The Photography of Dr. Jeff Harper

My big USA road trip took me on the small roads from Oregon south across the Nevada border and into the town of Winnemucca, where I washed clothes, showered, and cleaned out my camper at an RV park next to a casino.

Heading out on gravel and sand Nevada Highway 49 out of Winnemucca across dried lake beds and desolate desert landscapes.  My kind of place.

Ready for anything that comes my way in my brother's trusty 4X4 Chevy camper (now sold).

Nevada Highway 49 swerves across several alkaloid flats on the way out to the Black Rock Desert.

Wild country . . . with wild horses still running free.

The Allied Nevada Hycroft Gold Mine is along Nevada Highway 49 . . .  a very large mining operation.

The gold mine moved a lot of dirt around . . . they stripped the face off of quite a few hills to be able to see the color of the rock and sand beneath.  Huge scars.

Highway 49 passes through some truly amazing desert.  This volcanic spine was marvelous . . .

Here and there along the road were rock outcroppings in fantastic shapes.  Unfortunately, the sky was still full of smoke from the many wildfires out West that summer . . . making photography very difficult.

The desert.

Driving on these sand and gravel desert roads means you are always on the lookout for bumps and ditches . . . and occasionally scanning the horizon for something interesting . . . like an abandoned homestead.  I spotted this one off in the distance and drove out to in on a two track trail.  I always respect "Private Property" and "Keep Out" signs . . . but this place had no such signage.  I went in.

What was life like living out in this remote place?

These old abandoned desert homesteads offer great photo opportunities.

They used some very large wooden beams to construct these buildings.  Looks like something salvaged out of old mines.

The textures! WOW!  One of my favorite photographic subjects: weathered wood.

I spent quite a long time exploring this visually interesting place.

Stunning arrangements everywhere . . . just waiting for printing and framing.

I guess they decided NOT to bring the good chair along with them when they left.

Lovely light, shadow, and shape.

There were several houses on this site.  I imagined that there must have been a place name . . . a "town" name at one time, but I could find no mention of this site on any online maps I could find.

This house was larger than the rest of the cabins.  There was a mine opening on the hill above.

A piece of rusting mining machinery. I do not know what this could have been used for . . . sorting and separating something, I suppose.

The 'Big House' . . . looks like it had fibreboard and tarpaper covering at one time.

I poked my nose into the Big House . . . .

 . . . and the view from the inside of the 'main house'.  It was a mess . . . perhaps whoever had lived here left in a hurry . . . .

I walked down the hill to another abandoned old wood cabin.

Another house made of these very large wooden timber beams.

Fantastic old, dry timbers . . . the textures and patterns!

A picture tells a story . . . 

I had apparently stumbled upon the site of the National Sweatshirt Testing Facility (NSTF).

A perfect 'screen saver' photo . . . 

All I could think was that the flying insects around here must have been pretty big.

Yet another abandoned miners house from a bygone era . . . not all that long ago . . . .

It was early September when I was in northwest Nevada . . . and there is always some fauna that thrives at every time of the year on the desert.

The desert floor around the old mining community was littered with this white quartz . . . I wonder what they were mining for here?  I left the abandoned miner houses and drove back out on Highway 49 . . . to look for a place to set up camp.

This is what I was looking for: a track that led up and away from the road and into the wild desert.  I drove about a mile up this track before I decided that this isn't what I wanted . . . and I do not know why. But I was tempted.

The view to my left as I drove toward the Black Rock Desert was always a sharp escarpment, with ever-changing geology and brush covering.

I stopped here in wonderment!  There seemed to be giant petroglyphs on this volcanic hillside.  What language was this?  Of course, I knew it was just bald spots on an old lava flow . . .

Such an amazing desert mountain landscape . . . but look closely . . .

 . . . but look closer . . . and you see the remnants of an old mine entrance way up on the mountainside.  Astounding!

I drove for an hour alongside this rocky ridge . . . always scanning for something interesting . . .

I stopped and contemplated climbing up to this "dry waterfall ' . . . but it was much further away and much taller than I thought.

The shadows were getting longer and I felt the need to find my camping spot . . .

Long shadows on the desert hills.

In the five days I spent out of Winnemucca on the desert roads, I saw only two other cars . . . I caught up with this truck . . . but turned off before I got too close.

