Photography: Garry Armstrong

No matter what anyone says about those “special gloves” that are supposed to let you use electronic devices, I can’t. Buttons on cameras are small and most of us go by feel when we are shooting, so when you can’t feel the buttons, weird things go wrong. Especially when you press “video” rather than the “still” shutter.

We got to the church yesterday afternoon, post grocery shopping. It was a bit too early to get night shots. I figured by 5ish, it would be nearly dark but instead, it was twilight.

Twilight is a beautiful time, but it’s tricky for photography. Heavy shadows and bright, sunny patches make getting the right lens interesting. We could have sat in the car and left it to run with until full it got dark, but by then we were tired. We had grocers to haul into the house and unpack and we were more than a little frozen.

We had great conversations with a passing stranger who had an old Border Collie who strongly resembled the Duke, minus the smooshed in face — or one ear pointing up and the other down — OR his curled tail looped over his back. But his coloring was very similar.

He was 18 years old and moving slow. That’s a great age for a dog. He deserved all the petting and doggy baby talk. He earned it.

His owner is a member of our Town Council. She knew Garry from the years he worked all over Massachusetts. She’s probably a little younger than me — maybe 70 rather than 75? It’s hard to tell.

She has lived in Uxbridge her entire life. Her house has been here since the early 1800s and her uncle imported the town’s World War II howitzer which usually is on the common, but right now is being restored. Under all the pain, the metal was all rust. UniBank has started a collection to “Save the Gun.” This sounds more ominous than it is since the gun hasn’t been fired since the 1940s. it’s part of the memories of those who fought and while I have mixed emotions about guns in general, I also understand the symbolism. While we were talking about guns, she was expressing frustration that no gun control laws have been passed yet, so she was on the right team, artillery notwithstanding.

It was a good day to be in town. Everything was on sale at Hannaford and the day had started out warm. By the time we got to the Common, warm was vanished and it was winter again.

We took pictures and talked about our favorite parks — the one along the Blackstone River and Canal — which while dedicated to someone else, we pushed through by Teddy Kennedy. Teddy was a hard worker for Massachusetts. I think people outside the state don’t understand how dedicated the Kennedy’s have been to public service. Their personal behavior hasn’t always been great, but they worked relentlessly to improve Massachusetts and mostly, they succeeded. Health care, parks, education — all the things we are proud of, the Kennedy’s were at the helm, pushing projects forward. They could do it, so they did. They tried to be on the good side of history.

Pity we don’t have them now. All the “good old guys” who worked for us have passed.

You have to wonder what kind of crazy person would want to be part of the current government. We have made it impossible to get anything done working in our government. Whoever you are, you are going to get beaten no matter how you behave. Not the kind of treatment that encourages citizens to step up. We’ve stopped applauding “work.” All we seem to be looking for are “sexy stories” that will raise “ratings.”

I don’t think sexy stories are going to solve any of our major issues. Not here, not abroad. Not anywhere. But hey, what do I know?

Categories: #gallery, #Photography, Anecdote, Architecture, Garry Armstrong

Tags: architecture, Garry Armstrong, Photobraphy