Old Photo #59 –Rebus

Four months since cracked this noble heart.

Old Photo #58 – Last Flame of Fall

In September 1990, I participated in a fine photography workshop. Two friends, Paul Martens (an exceptionally gifted commercial & arts photographer, and, for over 20 years, Winnipeg's go-to shooter) and Robert Peters (a graphic designer in Winnipeg – and no relation) had established Praxis Photographic Workshops. The other two members of Praxis were Mike Grandmaison and Celes Davar.

The September workshop took place near Sioux Narrows Ontario, in the Lake of the Woods region. The colours that year were absolutely spectacular, and we had the benefit of sun, overcast, rain, frost and wind to create a wide range of possibilities.

I found a pool of water down a quiet stream and happened upon the last flame of that fall.

Old Photo #57 – Voyeur 6

A foray through the streets of Winnipeg's inner-city had me in a reverie one day. A shyly quiet and sudden, "Hey you," brought up my head and camera.

Boys in the attic.

Old Photo #56 – Elevator/Gordon, Manitoba

In the early spring of 1973, I believe, we moved into a rental house in Gordon, MB. Where is this place which bears my un-Mennonite name? The South Interlake area of Manitoba seems to have many Scots/British place-names: Balmoral, Argyle, Gordon, etc.

Gordon is located about 1 miles NW of the junction of Winnipeg's North Perimeter Hwy. and Hwy. #6. Back then, there were three houses and the grain elevator. I'm not sure if anything remains of that once prairie hub today. Like so many other abodes in my nomadic life, we came, we moved in, we set up, we packed, we moved on before winter. In the meantime, some very good – if somewhat more primitive – times were had there, basic amenities lacking as they were. One particularly enjoyable dark night involved having a slide show on the side of the elevator and killing ourselves laughing as cars on the highway slowed or stopped as their occupants tried to determine what was happening.

The summer of 1973 brought huge and destructive wild fires to the forests of northern Manitoba. This particular morning was densely shrouded in smoke that had drifted hundreds of miles south.

Old Photo #55 – Blue-Eyed & Blonde

This young fellow is the son of one of my son-in-law, Peter Sinkins', cousins. He particularly enjoyed the swing during Pete & Allison's pre-wedding reception in May 2008.

Old Photo #54 – Jim & Igor

All dogs bright & beautiful, all canines great & small, all are wise & wonderful...

A rather free misquote of the old Anglican hymn, but an appropriate opening for an homage to dogs. I just read Malcolm Gladwell's New Yorker article on Cesar Milan two nights ago. It seems that the world falls into two distinct camps when it comes to the dog whisperer. I fall squarely into the admirer's camp and I'll not lay out my reasons, as I'm not interested in debating the issue. Suffice it to say that Gladwell's title, "What the Dog Saw," is what Milan helps dog owners to see.

Yesterday, I had dinner with Jim & Johanna. The pooch who graces their lives these days is Freya, a collie-cross of boundless, bounding energy, yet a gentle and adoring spirit. Her predecessor was Igor, the wonder dog.

During the years I knew Igor, he generally bore himself with the imperial mien of an Aslan. As you can read in the photo, Jim adored Igor.

I am increasingly aware of how a right relationship with a canine can inform our better being. So, to all the dogs who enhance our humanity, my most humble thanks & praise.

Old Photo #53 – Hank, HFH Build, Eagle Butte, SD/'94

The Jimmy Carter Work Project (Habitat for Humanity) occurred in Winnipeg in 1993. I was fortunate enough to be able to photograph it (as a volunteer) in anticipation of a commemorative book the design firm I was with at the time had been retained to design. The following year, I photographed the '94 JCWP in Eagle Butte, the second poorest Indian Reserve in the U.S. There's a whole slew of stories there.

At any rate, my tent-mate for the week was Hank from Sacramento, CA.