I eventually spotted this little track heading up into a gap in the rocky hills and thought it might be an interesting place to park my camper . . . 

GoogleMaps photo of my campsite . . . . a dream location for me!

I drove up the sandy track and found a flat place to park . . . . the next morning I took this photo of the fine place I found . . . with a grand view of the Black Rock Desert.

Looking away from the Black Rock Desert I had this view . . .

My incredible desert canyon view . . . I wasn't sure which way to point my chair . . . the dry lake or the rocky canyon!!!

My view of the dry lake included an active train line . . . a couple times a day long freight trains would slowly pass below.

My morning Grand View . . . I think I will go for a walk.

One morning I decided to walk down the sandy track and out onto the dry lake bed . . . for exercise . . . and curiosity.

I was happy to see this sign . . . glad the area was being protected.

At some point after I set up my camp, probably while I was staring at the mountainside, somebody rode a horse across my tire tracks on the sandy track.  An interesting walk indeed!

The marvelous morning light made for great photography of the desert flora.

These "desert reeds" was a complexity of beauty.

Wonderful complex patterns out here in "the middle of nowhere" . . .

Looking back up the track to my camper in the canyon.

Walking further, I crossed Nevada State Highway 49 as I approached the wide dry lake bed.

A short stretch of scrub brush with phone poles leading to the little town of Gerlach, Nevada (pop. 107).

 . . . and at last I stepped out onto the amazing surface of the Black Rock Desert.

I love these desert/dry lake bed textures as photographic subjects.  I was not disappointed here!

Such delicately thin wafers of minerals spread out underfoot . . . I tried to avoid stepping on them.

Salt or alkaline crusting . . . I do not know . . . I did not taste it.

Water had pooled here in the not too distant past.

Much of this vast surface had this texture . .  astonishing beauty!

Thin mineral wafers . . . 

I crunched around on these amazing surfaces for quite awhile before turning back to my camper.

I walked back to my camper by way of this little canyon . . . 

 . . . the only wildlife I saw during my five days in the Black Rock Desert . . . one lone bird.  There weren't even any insects.

What I did have in the place of wildlife was geology . . . lots of fascinating geology.

Back at my campsite, settled into my camp chair, I sat enjoying the rest of the day . . . reading, snacking, drinking lots of water . . . and, yes, checking my iPhone for messages . . . as there was very good (4 bars) Internet way out there!

A nice dust storm blew up mid afternoon . . .

 . . . and then a wonderful 'dust devil' blew across the dry lake bed. (Excuse the quality of this photo - a lot of dust in the air at this time).

The sunsets were magnificent!

The colors!!!

"You are in the forest, but you are on the desert."

A morning view out over the dry lake bed of the Black Rock Desert.

As I discovered, my 'lucky' campsite had not been so lucky for a former visitor to the spot.  There was the charred remains of a burned out motorhome not far away.  I left this message for future visitors, "Amor Fati."

I diagnosed the motorhome's problem as an 'overheating problem in the engine.'

After five days my camper batteries had gone down, so I folded up my sun shade and loaded the table, chairs, porta-potty, and BBQ back into the camper and headed back down the hill.  I had had a wonderful and relaxed time just sitting, reading, thinking, wandering around the desert, and enjoying the view.  Perfect.

And then back out on Nevada Highway 49 into Gerlach (pop. 107) . . . and civilization! I stopped in at the only cafe and had a 'real' breakfast and good coffee.  I also stopped in at the Burning Man Main Office to find a harried woman dealing with major complaints of  some of the attendees . . . the Burning Man event was just two weeks before . . . I intervened and counseled peace and understanding.  People calmed down.  My work was done.  I stopped at the little store and bought a large bag of Cheetos and a couple of Coke Zeros for the drive back to Winnemucca.

From Gerlach I headed south on Nevada Highway 447 toward Interstate 80 and then back to Winnemucca.  But I could not resist stopping and getting this photo of REAL AMERICAN FREEDOM! "Turn on, tune in, and drop out" anyone?

Ancient Pyramid Lake and the town of Nixon was my last stop before I entered I-80.  A shower, washing machine, and NFL games in the casino lounge were waiting for me.

A great trip!

