustained from the derecho. However, according to a Facebook post on the Youngville Highway History Association Facebook page, it will be opening up and serving lunch Tuesdays from 11 AM to 2 PM starting on June 7th. You can bet dollars to donuts or burgers or tenderloins or whatever they serve, that I will be taking a day off from computer mining to go experience it.

If the menu that is lying on the ground is still accurate, I’ll definitely be knocking down a raspberry pie and probably a rhubarb pie as well.

Decatur and Wayne County Auxiliary Images Vol. 2

Several months back I cruised around Decatur County and Wayne County with Vest harvesting their town signs. This is the second collection of auxiliary images I took on this trip.

There are a couple of images I want to single out. These pictures of murals I took in Allerton, Iowa:


Wayne County - Allerton

Wayne County - Allerton

While I was doing a little research on the Coca-Cola mural trying to discover who the Iowa Letterheads are, I discovered a very interesting group. These murals were painted in 1993 by a group call The Walldogs. The Walldogs is a group of mural painters that once a year go to a town and paint a bunch of murals there. Allerton, Iowa was the first town they ever did this at. According to their website, (thewalldogs.com) they are going to be in Paducah, Kentucky this year. Which is really close to where Ernie lives. They are also going to return to Allerton, Iowa in 2023. If this schedule holds, I will definitely look into checking this out.

This is the type of thing I wish our Art Council in Boone would have looked into, before they got broken up when one member assaulted another member.

Here are the rest of the pictures from Volume 2 of this road trip:


Decatur County - Leon
Leon

Decatur County - Leon

Decatur County - Leon

Decatur County - Leon

Decatur County - Leon

Decatur County - Leon

Decatur County - Leon

Decatur County - Leon

Decatur County - Leon
Davis City

Decatur County - Davis City

Decatur County - Davis City

Decatur County - Davis City

Decatur County - Davis City

Decatur County

Wayne County - Lineville
Lineville

Wayne County - Lineville

Wayne County - Lineville

Wayne County - Lineville

Wayne County - Clio
Clio

Wayne County - Clio

Wayne County - Clio

Wayne County - Allerton
Allerton

Wayne County - Corydon
Corydon

A little bit of history on George Saling from the Prairie Tails Museum:

George Saling Brings Home the Gold!!!
In August 1932 headlines in newspapers around the country repeated this message as George Saling, Corydon won both a gold and bronze medal as part of the United State Olympic Team.

George Saling a senior at the University of Iowa was considered among the hurdling greats of the world in 1932. He set records in many meets that year, including Drake Relays with a record setting time in the high hurdles of 14:4 seconds. In the National Collegiate championships he set a new record at 14:1, this was also a world record.

In the first heat of the Olympic hurdles Saling came in second to Don Finlay of Great Britain. He opened up in the second heat and broke an Olympic record at 14:4.

In the final heat an Olympic championship at stake, the competitors took off at the shot in a life and death race. And Saling won, this time in 14:6 in the 110 meter high hurdles winning the gold medal. In fact the USA team took home both gold and silver.

Saling wrote this of his experience: “Down on the track, six forms are crouching – by trials the six greatest hurdlers in the world. The gun barks and the forms shoot forward. They take the first barrier almost in unison. Then one runner draws into the lead. Closely pressed by the pack, he is still leading at the seventh hurdle. “At the eighth barrier a runner emerges from the pack. He overtakes the leader, and then sweeps on by and to the tape – a victor by four feet. That runner was myself, and I say without shame that this is the ONE race of the Olympics that shall remain longest in my memory.”

George Saling was born in 1909 in Memphis, MO. The family moved to Corydon when he was three months old, where he graduated from high school in 1927. George’s first love was basketball and he was captain of the Corydon team in 1926-27.

He went out for track, partly because that was what most of the other fellow did in the spring. In meets he usually filled in wherever he was needed most, running anything from the 100 to the 440, besides hurdles.

In the fall of 1927 he began classes at the University of Iowa and turned his ambitions toward basketball. But in an interview given just two weeks before his untimely death in 1933, George said, “Just as I was swinging off the court after practice one night, and still possessing a little of that youthful exuberance, I raced over a couple of hurdles that were standing nearby, as George Bresnahan, U of I track coach happened to be passing.”

Coach Bresnahan spotted Saling’s natural gift for the hurdles and immediately began an intense campaign to recruit George away from basketball and on to the track team. Saling credited his coach for much of his success. His training methods included a lot of body building – lifting weights, working on bars, and sprinting. One unusual exercise that proved to be very helpful was walking on his hands, which developed arms, back, and chest, and gave him a finer sense of balance – a necessity for hurdlers.

