yesterday I awoke to minus 6 degrees. This morning it was minus 13. Man, oh man, these tempratures are getting old. The heat bill is out of control. Lately gasoline prices ahve been rising. I don't know where all this will end. It's ridiculous.
Yestrday I played guitar for a couple hours at an indoor farm market at the Chaumont Fire dept. hall. From there a birtrhday party  for the Better Half's grand son #3.

G's sixth birthday.  iPhone photo by gary walts

Another cold morning in Chaumont NY

It was 13 below zero this morning in Chaumont, N.Y. I don't have the energy to ezplain the genesis of this photo other than to say I snapped it with the iPhone through the kitchen window.

View from a kitchen windo of my home in Chaumont, NY.

Photo District News magazine, Eugene Meatyard book

September 2000 issue of Photo District News. A story about me appears on page 114.

I have had a nice darkroom in my home for many years. However, in recent years I have simply not iused it and it has turned into a room full of junk, likem a giant unorganized closet. Well that is about to end. Yesterday as i was cleaning out stuff, throwing stuff away, I opened a box and found a September 2000 issue of Photo District News magazine that featured a story about me and a photo essay I made about my father. I also discovered one of my favorite books that I have been looking for for quite some time. That would be an Aperture publication of Eugene Meatyard photos. I love Meatyard's work. I wish I could have met him.

September 2000 issue of Photo District News. A story about me appears on page 114.

This book of Eugene Meatyard photos is among my favorites. This volum was published in 1974. Meatyard had an exhibition of his photos at Jefferson Community College in Watertown, NY in (I believe) 1971. That's where I first saw his work. I loved it. Still do. I have another book about Meatyard that I have also mis-placed and hopefully will find it amid the clutter one day soon. 

1971 Aperture publication about Eugene Meatyard, one of my all time favorite photo books.

Snow in Chaumont photos

The following are some photos of snow in Chaumont that I snapped this morning with an iPhone 5. It was 1 degree below zero.

A panoramic view from the porch of my home on Washington St. in Chaumont, N.Y.          gary walts photo

A cat's tracks in the snow on the walk as seen from the porch of my home on Washington St. in Chaumont, N.Y.          gary walts photo

Pic nic table in my back yard.                    photo by gary walts

Crow on a snowbank and car trouble

I am sitting in the Wal-Mart parking lot and spot this crown on a snowbank.   Snap, snap.   photo by Gary Walts

It was one degree here this morning. Yesterday we had more snow. I also had a guitar gig at the library in Alexandria Bay as part of their Art in Winter event. I pulled out of my driveway and got one block and the van was making an odd noise. I get out and discover a rear flat tire. It must have gone flat over night. Then I look at the other rear wheel and it appears to be at an odd angle to the van. It is cocked outward at the bottom. Something is clearly wrong. The night before that I was driving home from Syracuse and the van was going down the road in a peculiar fashion. It would swerve oddly when I turned the wheel. It's hard for me to describe, just that something was not right with it. Now it's obvious to me that something is wrong with the rear suspension. Now I'll have to remove the rear wheels and take them into town for new tires. I'll inspect the rear suspension and hopefully it will not be something impossible or expensive to repair.

I had plans to drive to Philadelphia, PA today to visit my niece and her family. While there I was planning on visiting the Classical Guitar Store I am more than ready to buy a new guitar and they have a great selection. However, I now plan to go there in April nd be there for Thomas Jefferson's birthday.

Pigeon wing on Syracuse sidwewalk

More snow yesterday and this morning in Chaumont, NY. The low temperature last night wass 13 degrees.
I snapped the photo of the pigeon wing on a busy sidewalk in downtown Syracuse. There are hawks that live in the city and prey on pigeons. I am assuming this is the remains of such an attack.

Pigeon wing on a Syracuse sidewalk. I figure it is the remnants of a hawk attack on the bird.    photo by  gary walts

Food Scraps on the street, Ground Hog Day and more

I parked my van to go into Musicology on State St in Watertown where I teach guitar and spotted the remains of this apple i  the parking lot. I snapped it with the iPhone5. Then I used Instagram to crop and filter it. I love instagram.

I parked my van in a public lot opposite Musicology on State St. in Waertown, N.Y., stepped out and noticed the remains of this apple lying  in the snow and ice.  Naturally I I had to photograph it. Snapped it quick with the iPhone5 and filtered it with instagram app. 

Today is Groundhog's Day. it is also Super Bowl Sunday. Here in the village of Chaumont the fire department hosted an indoor farmer's market. This event will take place every Sunday in February from 9-5:00  I played guitar there from about 11:00 to 2:00. I was very well received and they would like me to come back. Of course I will. After that I did a little more work on the wood stove chimney disaster that happened a few weeks ago. What I did was screw some plastic hardware to the roof in front of the chimney and the chimney braces that are supposed to act as an ice barrier and or breaker. It should hold the ice in place on the roof to permit it to break up or stay in place as it melts so it releases in a controlled fashion, hopefully to prevent the previous damage from recurring. After that the Better Half and I went to Wise Guys restaurant here in our village. She had a chicken and pasta dish that was out of this world delicious. I had a small pizza with garlic sauce, spinach, bacon, and tomatoes ( YUM! YUM! ) and an order of garlic butter chicken wings, washed down with a couple glasses of a really smooth Cabernet Sauvignon wine. Now we are going to watch Bill Murray's movie Ground Hog Day.