One of the benefits of having a wife who is a serious golfer is that I get to tag along when she goes on an out-of-Bangkok golf junket with her pals.  We were on vacation in the seaside town of Hua Hin and made the short drive north to the Ratchaburi Royal Golf Club early one morning after a spactacular sunrise over the Gulf of Thailand . . . . and while she played a competitive round, I explored the nearby countryside, the old town market in Ratchaburi town, and the 10th century Wat Mahathat Worawihan.

It's nice to sit on the balcony drinking the the first morning cup of coffee while the sun is rising over the Gulf of Thailand.  The squid fishermen were returning with their catch after having been out to sea all night.

Along the Ratchaburi highway . . . a giant Buddha statue . . . without a place name.

Only an hour and 45 minutes away . . . up and into the hilly Ratchaburi Province.

Small provincial roads in Thailand always serve up some amazing sights.

Yes, they have monkeys in Thailand.  This one, and about 20 of his buddies kept me from leaving my car to walk up a trail to a large cave Buddha temple.

As I was on a 'ramble', I had no particular place to go. I  made my way to Ratchaburi, a town I had never visited. I arrived in Ratchaburi on small roads and on the outskirts of town I discovered this wonderful place: The Ratchaburi National Museum.

It was a gorgeous building . . . old Thai monumental style.

There were two buildings on the museum property.  I adored the patina, color, and style of this old gem.

Being a museum, they had yard art too.

This large metal sculpture was fantastic.

Made entirely of ordinary steel washers and small squares of steel.  Amazing.

The museum rules strictly prohibited photography of the exhibits . . . and they enforced this rule by having one of the museum staff follow me from room to room. They did, however, allow me to photograph the halls and courtyard when I asked.

The museum collection was excellent and very well organized.  The exhibits began in prehistory and ancient geology of the area and proceeded chronologically as you walked from room to room around the courtyard.  It was one of the best, most informative provincial museums I have been to anywhere in the world.

I next drove into the town center and the old city center market.  The market occupies the inside center alleyways of several blocks along the Mae Klong River.

As I left the museum I looked on my GoogleMaps and spotted a river and "Old Town Market" . . . so I drove straight there.  I love these old town, city center markets in Thailand's small cities.  This market would have been in it's prime during the 1950s and 1960s.

The old markets are the remnants of the oldest parts of Thai cities and maintain an older way of doing business.

The city or local area government seems to have taken an interest in this old market.  Many of the walls and old panel doors seem to have been painted recently.  It looked very good.

A colorful advertisement on the panel doors.

History in paint.

Small business in the alleys, which are themselves lined with very old small shops.

My first thought when seeing this shop was, 'supply and demand.'  What kind of world is outside of this market can be deduced by what one sees for sale in it. There is an old pattern of consumption, imbedded in the cultural practices, the anthropology of food, that still demands these items.

Times change.  There was a time, maybe 50 years ago, when this shop was at the center of the Ratchaburi commercial center.  You came here, and here only, if you wanted to buy a pair of new shoes.  But the city grew in a different direction: what was the busy hub of activity has now became the backwater of the old town 'wet market.' This old man seems to have been here as long as the furniture. He doesn't even bother to dust off the shoes any more.

She is still hopeful and making an effort.  These shops have suffered terribly during the pandemic: people do not like to congregate in the tight quarters of these narrow alleyways. I am sure she lives in the back of this shop.

Tucked away deep in the old market is the spirit house/spirit altar for the shopkeepers to leave their offerings in hopes of better luck.  The flowers and other offerings were all fresh from this very morning.

This dry goods shop in the old market seemed to be doing pretty good.  You have to remember that less than a mile from this spot there are several  multinational big box giant supermarkets.  It is hard to understand how these small shops survive.  I assume it survives by servicing those who work in the old market itself.

There were many sections of the old town market, and of course, one of them was for fresh fruits and vegetables.  So delicious in Thailand.

Banana flower hearts . . . used in some Thai dishes.

I had never seen this before . . . some kind of flower bud for use in one of the many thousands of Thai dishes.

Although most of the market I saw so far was clean, neat, and recently refurbished, I eventually found the oldest part of the market.  It was partially abandoned and the commerce there seemed to be left to the poorest people.

Old plastic rain flies over meagre offerings in the old, dead market.  It is here we see the dilapidation caused by the corporate big box stores a couple of blocks away.  I LOVE this photo.

Old coconuts for sale.

I was the ONLY person in this part of the market.  Nobody was here, not even the merchants . . . at 10:00 in the morning.