Corydon and the track world were stunned by the untimely death of George Saling on April 14, 1933 as a result of a car accident near St Louis. He was just 23 years old. The funeral service at the Methodist Church in Corydon was one of the largest ever held in Corydon.

George Saling’s memory was honored by his hometown high school in 1938 when its newly lighted athletic field was dedicated as “Saling Field”. In 1983, during Corydon’s Old Settlers Celebration, Saling was honored in a special ceremony and a bronze plaque honoring his Olympic Gold Medal was mounted on the east side of the bandstand on the Wayne County courthouse grounds. In 1989, the University of Iowa established an Athletic Hall of Fame: George Saling was one of the athletes and coaches named.

There is still one more collection of pictures from this road trip left to share.

Hardin County Auxiliary Images

Back in February I cruised around Hardin County harvesting town sign photos. This was a solo trip. These are some of the non-town sign pictures I took on the trip.


Hardin County
New Providence – This round gym was recently featured in a movie.

Hardin County

Hardin County

Hardin County
Gifford

Hardin County
Union

Hardin County

Hardin County

Hardin County
Whitten

Hardin County
Eldora

Hardin County

Hardin County

Hardin County

Hardin County

Hardin County

Hardin County

Hardin County

Hardin County

Hardin County

Hardin County

Hardin County

Hardin County
Steamboat Rock

Hardin County

Hardin County

Hardin County

Hardin County
Ackley

Hardin County

Hardin County

Hardin County

Hardin County

Hardin County

Hardin County

Hardin County

Hardin County

Hardin County

Hardin County

Hardin County

Hardin County

I really liked Hardin County. There is more than one thing there I would like to go back and photograph again in the future.

A Pandemic Menagerie

This is a clearinghouse post. Grouping together some small collections of photos that might not be large enough to stand on their own. Plus getting multiple folders “finished off” and filed away to their forever homes.

These pictures aren’t pandemic related, but they did occur in a pandemic. Like every picture I take these days. Some were taken at the Ames Farmers Market. Some in my yard. Some on the backroads of Boone County.


Eggcited
This sculpture is called Eggcited. Eggcited! Get it?

Eggcited
Despite the awful name, I love it so!

Bittersweet
From my yard.
Bittersweet

Bittersweet

Halloween 2021
My socially distanced trick-or-treat setup for Halloween.

Halloween 2021

Liberal Values

Nope!
One of the small joys of the pandemic was stopping to photograph this sign and meeting the woman who put it up. She went to school with my Dad and we got to talk about him for a bit.

Early Voting
Self-portrait after voting on the first day of early voting.

Early Voting

Early Voting

Shrooms
My mouth is watering…

Train Art
One of the reasons I like living in a town with a railroad (besides the obvious economic impact) is that it is…

Train Art
Like having a new art museum in town every single day. While Boone has an Art Commission (despite the fact that there are a ton of local artists)…

Train Art
there is a decided lack of public art in town. A mural of a train. A statue of Teddy Roosevelt. A local guy that paints his snow banks…

Train Art
That is really it. Although I will point out that Boone does a decent job with the performing arts. It just isn’t the same. So thank you Union Pacific!

Good to get all that cleaned out. We’re getting close to my having my backlog cleaned out. It will be interesting what this space will look like when that happens.

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This is your reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is SYMMETRY & PATTERNS:


WEEK 284 - SYMMETRY & PATTERNS
SYMMERY & PATTERNS

I can’t help but think of Shannon when I think of the theme of SYMMETRY & PATTERNS. Back in the day, we would occasionally go to art shows and fairs together. It often ended up being a painful and frustrating experience because the art booths that she would like to stop and look at were the art that actually hurt my soul (at least a little bit) to look at. It was all symmetrical lines and shapes. I always thought, “if this is the kind of art she likes and she likes my photography, what does that say about my photography? Is it this awful and boring?”

On the other side of the coin, she also hated most of the art I liked. Considered it to be derivative of the illustrations one sees in children’s books. Whatever.

I’m not saying you should tap into your inner Shannon when making your SYMMETRY & PATTERNS picture, but it might not hurt. I’m not saying your picture should be boring and uninteresting. I borderline enjoy the theme reveal picture of the bathroom floor in front of my toilet*. I am saying that you should find a pattern and/or a subject that has symmetry. While this isn’t my favorite theme, I do look forward to seeing your interpretations. I bet Shannon will be counting down the days.

When thinking about creating your SYMMETRY & PATTERNS image, think on the following quote from noted Japanese author Junichiro Tanizaki:

Find beauty not only in the thing itself but in the pattern of the shadows, the light and dark which that thing provides.

Meditate on these words and you will no doubt, make a completely almost interesting SYMMETRY & PATTERNS image.

Happy photo harvesting!