Peter Behrens's Blog, page 417
April 4, 2015
1939 (or1940?) Ford. Wiscasset, Maine
I think a '39? Not quite as elegant as a 40. Could be wrong. In Wiscasset, Maine
April 3, 2015
1956 Oldsmobile 88, on the way home
I caught the Olds in Wiscasset. An April tradition: the first trip downeast, heading for the Blue Hill Peninsula and HOME. There is an astounding amount of snow here, compared to southern Maine. It was the warmest day of the Spring, so far-- nearly 60 F degrees, but there's more grimness on the way. I heard six inches of snow expected tomorrow in The County (Aroostook, that is.) Cold rain due here, and some wild winds. There's ice in Blue Hill Bay, unheard of in April. I'm going to go down and have a peek at Center Harbor tomorrow, to see what's afloat. Still, I love this Spring, harsh as it has been so far. Green shoots struggle through the permafrost, and there is a wild abundance of light. Downeast Mainers can be snarly this time of year, like cats who've been locked up in a house too long. Town Meeting is tomorrow, a mud season tradition.Hey, looks like I was right: the hood ornament on that Chevy in New Mexico was from a '56 or '55 Olds.
55 Oldsmobile 88, on the way home
I caught the Olds in Wiscasset. An April tradition: the first trip downeast, heading for the Blue Hill Peninsula and HOME. There is an astounding amount of snow here, compared to southern Maine. It was the warmest day of the Spring, so far-- nearly 60 F degrees, but there's more grimness on the way. I heard six inches of snow expected tomorrow in The County (Aroostook, that is.) Cold rain due here, and some wild winds. There's ice in Blue Hill Bay, unheard of in April. I'm going to go down and have a peek at Center Harbor tomorrow, to see what's afloat. Still, I love this Spring, harsh as it has been so far. Green shoots struggle through the permafrost, and there is a wild abundance of light. Downeast Mainers can be snarly this time of year, like cats who've been locked up in a house too long. Town Meeting is tomorrow, a mud season tradition.Hey, looks like I was right: the hood ornament on that Chevy in New Mexico was from a '55 Olds.
April 2, 2015
U.S. 40: Cross Section of the United States of America
©Michael S Moore 2015 photographGeorge R Stewart's U.S. 40: Cross Section of the United States of America is a fascinating look at the country when Stewart drove across it in the summer of 1952, with his camera and his eye of landscape, townscape, and vernacular architecture. I followed his route 48 years later and tried to capture the same scenes he had photographed. Below was a street in--I can't check for certain, don't have my copy with me-- but I think it's Hays, Kansas. The two photographs--one from the summer of 1952, the other from the summer of 2000--suggest what's happened to the heartland over half a century: small towns and cities have been drained of energy and life, especially neighborhood life. (I've got to do better scans of my US 40 photographs and post more of them on Autoliterate.) Meanwhile have a look at the post on Stewart and Ellicott City, Maryland.
April 1, 2015
Advanced Design Chevrolet, near Taos.
Once was red, maybe? The photos are by Colin Washburn, on the road in New Mexico. He caught the truck at Arroyo Seco, near Taos. I'm trying to place that hood ornament. Oldsmobile, mid-Fifties?
1964 Pontiac Laurentian wagon (and Cascade Mountain)
Alex Emond caught the wagon in Banff last year and we posted it. Now there's a nice piece by Greg Williams in Driving about the Pontiac, which is apparently a one-owner car. Autoliterate has more than you wanted to know about Canadian Pontiac wagons here and also a Parisienne from--where else--Saskatchewan.
March 31, 2015
March 30, 2015
Basha Burwell Photo: Red Beemer, Maine
photo©Basha Burwell 2015