I tried to imagine what this 'business' was . . . but came up short.

Outside of the inner alleyways of the old market, along the city streets, are more businesses.  Here ,a hardware store.

Shops that have everything a local resident would want and need.

If it can be made out of straw, bamboo, or wicker . . . . they have it here.

Of course, if it can be made out of straw, bamboo, or wicker . . . it can also be made out of plastic.

The owner of this shop told me it was restored to how it was when her family started it 100 years ago.   A beautiful look into the past times in Thailand.

When I came to live in Thailand 26 years ago these samlors were ubiquitous.  There would always be 20-30 of these 'pedal cabs' lied up next to the wet markets ready to take the customers home.  Now it is rare to see them anywhere any more.

The "modern" Ratchiburi commercial center, dating from the 1970s and 1980s.  Of course the true 'modern' Ratchiburi commercial zone is now located in the multinational Big Box stores and shopping malls that dot the major roads leading in and out of the town . . . and the Thais drive there in their pick-up trucks.

My last stop was at the amazing 10th century Wat Mahathat Worawihan.

 The front gate of Wat Mahathat Worawihan did not impress.  But what was within astonished me.

My first inkling about the beauty within this was was when I looked through a small building's window and saw this.

The sala/temple straight ahead looked inviting.  I could see a large Buddha image within.

I took my shoes off and went in and discovered this remarkable spiritual space.  If you look closely you can see the bases of the pillars that held up an earlier temple in the same location.  "It is believed that this temple was built in the Dvaravati Period, around the 10th-11th Century, nearly the same time as when the old city of Ratchaburi was built. Later, a Khmer or Lop Buri sanctuary was built over the temple around the 13th Century to be the centre of the town according to the Khmer belief regarding the universe."

Exquisite Buddha images and a fine altar.

Buddha.

Devotees adorn Buddha images with gold leaf as a part of respectful practices.  I was intrigued by these two Buddhas sitting back-to-back.

When I looked up at the main, large Buddha image I noticed that it was also a double Buddha.  It is very unusual to see two Buddhas sitting back-to-back.

Normally only one Buddha sits in a Wat, and normally facing East.

They were extraordinarily beautiful Buddhas. My research turned this up:"It is a stucco Buddha image in the gesture of subduing Mara, which has a lap width of 8 Sok 1 Khuep. Its characteristic is of the Pre-Ayutthaya art, with a Sukhothai style face. It has a long body but short knees. He turns his face to the east, and there is another Buddha image behind his back, turning its face to the opposite side or the west. This means we ask the Buddha’s blessing to prevent danger from the front as well as the back." (citation)

I left the Buddha hall to wander around the wat grounds.

Like many Thai wats, there are covered halls lined with Buddha images, often as markers for the cremated remains of former monks and doners, as is the case here.

Such a beautiful sight.

In fact, there are several rows of these grave marking Buddha statues.

 The Five Prangs.  At the center of th Wat is a large courtyard enclosed by a cloister.  At the center of the courtyard stand five massive parangs, known as "Phra Prang Ha Yod", or five peak prang.  The Khmer/Lopburi style towers were constructed during the Sukhothai era.

"Surrounded by four smaller ones, the tallest central prang rising over forty meters enshrines Buddha relics. Enshrined in large niches on all of its four faces are standing golden images of the Buddha. The brick plastered prangs, decorated with fine stucco work are topped with a trishula, a three pointed spear, the weapon of the Hindu God Shiva. Sheltering them is a small multi tiered ceremonial umbrella" (citation)

Extraordinary.

Ah! A phone message from my wife: she is on the 16th hole.  Time for me to leave this amazing place.  I headed back out along the Buddha colonnades.

A wide variety of  Buddha images present.

A fine reminder about my mortality and a questioning about what I am doing with my conscieness.

One last grotto . . . to visit a reclining Buddha.

Such a beautiful display.  An old 'nun' altar keeper offered me a bottle of water here, which I took.  It was a hot day!

I lingered in this space to pay my respect to the Buddha.  I also left my donation here.

My last stop.  Then the 25 minute drive to pick up my wife at the golf course and the 1 hour 45 minute drive back to Hua Hin.  A wonderful day . . . .

Back on the balcony for a gin & tonic and this strange blue sea . . .

