On finding enough will

"People do not lack strength; they lack will."

Victor Hugo

Cycling from pink to orange

Bringing it home
London, ON
June 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I've had my pink bicycle for 28 years. Longer than I've been a parent. Almost as long as I've been married. Long enough that it's become an integral part of my identity.

It replaced a banana yellow Bianchi, so clearly I have a thing for brightly colored machines.

Specialized built its Stumpjumper Comp mountain bikes out of some pretty durable stuff, because she has ably carried me for countless thousands of kilometres, and consistently fuelled my passion for a sport that somehow convinces us to roll out of bed before dawn and not stop pedalling until we run out of road.

But everything has its time, and as much as I've loved and bastardized this machine with racks, paniers, and slicks to fit my urban commuting lifestyle, it was time for me to find something else. Something a little faster on long road pulls. Something a little more modern. Something safer, with way better brakes. Something a little more aligned with the kinds of exploring I've been dreaming about for a while.

So the pink machine has now been supplanted by an orange one.

The story of how we came to bring her home is worthy of future Instagram posts, but suffice to say finding any bike amid exploding pandemic-driven interest in cycling has been a monumental challenge. (Huge shoutout to Dan and his @dreamcyclery family for making #newbikeday a day we will never forget, and to my wife for always being game to go on new adventures.)

Adventures take many forms, and as much as we think they require the right machine or equipment, the reality is they require the right people around us. Because even when you're on a solitary ride mashing the pedals past a quietly grazing family of horses, no journey happens without family back home.

And whatever color my bike may be, I wouldn't be able to ride it without them.

I'd write more, but it'll have to wait. Time to take this thing out and see what it'll do.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #cycling #cyclist #cycle #bicycle #bike #cyclinglife #bikelife #instabike #bikeporn #orange #devinci #hatchet #gravelbike #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #health #everything

Related:

Hitting the road, again and again, April 2021

Pink bike. Red protector. April 2021

#IfYouReadOneThingToday - On Cycling, February 2021

Green lane of death, November 2020

Seven years on, August 2020

Standing in the middle of an endless road, April 2020

This is why I ride, May 2019

Life at the crossroads: Wonderland & Nine Mile Road, April 2015

Kindly make room for cyclists, November 2014

Rolling out, rolling on, April 2014

Do bikes belong here? October 2011

Where the rubber hits the road, July 2007

Taking another look at an Chevy's retro-wagon

Hey dude
London, ON
June 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Today in our ongoing #OldParkedCars series, we sample some retro-style domestic, courtesy of designer Bryan Nesbitt, who interestingly also designed the PT Cruiser.

Years ago, I drove a car much like this one, a black Chevrolet HHR that we affectionately named Henrietta*.

By the time we said goodbye, she sounded like an artillery brigade and she leaked enough fuel onto our driveway to alarm the neighbors. It was clearly her time to go, but over the years I spent driving her on some insane mega-commutes with the sunroof open and the typically excellent GM head unit cranking out some bizarro driving playlists, she never once let me down, and always brought me safely home.

The car's personality was such that whenever we saw another HHR on the road, we'd quietly mutter "Hey dude" under our breath as we passed by. I'm pretty sure no one else cared, but it was like our modern, violence-free version of the Volkswagen Beetle punch buggy game, and it reminded us that cars can be more than mere transportation appliances - but only if we allow them to be.

These nostalgic machines are becoming increasingly rare finds, so I cracked a smile when I saw this beautifully preserved example during a recent morning walk with the dog. It's the SS model, and its turbocharged 2.0 litre engine is rightly seen as a bright spot during an otherwise dreary era for GM. The blue is rather fetching, too, so I had little choice but to take a photo.

I didn't get to hear it when its owner returned and fired her up, but I'm reasonably sure this one didn't spill anything in the gutter before it went on its way.

