An Unlucky Search for Fall Colors

While the fall colors around the Buffalo River were good this year, there really hasn't been good color in the rest of the state. It's been a weird autumn so far. A lot of trees are still green, while others have already lost their leaves. And then a bunch are just brown and burned-out looking after the dry summer.

I went to the Delta area around Keo and Scott in search of colors, but didn't see much. I went by my favorite little oxbow lake, but the tupelo trees were still mostly greenish.



But luckily there's lots of other things to point the camera at out there. So I made a quick stop at these silos, sitting under some dark storm clouds.



And then this old barn in Scott:



The wooden boards of the barn are weathered and faded, the metal roof is rusted and bent. It looks like part of it burned at one point, there are black scorch marks on one side. But the old barn is still stubbornly standing.







Nailed to the side of the barn was this old basketball hoop. Wonder how many years have passed since someone played a game here?



There was some life in the barn. There were some critters living inside, and some vines covered the front. There were even some flowers blooming, which made an interesting contrast against the aged and battered wood of the barn.



After that I drove back to Little Rock. I made it to downtown and there was a massive traffic jam on the freeway thanks to the I-30 bridge construction. I detoured and then made one last stop at another old building, this one also covered with vines.

Keo

From Scott, I drove east to a small oxbow lake near the town of Keo. The lake was once part of the Arkansas River, but the river moved on and left the oxbow lake behind. It stands, filled with thousands of tupelo trees.







Besides the tupelo trees, the lake is also home to a lot of duckweed. Which looks like algae but it's actually a tiny aquatic plant that floats on the surface of water. Since it was raining, there was a little bit of movement in the lake. The duckweed was caught in the current, drifting around and against the tupelo trees.







I drove back to Keo, which is another old farming community. And one product that Keo is known for is pecans. There are several massive groves of pecan trees around Keo, which have probably helped make countless numbers of pecan pies over the years.



Keo also has a good collection of historic buildings, including this old gin.



Not sure what this plant is, which has spread out around the former gin. It almost looks like bamboo?

An Old Church In Keo

The small towns of Keo and Scott are just a short drive from Little Rock, but they still feel like they belong in another era. Both towns are home to numerous old agricultural buildings, and lots of old homes and churches. I drove through Keo last week, and stopped at this old cotton gin. It was built in the 1940s, and was in use until the 1970s.



I was there to visit an old church that sits just to the south of Keo. My plan was to get out there before sunset, and to get the camera set up in time to start some star trail pictures. This would be my second attempt at star trails here. I tried last summer, but the lens fogged up and ruined almost all of the shots. I hoped this time would have better luck...

I arrived at the old church, which sits along a dirt road. Across the street is a cemetery, which contains many old graves. I wish I knew the history of the church, like when it was built and when it was abandoned. It does have a very sad feeling to it, especially since it not in the best of shape and probably won't be standing for much longer.



The front door was open, so I went inside. The former sanctuary of the church looked rough. A large hole had formed in the roof, along with one on the floor. Fallen ceiling tiles littered the floor, next to a bright green carpet that once ran between the pews.



The back room of the church was in worse shape. Most of the roof was gone, and the floor was covered with a carpet of fallen leaves.



And the view looking out the back window of the church:



And one more view of the front of the church, taken across the road at the old cemetery. I did want to make another star trail attempt here in the winter, when the brush in front of the church was bare and wouldn't cover as much of the building. And also, when there wouldn't be any mosquitoes out.



I set up the camera on the tripod, found the composition that I wanted. I put a hard-warmer inside a sock, and wrapped it around the lens (which is a crude, but effective way to prevent the lens from fogging up). And when it was dark enough I put the camera into manual mode and set the right exposure time, ISO, and aperture. Everything was going great until I tried to use the remote shutter release. It was plugged in, but it wasn't communicating with the camera. I pressed the button in vain, but it wasn't working at all. It is a vital piece of equipment, and without it I was out of luck.

After saying a few choice words (that were probably inappropriate to say in front of a church, sorry!), I had to sadly pack everything up. With the shutter release not working, my second attempt at star trail pictures here was a bust.