Old Photo #52 – Plum Coulee 27

Widow & widower come out of the closet. I've forgotten the names of the man & woman at the centre of attention in this photo, but they made quite a stir in Plum Coulee during the 75th anniversary celebrations. They'd dug into their closets and pulled out somewhat older garb in the spirit of the day and, for the first time, let the community in on the secret that they had struck up a relationship.

I doubt that the word "promenade" or the term "stepping out" would have been in their Low German vocabularies, but that was happening here.

While I know seven of the people in the photo, I still have incredibly fond memories of the seated gentleman with the glasses case clipped to his shirt pocket, Mr. Doell. I want to say Wm. C. Doell, but it may have been C.C. Doell. They were brothers. My Mr. Doell was a widower who lived behind my family's store (the building that acts a backdrop to this tableau) right next to the firehall/village offices. He always used the warehouse door to enter the store and, like about six-to-twelve men, would show up just before the 9 a.m. to listen to the funeral announcements on CFAM. They'd crowd around the little bakelite radio at the front of the store (in the yard-goods section), listen with rapt attention, then launch into a social and genealogical exposition of their knowledge and/or acquaintance with each of the deceased. But, back to Mr. Doell.

He was every bit as kind and good-natured as his visage would suggest – even to a boy of six and beyond. I inserted myself into the life of the store as soon and as often as possible: after school, on weekends and during summer holidays. By the time I was twelve, I took on as much of the annual inventory count as possible. I served customers, made deliveries using the truck (my application for my driver's license four years later is an interesting story). Although I don't remember this, my younger brothers tell me I had migraine headaches from a very early age. On one particular afternoon, I was minding the store on my own when Mr. Doell appeared from the back as usual. I had a migraine that had me slumped over the counter, eyes closed and covered to block the painful light. Mr. Doell told me to lock the front door and put up a 'back in five minutes' sign. He then took me to his house where he administered to me a substantial shot of schnapps mixed with sugar.

I have no recollection as to the effectiveness of the medicine, but the act of kindness abides with me still after nearly 50 years.

Old Photo #51 – Voyeur 15

The Ladywood Apartments on Broadway in Winnipeg.

But, methinks, few ladies would – Galaxie 500 or no.

Old Photo #50 – Voyeur 1

Circa noon. Clearly one of the outdoor-friendly months; year unknown.

605 Corydon in Winnipeg.

A barber, swathed by bucolic light, in a Norman Rockwell moment.

Old Photo #49 – Voyeur 29

An early Folk Festee. She is now older than I was when I snapped this picture of a pensive little person.

Old Photo #48 – Jamie & the Ass

I got to meet some incredibly wonderful & fun-loving people when my first wife & I went to Britain with Jeannie & Paul Gilbert in December 1971. Jamie Lloyd (I believe that was his surname) was an exemplar of those descriptors.

I seem to recall that Jamie was a teacher, and he would have been a treat for children. He was burly, hairy; and his eyes always betrayed the impending joke or bit of merry-making that was just around the corner. He was only too happy to comply with my request that he stand behind the telly when a blue animated ass came on-screen.

Old Photo #47 – Plum Coulee 24

Another celebrant at Plum Coulee's 75th anniversary.

Old Photo #46 – Hiding on God

To paraphrase the Anglican Book of Common Prayer "Listen to what St. Charles saith..."

The St. Charles Hotel, which still occupies the northeast corner of Notre Dame & Albert in Winnipeg's historic downtown, used to be a hub of activity for certain men every lunch-hour and happy hour. It, along with its counterpart – the Oxford Hotel across the street – was a strip club back in the day. May still be for all I know. At any rate, it was right across Albert Street from my office building, so I passed it often during my lunch-time photo forays. (It was also right next door to the infamous Ken Hong's Restaurant which my son, Cole, tells me recently closed.) One day I noted the message that had been sprayed on the north wall of the St. Charles the night before. I've loved this image from that day for its verisimilitude on a number of levels. Unless the light caught the red paint at an obtuse angle, the words "on God" were virtually invisible.