* Henrietta may sound familiar, because in a fit of barely-adequate imagination, I named the car that replaced her - a red Honda Civic - Henrietta, as well. To differentiate the two, the Civic is Henrietta 2.0. I think I may need a new hobby, because naming cars clearly isn't my strong suit.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #chevrolet #chevy #HHR #american #car #carporn #automotive #oldparkedcar #opc #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Related:

Connected by a Chevy Suburban, January 2020

Thematic Photographic 422 - Lights On, August 2018

I will never top this birthday, May 2018

Thematic Photographic 292 - Reflective, April 2014

No more cookies for you, September 2012

Snow's coming, October 2010

Henrietta gets wet, June 2010

Henrietta at rest, February 2010

A particularly memorable beach sunrise

When light reaches out
Deerfield Beach, FL
December 2008
This photo has also been shared on Instagram

Call this one a throwback. I wrote the following passage on an early January morning in 2009 to accompany a vacation photo I had taken a few days earlier, just after the sun rose over a Florida beach.

Reading my words back today, I'm struck by how timely they still are. So here goes...and thanks in advance for indulging my little raiding-the-archives party:

Every year we've gone to Florida, I've talked about heading to the beach and catching a sunrise. And every year, it's remained just that: talk. I guess when you're on vacation, the last thing you want to do is drag yourself out of bed at 6 a.m. and head out in the dark.

This year, my wife insisted that I follow through. She also volunteered to join me, and wouldn't take no for an answer. Bless her.

So there we were, heading out in the pre-dawn murk, parking on a deserted beachfront street and planting lawn chairs into the cold sand. On the way there, I told her how little I cared about capturing the quintessential sunrise picture. Maybe I'm changing as I get older, but I no longer feel compelled to return home with a specific picture of anything. I get what I get, and whatever it is, it is. Just being beside her was enough for me.

So as you can see from the photo above, I didn't shoot a conventional view. I liked how the sun reached across the water. Wherever we sat, that reflection pointed at us. Never mind that shooting directly into the sun was photographically futile. It also didn't reflect how I felt that morning.

You feel small when you're on a quiet beach with someone who matters more to you than you've ever been able to express. You start thinking about what it all means, about why you're lucky to be in that place at that moment.

You know there's a real world behind the beach that's just filled with all kinds of sadness and strain. You know you'll have to get off the beach at some point and deal with it all.

But for now, it's enough to appreciate the moment for what it is: perfect.

#deerfield #beach #deerfieldbeach #throwback #florida #fla #atlantic #ocean #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #vacation #sunrise #waves #water #landscape #landscapephotography #naturephotography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

The perfect lunch

This didn't last long
London, ON
February 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Every once in a while, a little voice inside our heads tells us to take a quick photo of our lunch. Or our breakfast. Or any other meal, for that matter.

What, you don't hear that little voice?

Whatever you're hearing, I hope you're listening. Because while photos of hastily devoured sandwiches - or whatever else makes it to your plate - may not reflect the ultimate photographic vision, they do tell the story of us. What it looked like, what it felt like, who we experienced it with.

So, yes, an ordinary scene. But an important one all the same, and I hope you're capturing yours, too.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #kitchen #table #spontaneous #stillllife #lunch #sandwich #tomatoes #food #foodporn #foodphotography #instafood #foodstagram #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

#OldParkedCars, diesel edition

Definitely not a Granada
London, ON
April 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Today's #OldParkedCars entry heads (virtually) to Germany and looks back in time.

If you dig deeply enough into 1970s and 1980s automotive history, there's probably a W123-generation Mercedes lurking somewhere in the background.

To call these cars classic is a bit of an understatement, because to many these represent the high point of Mercedes-Benz design and influence, where legendary engineering far surpassed virtually anything else on the road at the time.

I found this 240D sitting pretty on a nearby street. It's clearly been well-loved, and my how I wish it hadn't been 7:32 a.m. when I came across it, as it would have been fun to cross paths with the person or people responsible for keeping this remarkable vehicle in such remarkable shape.