The next day I made an emergency run to Bedfords, which luckily had a shutter release for sale that fit my camera. So that night I headed back out to Keo to make attempt number three. Luckily I remembered to charge the batteries, pack the memory card, and bring the camera and new shutter release. I set up the camera, and got a little creeped out when I heard something emerge from under the old church and move around in the brush nearby. I was afraid it might have been a skunk. But I shined the flashlight on it, and it was just a little armadillo.

And amazingly, the third time was a charm! So here the star trails over the old church, taken over the course of about two and a half hours:

Driving In The Delta

There are several old buildings in the flat Delta lands around Scott and Keo that I like to revisit whenever I'm able, just to see how they are doing. Just outside of Scott is this old sharecroppers home, which isn't in great shape. A storm blew off part of the roof a few years ago, and the roof has slowly deteriorated since then. It's sad to see.



And for comparison, the same place in 2017:



This is the side of the house, with vines that have crawled up the faded woodwork.



On the other side of Scott was this old building, which I'm not sure what it's purpose was. But it does look like someone tried to recently burn it, part of the outside had some scorch marks. People are awful sometimes.



On the side of the building was this rusted old basketball hoop. Wonder how many people used to slam dunk on this back in the past.



The old building is an interesting collection of colors and textures.



South of Scott is an old church that I've taken pictures of many times over the years. It seems to have been abandoned for awhile. But the church is still being used. The front of the church has become an extension of the cemetary, and a few new graves have been added over the years. No one attends service at the church anymore, but the congregation is slowly returning.



I headed down the road, and passed by the site of the former Paradise Church (as noted in the previous post on this blog). Beside the scorched ground where the church once stood was this outbuilding. Which may have been bathrooms, or maybe storage.



I started driving to Keo and had to stop the car to try to get a shot of this metal silo reflected in a puddle on the road. It was a cold day when this was taken, with temperatures actually below freezing. In my haste to leave, I forgot to bring a coat so I'd only be able to take a few pictures outside before having to rush back to the comfort of the heated car.



I made it to the small town of Keo, and stopped at this old store that has also been left closed and abandoned. The front was reflected in a large puddle.



And a color version of the door and one of the windows...



While in Keo I stopped again for this old church, which also looks like it isn't open anymore.



I went by another one more church, this one just south of Keo. I'm not sure how long this one will be standing. Part of the roof has collapsed, exposing a huge hole that is allowing rain to pour through.



And finally one last shot from the church, of the closed and rusty side door that I'm guessing led to the preacher's office. There is a bit of snow on the concrete steps, joining the chill winds that blow through the empty building and its quiet sanctuary.

Keo and Scott

My work was kind enough to close down for Veteran's Day, so I took advantage of the time off and went to take a few pictures of the fall colors before they were gone. I headed out to a small lake just south of Keo, which is filled with tupelo and cypress trees. It was pouring rain, which helped to saturate the colors of the leaves (which were right at peak there).



The green in the water is actually duckweed, a tiny aquatic plant (and not algae).





It was raining heavily, but I had an umbrella that I used to keep the camera fairly dry. The wind tired to blow it away a few times but we all survived without getting too soaked.











In a field behind the lake was this rusty old tractor, presumably its work is done for the season.



And a quick little detail from the front of the tractor - with this little eagle hood ornament.



There is an old abandoned church nearby, called Morris Chapel. The front of the church looks ok, but the roof in the back part of the building has collapsed. The sanctuary is empty except for an old piano which was covered with wasp nests.



And the lonely front door of the church...



And the view looking out from the church, through a broken window in the sanctuary.



From there I drove through the small town of England and stopped by this old cotton gin, which sits right in the middle of town but looks to not be used anymore.



I drove on towards Scott as it continued to pour rain. There was still cotton growing in the fields, which looked soaked in the rains (good thing it was a cold rain, so the cotton didn't shrink like my clothes do if I wash them in warm water).



I made one last stop at this old church, which has long been abandoned. The back of the church looks like it has collapsed, and unfortunately the roof of the church looks like it will join it soon. According to Google Maps, this was once called Paradise Church.



And the side of the church, where the overgrown grasses and weeds at least were showing off some fall colors.