Old Photo #45 – Two Views of Don's Granary

My friend, Don Wiebe, runs a truly fine farming operation. While I lack the expertise to make this assertion, all the signs are there: the respect of his fellow farmers; all the Moline green in his shop; the freshly painted outbuildings; an enviable lifestyle. He benefits from tending some of the best land in Manitoba, the fine loam of the Red River Valley.

Our friendship spans 44 years. When my daughter, Jill, was young we were fortunate to be living in close proximity and our families spent much time together; so much that Jill called Don's dad, who lived on the same yard, Grampa Peter. Halcyon days, those: like the light in these photos.

Old Photo #44 – Bill Watching a Dragonfly Hatch

I believe this photo was taken the last time Ruth's father, Bill Penner, spent time at the cottage with us. Over the years since Ruth had purchased it, he & Mildred had spent much time there, either alone or with the extended family.

Bill loved the cottage. Despite the fact that, for the last dozen years of his life, he was increasingly imprisoned in his body by the advance of Parkinson's Disease, he did whatever he could to contribute to its maintenance and upkeep.

By the summer this photo was taken (likely 2004), he was pretty much unable to make it down the two short sets of stairs to the dock on his own. I happened to be working on the dock and noticed, for the first time in my life, a water beetle attach itself to the stairs and begin the metamorphosis into a dragonfly. I headed back up to the cottage and asked Bill if he'd ever seen this event. When he answered in the negative, I helped him get down to the dock and observed for well over an hour as sat quietly contemplating this little miracle of life.

It was impossible not to tear up at the irony of this situation: a being freeing itself from a shell in order to fly while another, watching, was being locked up in his body before he might be loosed from his mortal bonds.

Old Photo #43 – Shore Scape 3, Point Lobos, CA

In November, 2005 Ruth & I took a road-trip by car to finish off my photography of Robert Pirsig's ZAMM ride. I had not had the time to photograph the route from Bend, OR to San Francisco as fully as I wanted, and we also had the additional draw of a visit with former Manitoba friends, Teddy & Kathleen Wiebe, who had moved to Clearlake, CA just north of the Napa Valley.

This was Ruth's first trip to California, my third. Both of my previous visits, however, had involved a couple of days in the Los Angeles area, and I really wanted to make a pilgrimage to Carmel, the area in which Edward Weston had spent many creative years. Following our stay with the Wiebes, we drove down the coast with Point Lobos as our destination. We spent a glorious, sunny day exploring the Point, knowing that we would have to head back home as expeditiously as possible: Ruth's mother had pulled herself out of her nursing home bed and was now in hospital.

Old Photo #42 – Sandpiper Tracks, Monterey, CA

Ruth & I were flying back to Winnipeg from our first-and-only-ever compound vacation in March 2004 (a resort in the Dominican Republic, where you really only spend time on the grounds) and, being recharged, were discussing how we might apply this new vigour to our personal and work lives. One of the ideas was that I consider writing a book.

After some consideration, I took up the challenge. I decided that I'd like to do a book that married my passions for the written word, photography and motorcycling. How about a revisiting of Pirsig's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance?" I'd thought of it as a marvel when it was released and had read it a number of times. Perfect subject, right? Well, I reread ZAMM and was chagrined to find that my hero was anything but in the eyes of this 55 year-old. Nonetheless, there was fodder in this idea for a book about changes – personal, interpersonal, social, political, economic. I rode the ZAMM route from Minneapolis to San Francisco on motorcycle from July 8-25, 2005 – exactly 37 years after Pirsig's ride. Over the course of that ride, and three subsequent revisits to portions of the route, I accumulated 5,000 images.

Long story short, the manuscript languishes in my closet for want of a literary agent to flog it to a publisher. I'm not sure if I'm sad or glad for that; it seems increasingly that the quiet life outside of the glare of a spotlight – or flashlight – is a fine place to be.

Old Photo #41 – Three Views of the Nanton Building

These photos are listed in my scan catalogue as Voyeur 40, 42, and 43. The Nanton Building was one of a number of venerable old structures demolished to make room for the TD Centre (or whatever it is named today) on the northwest corner of Portage & Main.