Maybe someday. For now, I've just started this streetside automotive photographic thing, and it's probably best to shoot quickly and be gone before someone calls the cops on me.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #mercedes #benz #240D #w123 #german #car #carporn #automotive #oldparkedcar #opc #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

My not-so-little shadow

Neighborhood watch
London, ON
April 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

She has quite the shadow.

So do I, as she’s never far from me wherever our wanderings take us.

And if it were up to me, she'd follow me forever.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #walkabout #night #shadow #calli #callitheschnauzer #dog #dogs #schnauzerpuppy #schnauzersofinstagram #schnauzergram #schnauzers #dogsofinstagram #instapuppy #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

On dreaming by day

"Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night."

Edgar Allan Poe

 

The fly who loved me

Sun dappled
Tillsonburg, ON
May 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Looks like the tulips had a bit of a following on this brilliantly sunny afternoon.

I suppose I could have waited for them to fly away, or I could have waved my hand around them to scare them off. But in the end I captured them as they were.

I guess that makes me a lousy photographer, but I'd rather tell the story as it presents itself than try to shape the moment into some kind of idealized non-reality.

Somewhere in there, I think I may have also stumbled on a bit of a life lesson. And to think it took a swarm of flies to open my eyes to it.

#tillsonburg #ontario #canada #road #trip #travel #red #tulips #flowers #garden #street #streetphotography #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #Nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Yet another Jeep thing - in purple

Sheetmetal selfie
London, ON
May 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I keep seeing Jeeps on the street. And if I'm seeing them, I guess you're going to see them, too.

Compared to the green one we featured a few days ago, this one's obviously purple. Somewhat less obviously, this one is from the previous generation, known as JK.

Still worthy of a photo, though. And hopefully a smile. Because who wouldn't love a purple Jeep?

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #jeep #wrangler #jeepwrangler #unlimited #purple #itsajeepthing #jeepsofinstagram #car #carporn #automotive #oldparkedcars #opc #street #streetphotography #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Related:

It's a Jeep thing, May 2021

It's another Jeep thing, May 2021

A TR7 decays in silence, May 2021

Octopus on ice

Catch of the day
London, ON
May 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Seafood and I don't agree, so the closest I'll come to octopi like these will likely be through the glass of the grocery store fish section.

But even off-limits-to-me food can look limitlessly incredible, and all I can think of when I see something like this is that the universe is a remarkable place.

Even better is that I got caught taking this picture: the fishmonger staffing the section walked over as I finished taking the photo and asked me if I wanted some. I politely declined, but we still had a delightful chat about what a great store it is, and why we enjoy shopping there.

His passion for his craft was infectious, and it made me glad I decided to take the shot in the first place. Sometimes, connections happen when we least expect them, and they leave us better as a result.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #sobeys #supermarket #grocery #store #octupus #octopi #seafood #fish #shopping #retail #random #stilllife #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

(Left) field of dreams

Peering through the outfield fence
Tillsonburg, ON
May 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

When I was a kid, my parents signed me up for little league baseball, and thanks to my relative lack of skills in this sport - or any team sport, frankly - I was relegated to left field.

While baseball clearly wasn't my thing, left field turned into a happy place where I sat in the grass, picked buttercups, and learned how to spot planes as they drew lines in the blue skies high above.

Every once in a while, I'd hear yelling from far away, and I'd interrupt my flowerpicking and planespotting to fetch an errant ball that had somehow made it all the way to my solitary playground.

It was before the era of participation ribbons for everyone, so I'm left with memories instead of dusty tchatchkes on a shelf. But those memories are fuzzy and warm.

Out there in left field, I learned to appreciate the lore of the sport. As much as I was never destined to become an All Star - or even an Any Star - I came to love the game as well as the fields where it is played. These magical places are filled with echoes and shadows and untold stories, and to this day I'm drawn to them.

And so it was in Tillsonburg, where the outfield fence and its ads for local businesses caught my eye. My old baseball field, long since bulldozed in favor of a half-empty strip mall, was never sophisticated enough to merit billboards in the outfield.

