Happy Thanksgiving

Well, here I am - the same place as last year - without words as I wait for part of my family to arrive for Thanksgiving. So, if you don't mind, I'll do other things to occupy my time and mind while I "worry them home." In the meantime, I hope all is well in your world and you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Changing Shapes

Nothing stays the same. Buildings, like people, grow old and their shapes change. This is what happened to a building in Pontiac, Michigan, where my family spent a lot of years. But first, let me tell you how the building came to be.

After serving as Chief Engineer of Oakland Automobile Company, the predecessor of Pontiac Motors, Benjamin Jerome Sr. opened Jerome Motors on South Saginaw Street in Pontiac, Michigan in the early 1930s.

As a dealer of Oldsmobiles, Cadillacs and LaSalles, the company managed to remain open through World War II, when automobiles took a back seat to the war effort by concentrating on selling used cars.

The photo below shows the dealership as it looked during the early 1950s. Busy place. Note the showroom facing South Saginaw Street on the left side of the photo.




In November 1967, ground was broken for a new facility "at the top of Woodward Avenue" and the business moved. The old building was used for other purposes and the first changes to its shape were made.

The building that housed the original dealership still stands in Pontiac, but South Saginaw Street is now called Wide Track. The showroom has been enclosed, but the lines and architecture identify this as a structure from the 1930s. The business was sold in 1985 and the dealership was moved to Rochester Hills.



I love the clean lines of the building.

Up, Up and Away!

I’m not crazy about heights, but I’ve always thought it might be fun to go up in a hot air balloon just to see the world from a new angle. The following article in the Evansville Journal of Wednesday, 1 March 1876, has me wondering if maybe I should keep my feet on the ground.

Earlington, Ky., Feb. 28, 1876 – Professor Perry attempted to ascend in his balloon here on Saturday, but the distance was short, as in the rise the balloon caught on a corner of a building and after gaining an altitude of about 100 feet, his flying car began suddenly to descend and lodged in a tree only 100 yards from the starting place. The gentleman came down on a ladder, glad to reach Mother Earth once more.

The craft sailed off and fell in a neighboring yard, where it frightened an old lady and a darling baby nearly into spasms. The old lady ran into the house and called for help as only a frightened female can do. A little camphor and some thorough argument on the part of her friends convinced her that a planet had not arrived from on high.

So much for the balloon ride.

On the Menu

This photo will prove that my town has an establishment of haute cuisine. Nourishment for the gourmand, you know.

Old Woman Blues

I've been shamed! I've been slandered! Twice within the past week I have been called Miss Brenda. Can you imagine? I know; calling a person Miss whatever is supposed to be a sign of respect, but for your elders! Couldn't they have chosen another way to show respect - like opening a door or some other simple gesture. Oh no! They had to call me Miss Brenda - out loud, too! Those two words were like a stab in the heart. I'll never recover - might as well get some old-woman, black lace up oxfords, a hair net and find a rocking chair. I'm done.

Autumn 2009

I know, I know. It's too early for the leaves to be turning. That usually happens toward the end of October. Tell that to Mother Nature. She seems to have a mind of her own these days. The photo above was taken along the Western Kentucky Parkway, probably Hopkins County, Kentucky, this afternoon while driving home from the dedication of a monument to Revolutionary War soldier Longshore Lamb and his wife, Sarah, in Caldwell County, Kentucky.

It was a chilly, damp, blustery day until about 2 p.m., when the sun came out and the temperature went up. Mother Nature isn't done with us yet, though, as she is sending the temps down to 40 tonight, reminding us that she is in charge and we are only along for the ride. Well, at least it isn't snowing ...

A Gaggle of Canadian Geese

How many Canadian geese make a gaggle? I don't have the slightest idea, but this morning I met up with a bunch of them in an area near my home where new condos are being built. After squawking at me, they turned and scurried toward a pond. They aren't my favorite of the geese family as they have an attitude and leave messy calling cards, but they made an interesting picture on an otherwise ordinary morning.