photography

Quincy: Then & Now

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Have you taken a look at some of the old pictures of Massachusetts available online? Digital Commonwealth is a treasure.

If you’re familiar with Quincy at all, you’ve probably been at this intersection in Wollaston. You’d be standing on Newport Avenue looking at Grandview Avenue on the left and Beale Street on the right.

I found the lower picture in the Quincy postcard collection, dated from 1903 – 1976. That’s quite a range of years, but based on the car on the right, I’m guessing it’s from the 1910s or 1920s. Maybe 1918?

As soon as I saw the old picture, I knew I had to take a new picture to compare it with. The upper picture I took this past week. Quite a difference! But you can definitely see that it’s the same place. Just about one hundred years apart. Pretty amazing.

It was shocking to see that the building on the right used to be a drug store. I think it’s a fabric store now.

Grandview used to be a dirt road and now so many trees have grown that it’s hard to see the house behind them. Also, it looks like it was a two-way street. Now it’s one-way. There were no traffic lights back then and way less cars.

What a difference a century makes! Wonder what it will look like in 2118?

 

Sunday Morning at Wollaston Beach

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Collage of six pictures, sandy beach with water, sea grass, a book with travel mug, a hand holding an egg sandwich, feet with grey sneakers over the sand.I’ve been thinking a lot about how I’d like to spend my summer mornings.

In my fantasy life, I would sit on the front porch, back deck or balcony sipping my coffee, eating my breakfast and reading a good book.

In my real life, I don’t have a front porch, back deck or balcony. But I have to be grateful for what I have and work with what I’ve got.

Wollaston Beach is just a five minute drive from me. So I started thinking. Why don’t I just make my breakfast and bring it to the beach? So I made a spinach, kale, fried egg, Parmesan cheese sandwich with rosemary and olive oil flatbread.

Then I made my coffee and used my What Would Olivia Pope Do? travel mug. It makes me wildly happy. The little things! I put on my favorite sneakers and headed out the door.

The salty beach air smelled wonderful. I mostly ignored a few ants. After all, I was in their territory. And I really enjoyed my breakfast and reading my book.

It was a nice start to my day and I enjoyed taking a few pictures while I was out there. Since I started blogging, I stopped keeping a regular diary. Instead I keep a notebook with goals, random thoughts and things that I want to remember.

Instagram is slowly becoming a daily diary of sorts. Not that I’m sharing my deepest feelings and thoughts. But I am documenting my life and being mindful of all that I have to be grateful for.

Sky Photo Project ~ May 19, 2017

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Three picture collage, each with blue sky and clouds.

For my Sky Photo Project, I’ve mostly been taking one picture a day.

This past Friday, as I was walking home from the train, I took a picture. I noticed the clouds and light looked different even just a few feet away. So I took a couple more pictures — all within five minutes.

Nothing earth shattering. Just some blue sky and clouds. But it made me happy.

Sky Photo Project on Instagram

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Collage with several pictures of blue skies with clouds.

If you follow me on Instagram, you probably noticed that I love taking pictures of the sky and tops of trees.

Even though the sky and trees are the same thing, they are never the same thing.

Especially the sky. There are so many variables. The amount of sunlight or moonlight. The shade of blue. The types of clouds.

I never get bored, because the pictures are always different. In fact, I get more fascinated the more pictures I take. It made me wonder.

How many types of sky can there be? What would it look like to take a bunch of pictures over time and compare? So about a month ago I started the #ljskyproject on Instagram. Sort of like my Virgo Season Photo Project. I’m still noticing the details.

This project could go on for quite some time. Which is fine. Because so does the sky.