Faces from the Downtown Alive Concert in Reading, PA, that featured Toad the Wet Sprocket and Rusted Root. Part of Penn Street was shut down for the free concert.
No. 33. Just a Face in the Crowd
Category: Berks County
No. 32. Dam Sliding Double-Take
I was surprised when I first learned, earlier this summer, about young people sliding down the Kernsville Dam. A YouTube video about the sliders went viral not long ago attracting hundreds of young people from all over the East Coast to The Peace Rock (see some of my pictures) and the Kernsville Dam. Nevertheless, I decided to have some photo fun to capture the action. Further attention was drawn to The Rock by a drowning (nearly an annual event) in the rapidly moving current in the river below in July.
When I was in high school in the early 1960s we often swam about a mile upstream at what is now called the Peace Rock, frequently jumping off the 40-foot outcropping into a deep channel of the Schuylkill river below. I never heard of anyone dam sliding. Then again, in those years the boat ramp just upstream from the dam was active and water skiing was common. The lake really isn’t fit for that kind of activity today.
The Rock has become a public nuisance. Roads are blocked by illegally parked cars. There is no parking along a narrow mountain road and there are no facilities. Mountains of trash and human waste piled up. Recently volunteers organized by Blue Mountain Wildlife collected 75 bags of trash in an effort to clean up the area. Read about it here.
State police have announced they will tow and ticket cars and arrest trespassers. See the Hamburg Item.
No. 24. Flowering Procrastination
Everyone likes to photograph flowers, including me. Contrarian that I am, however, I’ve resisted posting them to my blog. Procrastinating until I couldn’t bear it any longer. So here’s a big package. This year it seemed as though Mother Nature took her time with the blossoms. Meanwhile, all the grasses sprouted tall with great abandon in the cool weather. Mother Nature has stopped her procrastination, and so have I.
No. 22. Gring’s Mill in Daylight
Compare several of these full-color pictures with the infrareds in last week’s post.
No. 21. Gring’s Mill in a Different Light
No. 20. Avian Neighbors
No. 19. Around the Farm
No. 18. Walk in the Woods, Part 2
No. 17. Walk in the Woods, Part I
No. 16. The Cider Mill Riders & Drivers Association
Last week after dropping off some work at Studio B in Boyertown, I decided to explore a back road in hopes of finding something interesting to photograph. I came across this derelict Cider Mill/Horse Stable whose textures attracted my attention. Call it “ruin porn” if you will, but I found the textures of this structure in its last days worth some study.
While shooting the owner drove from around the back in his Ford F150. I learned that at one time, long, long ago, the property had been an orchard with its own substantial cider press. When that business failed the property was used for horsing around, sporting a large stable and practice arena. With that operation now long defunct permits to bring the building down have finally been obtained, according to the owner, who expects demolition to begin shortly. Next door to this structure, on the same original property, is a modern industrial facility.