Sunday, June 16, 2013
Pine Buff, Arkansas

Having had a turbulent week, I am ill prepared to celebrate the 300th CornDancer Photo of the Week, which this one is. That’s pitiful, because it’s not often that we get to celebrate anything fun that has more than 300 occurrences. Think about it. How do you feel about the 300th time you’ve hit the same pothole on the way to work? The 300th time you’ve misspelled “absence,” “accommodate,” and/or “embarrass” — and, perhaps, the 300th time you forgot to turn off the bathroom light or expelled a bit of unexpected flatulence? On the other hand, 300 stories and pictures ain’t too shabby if I say so myself.

In the spirit of fun, I am showing a couple of my favorites and a couple of new pictures I’ve squirrelled away for just such a moment.

Tag, You’re It!

The ’49 Ford truck seems to be chasing the old Catepillar. I’m not sure what the vintage of the Cat is, but notice that it still has a crank poking out from under the radiator for starting after the battery goes south. We haven’t seen those in years. For those of us who have hand-cranked ornery engines, the memories of same are not our favorites. There are lots of people who have seen these mechanical critters 300-plus times. They sit about a quarter-mile west of I-530 on U.S. Highway 270 west of Pine Bluff and White Hall, Arkansas.

There’s a Bayou under All This.

In tree-lined Pine Bluff, Arkansas, the burg of my residence, getting a really clear vista of the horizon and great cloud formations is limited to just a few locations. It’s not that I am coming down on tall trees. I love ‘em. They do a masterful job of blocking the horizon. This particular place has a double-whammy for open space that affords spectacular views. Bayou Bartholomew and I-530 come close together here. On this particular day in in September, 2005, all of the good stuff came together.

Farewell Dogwoods

It’s a good thing I shot this dogwood tree in March of 2009 because since then, something untoward invaded its being and turned it into a dead stick. The tree was next door to me. Its twin, residing across the street, similarly spectacular, suffered a similar fate. Makes one grateful for pixels.

This week, see if you can come up with anything you’ve done 300 times that is cool. Kind of an exercise in “Count your blessings.”