A bright, shiny R.E.D. truck

Neighbors had a major driveway project underway when the brightest, shiniest R.E.D. truck I've seen in quite some time arrived with gravel.

Time out for a portrait. Though it was a working vehicle, this truck was spotless and the chrome thoroughly polished. I wouldn't mind riding around town in it. Any day.

Down to business. First the gate is raised (above). Then the big hydraulic piston lifts the box and the dump begins (below).


The box is lifted even higher to move the last of the gravel.

And here's the end result -- two carefully placed heaps of gravel which added up to a very small load for the beautiful, shiny R.E.D. truck.

Posts Past: One post that keeps getting comments from old timers is one I did on empty stores on Miller Valley. Tonight, I just had another comment -- you might want to check it out.

The new old firehouse plaza

The new 2-story building at the Old Firehouse Plaza has been open several months, the boutiques, gallery and requisite upscale eatery are in place, though a local favorite, Biff's Bagels is gone, which is too bad. Thus far, its space remains empty...

...as are some of the courtyard tables.

However, the R.E.D. theme is hard to miss. Though my introduction seems sardonic, I actually find the new Old Firehouse Plaza quite attractive; maybe the R.E.D.-ness is one reason. But I think it is primarily the scale: small, intimate -- and cool in the summer.

An added attraction: the R.E.D. dress overlooking the scene to keep order.

The signs are suitably upscale (and R.E.D.); a discrete flame is incorporated in the otherwise plain iron work of the balconies.

About the Firehouse Plaza, a bit of history (if 15 or 20 years ago counts as history). In the 80s, the city had decommissioned the fire station building that is the foundation of the Plaza; Paul Murphy, then a hot young local restaurateur, applied for a license to operate a restaurant and brewpub in that location. The matter went before the city council, which turned Murphy down flat, arguing that a microbrewery would use too much water. It was only a handful of years later that the Prescott Brewing Company opened in Bashford Courts. No mention was made of Murphy's would-be brewery. Thus is history written, as inconvenient facts are banished into a civic black hole. Didn't even find anything at the first several pages of my consultation with The Google.

Henry Would Be Annoyed...

...because this particular Model-T is definitely not any color as long as it is black! No way. It's as R.E.D. as those doors over at Oddball Observations. And it lives in the area. It was coming up the road as I went out for a late afternoon walk. A good walk, by the way. My SQ (Serendipity Quotient) was way high.

This red Model-T is just one of the old vehicles (in running or rusted condition) that neighbor Bernie has collected. Unfortunately, there's not enough room at his house down the street for them or his restoration work; they'll all be gone one of these days.

In the meantime, I can play at driving a red car. With classy whitewall tires. Incidentally, I got an explanation of why the wheels are so unlike the wood spoke originals -- it has to do with road worthiness and competing with the modern auto on modern highways. Lower center of gravity equals greater safety; modern tires hug the pavement much better.

Another item collected by Bernie -- an old radio with working tubes that he bought at the monthly antique auction over on 6th Street. Complete to a tuning eye. Remember those?

Decor....

...and an old gasoline pump. (There's another of these over at the Goodwin Street Pharmacy, BTW.)

But I said that this was a Serendipitous Day, kalloo, kallay. Not only did I catch this robin with my telephoto lens but I happened upon a chainsaw garden gnome in process -- under wraps, unfortunately. But, to think that a chainsaw sculptor lives in my own neighborhood. Wow! Don't worry, I'll have pix one of these days.

Robins of Note: I just got a look at Helen's robins over at Albuquerque Daily Photo. I've got a lot of catching up to do to equal her pictures. Take a look.

Ghosts of Cars Past

I hadn't intended to box myself into an existentialist corner when I tackled the problem of those wonderful old cars on display at the McIlvain Motor Co. I merely wanted to get pictures.

Two problems: #1, the owner died, apparently his heirs are not interested in continuing the business, and all is tied up in probate. #2, the showroom windows face south and reflect like crazy, resulting in images of cars past overlain with cars present.

So, the question is, dear reader, which car is the Ghost and which is the Reality, out there on the street.

The Triumph manages to assert itself! Lovely car -- we had a TR4 when we moved out here to Wilhoit; a car made for tooling back and forth on the White Spar. It was bright red

Here is the prize of the collection, however. Look closely through the reflection of here and now and you get the outlines of this beauty.

The photographer (me) managed to create enough shadow to bring out the elegantly upholstered seat. Red.

But, like the Cheshire cat, the car relic is less substantial than the reflection in the showroom window!

One of these days, the probate business will be settled and the question will arise of what happens next at the corner of Gurley and McCormick. In the meantime, hie yourself down there to lust after those antiques while it is still possible.

My New Camera Gear Arrived!!!

The waiting is over; the new camera, a gift from Mom, finally arrived, only a month or so after I ordered it. So here's the gear: 1) box with camera, its associated hardware, and reading matter; 2) extra memory; 3) a battery charger & batteries.

Inside the box -- media, meaning instructions. See the little guy at the left? 169 jam-packed pages with how-to info and data. Plus software, including heavy-duty picture editing to compete with PhotoShop. I don't think I'll be learning this camera in time catch those by-now- adolescent ravens down at the Courthouse.

Here's the star of the show, plus other odds and ends that were also inside the box. The two big features of this Canon PowerShot S3-IS are a 12x optical zoom and image stabilization. (Though I have a sneaking hunch that my best bird shots are going be made here at home where I can get out a good tripod. I don't think I'm in shape to lug one around.)

Were you wondering why I switched background colors for my photos? Look above. The Max cat saw where the center of attention was focused and immediately jumped into the spotlight. And if you by any chance wondered why the red background, this was to honor Ms. k, who posted a scarlet ibis on her blog just for me. She's in Florida, where the ibis are white; I'm in the west, where the ibis who fly through are quite black. She knows that I groove on R.E.D.! Go take a good look at that bird.

R.E.D. Reprise!

There I was, downtown, walking down Granite Street past the Old Firehouse Plaza with its screaming red walls and what should I notice but that all five cars in my line of sight were also R.E.D. (One that is barely visible is between the fence and the R.E.D. wall.) Synchronicity for sure.