Now I could have gone back home and picked it up, but I didn't really have time to backtrack since I only had a few hours before it was time to pick up the kids. So I looked through the camera bag and lo and behold, there was the spare battery. And it was even charged! It had been months since I last charged it, and I was shocked it still had juice. Hooray, little battery! I stuck in the camera and got this picture:
When you do photography, there are some days when things just work in your favor. Like if you hike that long trail to reach a waterfall and find it flowing well and with perfect light. But today wasn't quite one of those days. There was an old gin that I had taken a picture of years before that I wanted to revisit with the infrared camera. I drove out to the small town where it was, but couldn't find it. I knew of the area it was in, but not the exact location. So after aimlessly driving around for a bit, I turned around and tried to get a few other pictures before I needed to head back to town. Of course, when I got home I realized I was just maybe a mile or two away from where I wanted to be, but didn't realize it at the time. Oh well. It just means another trip back out there to try again!
I did end up driving through the small town of Humnoke, and stopped to get a picture of this old abandoned building. Weeds and grass were growing up through the cracks in what must have once been the parking lot.
I noted that a building that stood across the street had been torn down, one that I got a picture of on a rainy day back in 2019. The lot where the building stood is now a Dollar Store.
Another building in Humnoke that had been torn down in the last few years was this old abandoned church, which was in bad shape the last time I was able to get a picture of it in 2017:
From Humnoke I headed north towards the freeway, but stopped several times to get a few more pictures. There was a large summer thunderstorm brewing off in the distance, and the clouds began to get closer and closer.
I went through the town of Carlisle, and stopped at the old and abandoned Esso Station. This gas station's big claim to fame was being the location of a car accident involving Elvis Presley. In 1955, Elvis and his bandmates were driving towards Little Rock from Memphis. At the intersection of Hwy. 13 and 70 in Carlisle, Elvis broadsided a dump truck and sent his Lincoln Cosmopolitan into a ditch across the street from this station. No one was injured and the Lincoln was still drivable, but Elvis was fined $25 for damaging the dump truck.
It looks like the building had been used recently for an espresso shop, but sadly it's now empty.
I headed west and eventually went through the small town of Lonoke, and stopped at the old First Christian Church. The church was built in 1916 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Unfortunately the congregation for the church has dwindled away to just two people, and services haven't been held here in about 15 years. The church is vacant and needs extensive repairs. This year, it was added to the list of Most Endangered Places by Preserve Arkansas.
The massive thunderstorm was now really close, so I raced from Lonoke to try to find something interesting nearby to get a picture of with the menacing storm clouds in the background. My first attempts weren't successful, since it was boring stuff by the freeway like gas stations and a Wal-Mart. But I drove down this road and soon swerved to a stop. I don't know exactly what these do, but they did look kinda neat against the dark clouds.
The wind had picked up and the temperature dropped about 25 degrees.
Nearby was this tractor, and I tried to get a few pictures before the storm hit. There were frequent bolts of lightning dropping down from the clouds, and I was kicking myself for not bringing my tripod with me so I could try some longer exposures (this is the time when my wife kindly reminds me that metal tripods in a lightning storm is not a great combination). I managed a few pictures before the storm hit and started pouring down rain, which meant it was time to start driving home...
No comments:
Post a Comment