Life as a Spectator Sport

Part of the grounds of the Beringer Winery. More artistically arranged, perhaps, than the minimalist architecture and landscaping at Robert Mondavi, and less homey and fun than the Cakebread ambience, but impressive nonetheless. The photograph is a bit over-exposed, unfortunately, the result of having to snatch a picture in between groups of people, and relying on the camera to get the exposure right. Oh, for the old days of light meters and levers. And Blogger seems to have cropped the bottom ten percent of the image too. Maybe I'll try again, and maybe I'll just leave it alone. It's not exactly an award winning photo to begin with, but I like the memories it brings back.


UPDATE: I reloaded the picture so the whole thing is there now.

I took my old Mamiya C33 to the camera shop in Blacksburg to have it looked over, cleaned and adjusted, if necessary. The camera guy was practically drooling over it. "I had one of these in the Navy!" he said, grinning wide. "And it was the first camera I bought when I started working professionally."

There was an old roll of C-22 film in the case with the date "Oct 1974" on it, which is a good indication of the last time I made regular use of the camera. I did a good bit of photography during the next couple of years, but only with the 4 x 5 flat film back. Wish I knew what became of those pictures, some of which weren't bad at all.

When I get the camera back, work and weather permitting, I'm going to begin a project I've had in mind for years, to document as many old country churches as I can. There are half a dozen historically significant "rock" churches in the adjacent counties, some of them having been constructed of local stone to begin with and others being faced with rock at some later point. I want to get good pictures of them all, and then, I hope, take pictures of some of the churches I've seen on my inspection trips. Many of them are still in good condition, still being used by active congregations, but others are in every condition from disrepair to falling down. I put off photographing one church because of the weather that day, and came back to find it had been bulldozed. So I don't want to wait any longer to begin taking these pictures.

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RSS Feed PERSONAL Send email to liz at life-as-a-spectator-sport.com Home I'm a mother, grandmother, a computer professional, Democrat, Christian. I welcome politely worded comments and email, my spam filter throws the rest away, so don't bother to flame me WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT' "If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart. THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3 KNITTING BLOGS Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits FINISHED PROJECTS -------FINISHED IN 2006------- Peruvian Cap Tutti-Frutti Socks Shelley's Socks Carol's Socks -------FINISHED IN 2007------- Chain Link Socks Baby Surprise Jacket Valerie & Friend Baby Bonnet Rainbow Baby Socks Girls Pixie Hood Mitred Square Heart Red & White Socks Coffee Cup Pot Holder Nubbins Dishcloth Garterlac Dishcloth Suede Booties Kate's Socks Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap Half Thumbless Mittens Red Mittens for Akkol -------FINISHED IN 2008------- SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE -- Blogs and websites -- Causubon's Book Club Orlov Food Storage Made Easy From the Wilderness In the Wake Listening to Katrina Survival Topics The Modern Homestead The Oil Drum Notes from a Hillside Farm -- Mailing Lists -- 12vdc Power Living on the Land Rainwater Refrigeration Alternatives Old Ways of Living POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES The political sites have moved BOOKS I'M READING How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising ARCHIVES February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002