But this scene somehow took me back to a place and time where even lousy ballplayers like me could find their place, and where buttercups still grew in the overgrown grass far from the rest of the crowd.

#tillsonburg #ontario #canada #road #trip #travel #baseball #sports #gosports #street #streetphotography #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #design #lines #canon #canon_photography #canonphotography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

It's another Jeep thing

Parking lot adventure
London, ON
May 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Same Jeep, wider view. A reminder that design still matters, and history can indeed be preserved alongside modernity.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #jeep #wrangler #jeepwrangler #unlimited #green #jeepnation #itsajeepthing #jeepporn #jeepsofinstagram #truck #car #carporn #automotive #photography #masonville #canon #canon_photography #canonphotography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Parking lot power trip

Things are looking up
Tillsonburg, ON
May 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Note to self: spend more time paying attention to the infrastructure that keeps us powered up, connected, hydrated, and alive.

We'll start with this hydro pole in the middle of a Tillsonburg parking lot, but I'm reasonably sure we can find examples anywhere.

And that's the joy of this kind of photography - it's everywhere, but for reasons that escape me we rarely, if ever, seem to notice it.

Why is that?

#tillsonburg #ontario #canada #road #trip #travel #street #streetphotography #photography #power #hydro #design #lines #blue #sky #canon #canon_photography #canonphotography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Vaccination road trip to Tillsonburg

I was born in a small town...
Tillsonburg, ON
May 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

When your youngest munchkin gets a vaccination appointment, you take him, even if it’s a few towns over.

And so we found ourselves rolling through the countryside on a perfectly sunny-and-blue-sky Friday afternoon. Henrietta 2.0 the Honda was in fine form, with road trippy tunes floating out her open sunroof. I would have been just as happy driving further with him. That time thing, you know. We never get enough.

Pandemic protocols being what they are, I waited outside the community centre. Carmi being who he is, I wandered around with my camera, because some days deserve to be remembered in pixels.

Tillsonburg is a lovely town around an hour east of here, and their community centre is a showpiece, the kind of carefully considered multipurpose facility that makes life extraordinary for those lucky enough to live here.

I got a tiny taste of it trudging between fairgrounds, baseball fields, and hockey arenas. I didn’t have much time to play with, but it was just long enough to feel the warmth of this place.

And as our happily vaccinated Noah returned to the car and we turned for home, I found myself already looking forward to coming back here in a couple of months for his second dose. Some places don’t take long to imprint themselves on us.

Some days are just a little more special than others thanks largely to who we spend them with, and how.

#tillsonburg #ontario #canada #covid #covid19 #pandemic #vaccination #road #trip #travel #street #streetphotography #photography #building #architecture #architecturephotography #buildingporn #architectureporn #design #lines #canon #canon_photography #canonphotography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Related:

Henrietta shows her backside, November 2020

Losing Henrietta in an empty parking lot, March 2020

There's a hole in my roof! December 2018

Henrietta 2.0 gets wet, July 2018

I will never top this birthday, May 2018

It's a Jeep thing

It apparently is easy being green
London, ON
May 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Jeep redesigned its iconic Wrangler a couple of years ago - a tall order when the basic design harks back to the Second World War, forcing designers to wrestle with keeping the platform current without losing what made it special to its die-hard fans in the first place.

This conundrum likely explains why so few old-design revivals - cough, PT Cruiser, cough - manage to survive into a second generation.

Which makes the Wrangler all the more remarkable. Because it hasn't just survived. It's thrived. You can even get a plug-in hybrid version. A green Jeep, so to speak. What's not to love?

I found this one - a sear-your-retinas-green Wrangler Unlimited in Sahara trim, with the 3.6 litre Pentastar V6 - in an otherwise empty shopping mall parking lot, and I was immediately drawn to the tiny-yet-significant design details that make the JL generation special.

