Saskitoba...

In my last posting there was a photo of this farm taken on the border of Manitoba and Saskatchewan on Highway 3 that I liked a lot, and thought might get lost or overlooked in that long rambling post, so I thought it merited a posting of its own...

                                   
                                                                   Pablo

Highway 83, north to Canada

August 17, 2001

Woke up in the urban sprawling outskirts of Minot, North Dakota after a rough night of barfing up some bad Mexican food, which I love and usually have a remarkable tolerance for.  I guess I met my match in Minot.  Checked them out on Yelp afterward, and the reviews from satisfied patrons were numerous and laudatory so I guess I must have just gotten a bad burrito.  Actually, Jackie's flan was one of the best I have had in a while, and at $1.99, it was a bargain.  She didn't sleep too well either, so we made a quick, photoless dash through Minot, which we judged to be unappealing, at least at the moment, and got out of Dodge, heading north to the mind clearing wide open spaces of northern North Dakota.  To match my mood that morning, the sky continued to be unkind... hard, featureless and taunting as we started out, but we were on the 83 headed to Canada and things could only get better...

This was the first photo taken north of Minot, not a very compelling start to this posting, but it was headed in the right direction.  We were soon to find that other than the town of Westhope, a few miles south if the Canadian border, there are no outposts of humanity more or less, on this stretch of the 83 in ND, but there is a lot of wheat, corn, and one thing we learned is that they grow alot of sunflowers in the Dakotas, an awful lot.

As you can tell from the sky, these pictures, while all taken on on the 83, are not necessarily in chronological order due to issues of lighting, circumstance, narrative, and luck, or lack of it.

In as much as we were passing through on August 17/18, it appeared that we in the midst of grain harvesting season and the wheat chaff was thick in the air, in our noses, and the silos were gleeming with abundance.  Took this picture at two focal lengths, loved them both, but couldn't decide which I liked better, so here are both...

Along the way, the closest we got to a town were signs for Glenburn about 4 miles out of our way.

We didn't stop in Glenburn, but judging by the graphics on their newly minted sign they either are, or hope to be, cashing in on the booming oil production industry looking to suck ND dry before they pack their bags and move on.

As we reached the intersection of Highways 83 and the 256, the 83 makes a quick turn to the right...

at Renville Corner, a place that consisted of this one store/service station, a couple of good signs, and nothing else and is not noted on any map I  looked at, so I'm not sure of much other than that it is the only commercial establishment between Minot and Westhope, so fill up or drink up or whatever while you can...

As the sky had changed for the better so did our moods...At Renville Corner we turned right and a few miles down the road we made a left, and when we did, we made our final approach to the Canadian border, stopping for a while in Westhope, the only town on the 83 north of Minot, and about 5 or 6 miles south of the border.

On final approach down the runway, and here we are, at long last...

Crossing the border was a pleasure.  The Canadian border station was still a low tech little wooden hut, and the guards were warm and welcoming.  When we told them we were just coming up to look around and to buy some Coffee Crisps (a great candy bar only sold in Canada) they seemed pleased.  I wanted to ask about taking a picture of their building but Jackie was adament that I not ask, so I didn't.

But, here we are on Highway 83 in Manitoba, Canada.   As we drove north on it, we came to the intersection on the 83&3...  

Looking at the map, Jackie realized that if we drove west on Highway 3 for about 25 miles or so, we would be in Saskatchewan, so off we went.  This part of Canada is as lonely and desolate as any place we have ever seen.  Splendid in its isolation with miles and miles that are flat, empty and beautiful...

  

and they all kind of look like this.  Just as we approached the Manitoba/Sask. border, we saw the most remarkable sight, a farm, the Saskatoba, and as luck would have it, all the stars were in alignment for the world's perfect photo, and no, it is not photoshopped as a friend of mine thought.

Before we knew it, we were entering Saskatchewan...

                                                                                              Photo by Jackie

Made a pitstop in Gainsborough, Sask. to buy some Coffee Crisps, and look around.  All of the buildings on the onesided main street faced the train tracks with their backs to the sun, so the grain elevator, trackside offered the only good sun lit photo op.

Our business done, we headed back to the border to cross back over into the US, where we were detained and roughed up emotionally a little, in what turned out to be quite an unpleasant welcome home to two supposedly good Americans by two border guards with apparently nothing better to do than to practice their search and interrogation skills at this rarely utilized crossing.   I did not think about taking any pictures there, just glad to be let go.

                                                                   Pablo

Fargo to Minot...

So we left Fargo, reluctantly, wishing for one more night of Sammy's pizza (you can see Sammy's from our hotel window, its on the front end of the brown bldg with awnings past the parking lot and facing Broadway) , but Highway 83 called, and we had to go,  following the 52 north west for 258 miles through the middle of nowhere more or less to Minot where we were to spend the night before beginning the 83 journey north to the Canadian border and then back down again as far as Valentine, Nebraska.  There was much to appreciate, but little to see (photographically) in the relatively unchanging and barely populated farming areas along the 52, with the situation negatively compounded by a flat cloudless sky, photo-anathema further limiting the possibilities of what might have been...There is nothing more dispiriting to a photographer than a bland, non-contributory sky, but when you are only passing through, what can you do?

Boring, but there's a narrative to be followed here for better or worse.  Trust me, it gets better at some road, just not so much on the 52.  In fact the only sort of bright spot was a little town called Anamoose, a town that takes its name seriously, or maybe not all that seriously, promising fun and good times, and we were hoping for a bite to eat.

When we got to town, about 1/4 mile off the main road, it was the same old sad story of another abandoned town built along a railroad siding that had outlived its usefulness, but why?  We were lured in by the promise of good times, but there were no good times to be had.  Just about everything but the post office and the auto mechanic seemed long gone and boarded up.  The bakery/ lunchonette was still demarcated by a sign, but it was broken and dusty and looked like it hadn't been open for years.

That's Anamoose, more or less.  The reason you don't see many cars or any people is that there is no longer any reason to come to town other than to pick up your mail.  But 264 people are reported to live there and I don't doubt it.  There were many occupied homes, and a well tended park with a playground.  But what do they do, where do they shop, have a cup of coffee with friends, anything?  If you are traveling for any extended period on ND Highway 52, pack a sandwich, you'll need it.

                                                                  Pablo

Anti Fracking Rally Albany NY August 27 2012

Dateline, Albany, New York  August 27, 2012

Its a warm, perfectly lovely day for a protest, low 80's, light breeze, and an intermittent cloud cover.  A great day for a make up of the May 15th "call to action" which was threatening and overcast with a light sporadic rain, just enough to discourage the fair weather patriots among us.  Oh, the action was held, 150 strong, braving the groping hands and eyes of the NYS state police as they suffered the indignity of a security check so they could enter the capitol bldg and hold their protest inside.  Pathetic.  `

But today the weather was on "our" side and a respectable crowd of around 500+ turned out to implore our sovereign and entitled gov Cuomo to stand up against the energy related corporate interests who he is counting on supporting his eventual presidential run.  Good luck!!!

This seems to be emblematic of an unhealthy trend starting to appear in American politics.  The evolving political dynasties in which the sons of former politicos with ample name recognition, personal wealth and/or financial backing, and a healthy sense of entitlement avenge the perceived indignities inflicted on their fathers.  George W, Mitttttt, sooner or later Andrew, and don't count out Jebbbbb.  What an interesting playing out of a Geek Myth, Jebbbbb v Andrew for prez, and in this splendid democratic system, we the humble and disenfranchised voters get to democratically empower the next entitled pretender to the throne, who couldn't give a shit about us.

But I digress, as always.  Today was make up day for the call to action and hopefully, the resurrection of the Occupy movement now that they have found an organizing principal around which to wrap their increasingly fragmented and disinterested base.  I could see the signs at their last demonstration in November, 2011...

    

The Occupy movement still front and center, but hydrofracking as a potent force, lurking in the background, and just as well.  An organizing principle...Can't say it enough.

Well, a picture is worth a lot of words, so here is the anti-fracking rally, at least when they got to the capitol.  Missed the march, but I just got back from the midwest and had no idea it was going on till it was almost too late.  So here is what I saw...

Well, the signs are all there, and there will be another month of summer, and a long autumn, so it will be interesting to see how this evolves.  Didn't see many of the Occupy organizers in the forefront here.  It is a good place for them to pick up the ball, as they say.

                                                                   Pablo

Fargo and my Sammy's Pizza experience...

It's 10:14 in the morning on Tuesday, August 14 and it seems that I've woken up in Fargo North Dakota and I have no idea how I got there.  In fact the only thing I knew about Fargo was what I saw in the movie of the same name, which I now realize has no correspondence to reality.  I've taken this kind of cheesy postcardlike photo down by the railroad station, which I'm sure has been taken by just about everyone who has visited here, but you do need a marker to remember where you were.

Headed down to 8th Street, which you can see in the background after 7th street, because I needed a cup of coffee and something to eat to get me going.  I liked 8th Street, in fact, I liked Fargo in general.  It is still a railroad town and there's nothing I like better with my coffee than sitting and watching a few long monotonous coal trains.

This is positively 8th Street, and no, I did not take any pictures of the coal trains.  There are plenty of them on earlier postings, if you care to dig.

Some buildings that run along the Northern Pacific Avenue on the north side of the tracks...

Broadway, which is the main drag in Fargo, and for an old midwest town that didn't exactly dodge the urban renewal bullet, Broadway remains nicely intact.  Even the infill buildings, like the one between the signs, blend in well.  More or less across the street from White Banner Uniforms, at 301 Broadway, is Sammy's Pizza.

It looked old, dim inside, and unpretentious the way a good pizza place should look, so I ventured in to nose around and liked what I saw.  This is Bryce slicing a fresh one right from the oven in the checkerboard way they like to do it...

I sat down at one of the well worn 1940's or 50's vintage booths and ordered a plain pizza...

The crust was thin and crisp, the sauce was flavorful and well seasoned, the proportion of cheese to crust was perfect, so there was no gloppyness.  It was well cooked and crispy, and since the place is small it was served to us hot enough to burn the roof of your mouth.  Perfection in the most unlikely of circumstances once again.  Good work Bryce.  Loved Fargo and would come back for the pizza if I was in the area, which I may be if I have the craving.  

                                                             Pablo