As part of that infamous intersection's redevelopment, pedestrian traffic was rerouted underground – prompting a division of opinion in the populace that still percolates today. One of the stairs leading underground was outside the entrance to the Nanton Building. I positioned myself on the stairs one lunch hour and photographed the passersby. These images, like Voyeur 30 (posted here early on), were hugely challenging to render because of the tonal range. Not so after scanning.

Old Photo #40 – Greg Symons

This long-time, dear friend is blessedly still very much alive, and as full of p 'n v as ever in his youth. We had a great catch-up chat yesterday, so onto the wall of notoriety he goes.

Greg's father, Desmond Symons, was my boss when we first met in the late '70s. Des had apparently mentioned that one of his charges was a young fellow interested in the arts and that Greg and he might hit it off. Greg recalls that he dismissed the idea, as my four years on his age put me into the near-geriatric camp.

Upon his graduation from the Red River College marketing program, however, Greg took a job with Dominion Securities in our office building and, one day, came up to see Des on a business matter. My desk was just outside Des' office and, happily, the company nurse had just been by to mop the drool from my chin, so the approaching-30 fellow didn't present too badly. We quickly became very close friends and have remained so despite Greg's move to the denizens of Toronto a few years later.

While Greg's professional life has revolved around spinning dollars into gold, his passion for the arts is every bit as ardent as was his father's. Books, CDs and movies artfully festoon the tabletops and rafters of the Symons home. The task now is to get Greg & Kathy up to Ruth's Ridge – or Gord & Ruth to Mississauga – for some feasting and festooning of hugs and camaraderie.

Old Photo #39 – Voyeur 14

"They say that I won't last too long on Broadway..." So starts the last verse of the 1963 hit by The Drifters. I found this gentleman, lost in his thoughts, on the boulevard at Broadway & Donald in Winnipeg.

His is an attitude of prayer. Curiously, despite a rather busy lunch hour, I captured him virtually alone at that moment, with only he and the two trees to his left in relative focus. As with Old Photo #33, this photo reminds me of another Biblical text, Luke 23:39-43.

While I in no way see the man in this image as a "malefactor," it appears that he's "hanging" on some troubles... and there he is beside two trees, a euphemism for the Roman cross. Okay, enough equivalence – except to wish, even after over 30 years, that this man's prayers were answered.

Old Photo #38 – Doug Kuhl 3

What to say about a dear friend who died at the age of 47? John Douglas Kuhl passed away in his sleep on November 25, 1999. He would have been 60 years old this past January 29th. He had slipped this mortal coil some 16 hours prior to our finding him. The autopsy revealed a 90% blockage of his anterior descending artery and over 50% blockage of the others. In addition, there was scarring from a previous MI.

Doug would have loved the irony of circumstances around his passage. A soft light was glowing on the bedside table. He looked peaceful, with one of his arms draped over and around his head, and the other on his torso. The end was so benign that the book he had been reading prior to falling asleep was still tented on his chest. The book? "The Narrowing Stream," by John Mortimer. I was given that book.

Doug was a wonder in so many ways: a curious, sometimes contradictory, admixture of interests and passions. Cigarettes, fine alcohol and rich foods were among his pleasures. Exercise was anathema.

Doug was a classical music lover from a very early age. He studied violin under Emmanuel Horch and Madame Eckhardt-Grammatte, and was a member of the Manitoba and Canada Youth Orchestras. He decided, in his late teens, that he did not have the potential to be a soloist and, so, he packed it in.

After a post high-school sabbatical in Europe (learning to play the recorder, read & speak French & Swiss) he returned to Winnipeg, enrolled at the U. of M. and, within three years, had accumulated a Double Honours B.A. in English and German Literature, and had completed all course work toward his M.A. and teaching certificate.

Hard upon graduation, his parents decided to do a 90% leveraged buy-out of their farming partners. Doug was asked to take on the financial and marketing responsibilities. These were undertaken with the same zeal & expedition as his university career.

In the mid 1980s, Doug was persuaded to enter politics. Within a year or two, he was president of the Liberal Party of Manitoba. In 1986, he had helped to find candidates for every riding, and the Liberals went from no seats to 17.

Then, in the mid 1990s, at the urging of his two best friends, Don Wiebe and myself, he once again decided to take up his passion for the violin. After a workshop in Helena, MT, he partially retired from the family business and threw himself into music for the joy of it. He was even invited to participate in a Tafelmusik workshop in Halifax.

Doug had the ability to exercise singular focus. When with a friend, there were no interruptions (phone) or distractions (music on the stereo): the exchange of ideas, information and feelings were all that mattered. His ability to "read" financial statements was lionized by Bill Watchorn, who commented to me that he had never seen anyone else who, so immediately, understood what the statements were trying to hide or promote.

Much more to reprise about Doug, but that is the stuff of conversation.

This photo of Doug was taken in Spruce Woods Provincial Park circa 1976, when a huge group of friends converged there for a weekend.

Much missed.

Old Photo #37 – Western Painted Turtle

I purchased a Canon 5D system in the spring of 2006, sadly putting my Olympus OM system onto the back shelf in the process. I'm still trying to "like" the larger, heavier, more complex camera, but the more seamless process of capturing and printing is seductive, given the demands of daily life.

Ruth & I were at the cottage on Lake of the Woods for the weekend on June 10, 2006. As we set out up the driveway for a walk with the dogs, we noticed as Western Painted Turtle in the verge of the drive. I went back to get the tripod and 180 mm macro lens and got a number of decent shots of this venerable old fellow.

If you look closely, you may be able to see my head reflected in his eye.

Old Photo #36 – Voyeur 52

The northeast corner of Portage & Smith in Winnipeg was a favourite soapbox location back in the day. I saw this group only once in the years that I trolled the downtown.

It was rumoured at the time that the old man with the cane was an eccentric philanthropist who had established a large scholarship fund for the University of Winnipeg. I remember him visiting the offices of Dominion Securities (a stock brokerage) in my office building, so the rumours may be true. At any rate, the shot I missed during this exchange, was the old fellow shaking his cane at the demonstrators.

Old Photo #35 – Voyeur 3

This group of customers is not a glowing endorsement for good times on Winnipeg's riverboats.

Old Photo #34 – Voyeur 17

A family gathering. An aunt & uncle making their departure.

The composition – not the subjects – brings to mind the illustration, in the Bible of my youth, of Adam & Eve being driven from the garden. I would scan and post that illustration but, as with so many things, that Bible is still in a box somewhere in the basement. Doré's interpretation will suffice as a touchstone for now (http://www.artbible.info/art/large/482.html).

Old Photo #33 – Storm Clouds, Sioux Narrows, ON

Our cottage on Long Bay just north of Sioux Narrows has afforded some amazing photographic opportunities to compensate for the de rigueur second to-do list that comes with cottage ownership.

This cloud formation presented on Aug. 5, 2006 at 8:40 p.m. Like so many storms on The Lake of the Woods, all was calm up until 20 minutes before the end of the storm. A few ominous clouds rolled in from the East, everything went quiet, then the wind came smashing in from the northwest and, by 8:40, this cloud and some fallen foliage was all that evidenced the 10 minutes of tumult.

I have no idea what Handel envisioned when he scored the music for the "And the glory" chorus, but Isaiah 40:5 is what comes to mind when I view this image. If you look more than casually, you will even see the head of one of the horses of the Apocalypse.

Old Photo #32 – Ruth 2

Okay, definitely not a vintage or antique shot like so many of the B&W images that have preceded it on this blog, but not a shot taken today either. To my eye, it captures Ruth's beauty, charm and delight in life.

Ruth & I met on Nov. 29th, 1998 and, together, we launched into a wondrous life-present. Given some residual baggage and five young children between us, it hasn't always been present-perfect, but it has been – and is – A Wonderful Life.

I am particularly proud of her – and to be her husband – today as she launches into new and exciting opportunities.