Like the color. In recent years, car colors have trended toward the greyscale, with many manufacturers limiting their choices to variations of white, grey, or black. Not so over at Jeep, whose offerings continue to be available in a range of instantly memorable shades that can't help but make passers-by smile. I'm a fan of the purple.

The JL also has these remarkably detailed door hinges, and its cutlines have a geometry that makes them instantly memorable. Just the shape of the front door cutout is enough to prompt sidewalk reflection among the staggeringly small minority of people who dig this stuff.

Count me among the minority, then. Must be a Jeep thing.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #jeep #wrangler #jeepwrangler #unlimited #green #jeepnation #itsajeepthing #jeepporn #jeepsofinstagram #truck #car #carporn #automotive #photography #masonville #canon #canon_photography #canonphotography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Related:

A TR7 decays in silence, May 2021

Lost in an underground parking lot, January 2019

Where I shoot a stranger's car, October 2018

Dirty Miata in Deerfield, May 2018

Not your father's Buick, March 2012

History on wheels, June 2011

Thematic Photographic 114 - Reflective, September 2010

Wordless Wednesday - Automotive reflection, April 2009

On card games and life

"Life is not a matter of holding good cards, but of playing a poor hand well."

Robert Louis Stevenson

 

That's a lot of wine

Bottled
London, ON
May 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Inspiration can hit you anywhere, anytime.

Like in the wine section of the grocery store, which I’m rushing through because a) we all rush through the grocery store these days, and b) I’m not even looking for wine on this particular visit.

Which is odd, because my name literally means, “My vineyard”. Yet I barely drink the stuff. Or any alcohol, for that matter. It just doesn’t do it for me.

But the visuals of wine are another story altogether, with artfully designed labels and bottles all competing for our attention, all telling the stories of how they came to be.

And so I find myself staring at the colors and patterns of this particular display. And I shoot a couple of fast, imperfect frames before returning to my more typical pandemic-driven rush.

I call it photography in the everyday, and it follows a predictably accelerated process: get in, get your stuff, get out.

Except when you see something neat, in which case there’s always a sliver of extra time to take a second look.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #sobeys #supermarket #grocery #store #shopping #retail #wine #bottles #drink #alcohol #random #stilllife #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Canine portrait mode

A rare quiet moment
London, ON
May 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Make sure you get my good side, please.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medway #valley #heritage #forest #calli #callitheschnauzer #dog #dogs #schnauzerpuppy #schnauzersofinstagram #schnauzergram #schnauzers #dogsofinstagram #instapuppy #photography #Nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

A TR7 decays in silence

Once upon a time
London, ON
May 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I’m a bit of a car fan, but not conventionally so.

I don’t have motor oil coursing through my veins. The thrum of a V8 engine doesn’t make my heart flutter. I don’t religiously quote 0-to-60 times, and I believe testosterone-driven car culture is fundamentally toxic to us all.

I view car culture through a design lens, as the entire automotive sector seems to echo the historic periods that surround it. Want a snapshot of what life was like at any given time? Take a look at cars from that era.

It’s a wonderful way to reflect on where we’ve come from, and how we got from there to here, or from then to now.

So stumbling upon this Triumph TR7 convertible decaying at the back of a quiet industrial park parking lot was quite the memory trip. I remember when this car was new, a radical design that seemed to make every other Malaise Era vehicle look even more obsolete than it already was. It was the stuff of dreams for a kid just starting to discover wonder.

Never mind that this car was a mechanical nightmare, churned out by a dysfunctional manufacturer skidding toward extinction. It was still a kick to see a tired old example barely 10 minutes from home. We all had dreams, even if some of them may have faded in the cold light of reality.

As you can see, time hasn’t done this late-1970s relic many favors, but we all have four-wheeled memories of our own, and it never hurts to have them jarred awake every once in a while.

Which explains why you may see the occasional car photo and vignette in my feed. We’ll call the series #oldparkedcars, because even old machines deserve to have their stories told.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #triumph #tr7 #wedge #convertible #british #leyland #car #carporn #automotive #oldparkedcar #opc #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything