Holga -More Rural Train Stations

When you board the train here you have to step up into the train much like people did years ago. And when getting off you almost but not quite have to jump down off the train. The conductor is very helpful.




The old Fair Haven station.




The old station and the new waiting area.




All aboard at Whitehall, New York.




An abandoned building next to the parking lot at the Whitehall station.




Look up the hill past the abandoned building. There's an old mansion.

Holga -Rural Train Station

Amtrak Rail Company no longer has personnel manning many of their rural stations. This station isn't very old. It sits at the edge of a strip mall surrounded by other abandoned buildings.



Sign at the Rutland, Vermont Amtrak Station.




This realtively new building looks so forlorn and sitting across the train tracks is another abandoned building.



Snow on the tracks. In winter the train is used by skiers going to the nearby Killington ski area.


The sign on the door reads: Station is no longer served by Agents. Ticketing services no long available. We apologize for any in convenience. AMTRAK 1-800-USA-RAIL.



I like the irony of the sign.



At least there's a bench to sit on while waiting for the train. There is twice daily train service. One must reserve tickets by phone or online before hand.


Below is a Vermont Railway freight train.

Holga Winter in a Vermont Cemetery

Almost snow covered stream on the way to the cemetery.


Creepy trees at the cemetery entrance. It's closed to cars in winter months. The gate in the lower left corner is shut. I like to snowshoe in the cemetery in winter.


Graves on a hillside.


Clouds over the cemetery.


I can't resist this one: is this Ripley from the movie ALIENS or Ripley from Patricia Highsmith's novels.

Graves covered with snow.


Bliss in death.


Deer scat in the snow. Deer were the only other visitors the day I ventured into the cemetery.
And I only saw their tracks.

Yanaka's Cemeteries

Yanaka is an area of Tokyo known for it quiet streets and peaceful temples. Also it's home to Yanaka Cemetery, one of the city's largest. I went there on a cloudy day and ended up taking pictures with my digital camera. There wasn't enough light for Holga photos.




Graves and prayer sticks in Yanaka Cemetery.


If you look behind and to the right of the tall thin cement block you'll see a man walking along the street that runs thru the cemetery. Nippori Train Station is just a five minute walk away and I saw many people walking along this street the day I visited.



Half way along the street that goes through the cemetery is a fenced in foundation. A plaque tells the story of lovers who in 1957 burnt down Tennoji Temple's 5 story pagoda then killed themselves. Behind the fenced off area is a children's playground. There's also a police box (station) to the right of the foundation. Much different than the cemetery in my Vermont town.


Fresh flowers in vases adorn a grave site in Yanaka Cemetery.


Several temples in Yanaka have their own cemeteries. These offertory figures were at one of the temples: Kannon, Buddhist Goddess of Mercy; Jizo, protector of children; and Sakyamuni Buddha are among the figures sitting in the grass.


Graves, vases waiting for flower offerings and prayer sticks at a temple's cemetery. The building behind the prayer sticks is a private residence.


A car draped with a cloth parked in the middle of another temple's cemetery. I wondered if one of the monks had donated an old robe to cover the car.

Below: Even Yanaka isn't immune to tall buildings being constructed.

Holga Snowstorm

I went out and took photos during our last snowstorm and then again when the snow stopped falling. This is my first winter using a Holga. One nice thing about having a toycamera is that I don't have to worry about the camera (only the film and myself) when I fall into snowbanks or slip on sidewalks covered with snow which hides the ice beneath.






The weather hasn't been consistently cold enough to freeze the local river which looks more like a stream to me.



Snowy scene with a wooden bridge which crosses the river/stream.


Trees along the river's edge and snow of course.


Snow sticks to one tree trunk but not the one next to it.


After the storm everything is quiet, serene and the Stonebridge looks so white.


Fluffy snow covers last summer's sunflowers in front of the Stonebridge.


Tire tracks on the white snow after the storm.



Fluffy snow covers the branches on this bush.

Frank Lloyd Wright and Tokyo

I grew up in Buffalo, New York and often rode my bike past what I called my most favorite house. When I was older I learned it was designed by the famous American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. As a child I thought it belonged to a Japanese family who had abandoned it to return to Japan and that explained why the property was falling into disrepair. The property, known as the DD Martin House, is now being restored.




The above photo of Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie Style house is from an excellent website about the property. DD Martin House


This past fall I visited Tokyo and took photos in Okubo the Shinjuku neighborhood where I stayed. The photos are some of my favorites from my trip. I was puzzled that friends didn't seem to like photos as much as I did. Then I realized that their appeal to me was they reminded me of the Frank Lloyd Wright house I biked past many years ago. The photos mostly black and white and taken with a toy camera, a Holga, seem very nostalgic to me.


This house in Okubo reminded me most of Wright's DD Martin house.



Another view of the house.


The walls that surround many of the homes in this neighborhood add privacy in this very busy city.


A road with different styles of walls.


A color shot of the neighborhood.


A wall which encloses an apartment building.


Aluminium siding perhaps?