I took my first long walk today since I got back from Miami. Wait, I think this is only my second long walk here, period. Anyhow, it's hard to find things to shoot b/c it's either depressing or I'm afraid someone will come out and yell at me, but I liked this best on my way home, as I was trying to figure out how to get back through a residential area where everything looks the same: houses, fences, roads,
everything.
I tried to go down a trail today but wasn't able to get past a sea of ferns and a trailing off of the path, so instead I walked along the back of everyone's fencing and later wandered around the homes that all look the same with Halloween decorations that all look the same. Before that, I saw this sign. There were a bunch of them along the path.
Funny, since when I saw these things from a distance, I thought maybe it was a park, with outdoor sculpture! But it's probably some kind of military fencing that I don't know about. I was confused by the signs b/c I couldn't tell if the space behind the jacks was off limits or the path itself. So I walked down the path anyhow.
To find more railroad tracks! They have these all over, I think, to transport things to other far-off military places. The sad thing about wandering around is that there are so many wooded and grassy areas, but no matter how far you get from buildings, you always hear rumbling of something. At one point, coming out of the "off limits" area, I was startled by a generator that started up as soon as I came out of the woods. But the noise is usually construction, which seems never ending - I went the back way b/c the road in front is being torn up and re-done. Like Korea, only more ominous.
[Ed Clark of SUNY Potsdam doing joomchi action on colored hanji from Wonju, Korea.] I taught a paper felting class today using hanji that I had a friend in Seoul select and ship over at the Saint Lawrence County Arts Council. Good times! I had been so cranky about it b/c I just wanted to sleep in but it ended up being a really nice group, and it was nice to get off base with Ben (who joined class, too).
This is Susan's first piece; I'll post a shot from her 3rd that I really love, later. She had some serious skills. No one used scissors, which I loved.
Velma did amazing things w/my scraps and Hilary was so happy to be pounding the crap out of the paper. I should have made a video just to get the sound effects of everyone slamming the table at the same time. Hilary, Velma, Ben, and I went out afterwards for a warm lunch and very decadent series of desserts.
Ben and I even got to hit the food co-op and Asian market! We drove through a very, very red sunset - lovely, since we never experience sunset together, and eerie b/c of how it turned huge patches of trees red. It almost all faded by the time we got through the gate at the base, so I wasn't able to shoot good pics (I was too busy gawking beforehand to remember to grab my camera. And some roads on base are not very smooth). I was talking to Ching-In and she asked if we were going to have trick-or-treaters and I said, I doubt that parents would want their children coming near the homes of unaccompanied soldiers! I wish that wasn't the case, but at least we saw a bunch of them on Route 11 while driving home. Plus a parade in Potsdam during lunch! That's about as much Halloween as I ever get, so I'm pretty content. On top of that, we saw an inordinate amount of animals while driving: SO MANY cows, a good deal of horses, and even a huge flock of sheep!