PIPE SPRINGS, ARIZONA

Out on the dry, high elevation chaparral of Northern Arizona, along the road between Zion National Park and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon . . . a remnant of a bygone era . . . The Wild West . . . Pipe Springs National Monument.

My road trip took me along many wonderful roads.

Pipe Springs is established as a grasslands preservation area to reestablish the area as it was before settlers arrived in 1850.

In addition to very informative signage, there was also a fine visitors center.

A nice place for a walk to nowhere.

Pipe springs was established at a natural spring as a U.S. Army Calvary Fort, but it was also a self-sustaining farm to support the soldiers stationed there during 'The Indian Wars' in the region.

The National Monument still maintains a farm on site in the manner of the settlers and soldiers around 1850.  A very nice depiction of the living conditions and methods of the early Western settlers.

A nicely restored period blacksmith shop and tack house.

Beautiful stone construction.

It was a hot day near noon when we arrive . . . wonderful shadows on the orange stone tack house.

There were some beautiful antique wagons sitting about the grounds.  This buggy was fantastic.

The classic western covered wagon.

Can you imagine being one of the many thousands who crossed the breadth of America in one of these covered wagons.  The faith, hope, and fortitude they must have had!

One of the park staff dressed in period costume displaying the kind of textiles the pioneers there would have been making in the 1860s.

The real purpose of Pipe Springs was as a military fort to provide safety and security for settlers and ranchers during periods of 'Indian trouble.'

It looks very secure to me.  We did not go on the inside.

A very photogenic old door at Pipe Springs Fort.

This photo represents, for me,  the isolation of the fort within the vast western landscape.

Yep, the outhouse.

And so we left Pipe Springs to drive on toward the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

Driving along Arizona Highway 389 trough beautiful mesa country . . .with sunflowers?

"Just another roadside attraction" . . . a "Wild West Souvenir Store" out along the highway with a cartoonish Wild West Town "Photograph You Family and Friends!" the sign said.  I didn't pay the US$5.oo, but instead took photos through the fence . . . duh!

There was a magnificent antique water wagon out back of the store . . . a reminder of the realities of trying to survive in such a dry climate a century-and-a-half ago.

The Western Store was trying to lure tourists from the UK apparently.

There was a fantastic clump of prickly pear cactus next to their fence.

"The fruit of prickly pears (Opunita), commonly called cactus fruit, cactus fig, Indian fig, nopales or tuna in Spanish, is edible, although it must be peeled carefully to remove the small spines on the outer skin before consumption. If the outer layer is not properly removed, glochids can be ingested, causing discomfort of the throat, lips, and tongue, as the small spines are easily lodged in the skin. Native Americans like the Tequesta would roll the fruit around in a suitable medium (e.g. grit) to "sand" off the glochids. Alternatively, rotating the fruit in the flame of a campfire or torch has been used to remove the glochids. Today, parthenocarpic (seedless) cultivars are also available. The seeds can be used for flour." ****

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COVE FORT, UTAH

One of the joys of a road trip in the USA are the highway signs announcing "Historic Site Next Right Exit. Fort Cove". So, you take the next right off of I-15.

"Cove Fort is a fort, unincorporated community, and historical site located in Millard County, Utah. It was founded in 1867 at the request of Brigham Young. One of its distinctive features is the use of volcanic rock in the construction of the walls, rather than the wood used in many mid-19th-century western forts. This difference in construction is the reason it is one of very few forts of this period still surviving." ***

A very nice recreation of an early pioneer cabin. 

There was a fine reproduction barn, nearly new.

The interior of the big barn had displays of period items, well, related to barns.

Fort Cove, Utah (Photo from Wikipedia)

The 1867 Fort Cove gate.

I was surprised by the verdant green, lush lawn in the fort's inner courtyard.  Imagine how wonderful this would have been to the soldiers posted here and the passing visitors in their covered wagons!

We went up the stairs to the roof of the fort for the view.

Behind the fort was the vegetable garden.

The garden path leading to displays of various Mormon settler shacks, sheds, and cabins that were trucked to the site and restored.

A superb scarecrow!

Then back out on the highway I-15 north . . . and an Allison Krauss and Willy Nelson concert in Bend, Oregon!!!

Heading south on old highway US97 -- taking the long way from Bend, Oregon to Lake Tahoe, California -- we happened upon the Collier Logging Museum.  Of course I had to stop.

In southern Oregon, not too far from the California boarder . . . The Collier Logging Museum.

I HAD to stop.  I love these old machines . . .

As a child I loved trucks of all kinds.

Giant steel wheels on this ancient road grader meant to be towed by a bulldozer.

A pull along log skidder, also pulled by a bulldozer.

The front of a giant log would be lifted by this rig and then the other end dragged ("skidded") along in the forest floor.

Another approach for skidding logs . . . .

The front of a log, or logs, were lifted and then skidded out of the forest to a roadhead for loading on trucks, or small gauge rail systems.

There were many of the large iron-wheeled wagons sitting out in the forest of the museum.

Big wagons for big work in the big forests of Oregon.

Big red wagon wheel . . . .

One can imagine an old dozer chugging through the forest pulling one of these steel-wheeled skidders.

There were many old dozers sitting around in the pine straw.

Once the logs had been skidded to a landing, a crane, perhaps like this one, would load the logs onto trucks or a rail car.

Very early on, a steam powered crane/log loader would be rolled out on rails.

In the foreground is an old "mule" diesel locomotive used to push around cranes and other rail cars out in the logging site.  By the 1950s and 60s, road worthy truck-mounted cranes, like the one in the rear,  became more widely used.

The little "mule" diesel locomotive.

Old log trucks and log loaders to satisfy my little heart's content!

Much of the lumber used to build the houses on the west coast of the USA rode to the lumber mills on trucks like these.

Not something you would want to see in your rear view mirror while going down a steep hill!

A very old steel-wheeled log trailer.

Steam powered pumps used in the wild woods early last century.

An antique steam powered winch . . .

Steam winches mostly used for powering 'high lead' cables to drag logs up steep hills and across deep canyons.

Remnants of big steam power systems laying around.  Imagine dragging these up into the woods a century ago!

Boiler tubes.

Big sled winch used for high lead logging.  Nice rigging blocks.

Wheeled steam pump wagon.

Marvelous machine work from a bygone era.

1880s locomotive shed with lots of old machinery here and there.

A rail track-laying crane needed to build access rail lines into the old forests.

1912 Aultman-Taylor steam engine . . . WOW!

These lumber movers (yellow machine in the back) were still common in Oregon lumber mills in the late 1970s (when I worked in Oregon lumber mills!).

Yep, you need a saw blade ("head saw") this large to cut some of these giant trees in the lumber mill.

A well used high lead winch truck . . . Simpson Lumber Company.

ONEY, CALIFORNIA

Located in the extreme northeast corner of California, Oney is a beautiful place . . . but the winters must be severe in such an isolated place.

"The Oney Frosty In Town". -- in Oney, California.  After driving a long stretch on winding two-lane mountain roads from Klamath Falls, Oregon, the Frosty was a welcome sight.

I was not disappointed!  The choices were pure Americana . . . and delicious.

Just travelling along the highway from Leesville, Louisiana to Selma, Alabama, via Natchez,  all the way across Mississippi with my friend Bud riding along, we pulled off on a side road to seek refreshment and saw this gem from an older America: The Simmons-Wright Company store.

Only a mile or two before the Mississippi - Alabama state line.

The Simmons-Wright Company is a historic general store established in 1884 in Kewanee, Mississippi, a small town just outside Meridian in Lauderdale County. The building was listed on the  National Register of Historic Places in 2008. It looked inviting, so we walked right in.

A peek through the dusty window before we entered foreshadowed the delights within!

OMG! We walked in to find this time capsule of another era; the general store.  I am old enough to remember these kinds of stores from my childhood living in The South, but never imagined one would have survived, intact from that time.

All original store fittings, shelves, coolers . . . .

 . . . there was even the 'origional' cash register.  Amazing.

The cash register was a masterful work of art from a bygone era.  The mess around the store must have made it feel like a comfortable old shoe to the old man sitting behind the counter.  He kept a good eye on us as we wondered around.

A little bit of everything a person might want to stop in and get on the way home from the mill job.  I love the hand made  "No Children Allowed Without An Adult" sign.

No computerized stock control here, no bar code scanning or shelf space earning ratios.  You have to know your customers tastes. The array of food choices on offer speaks to the local cultural preferences.

The dry goods isle was half merchandise and half museum display.

There was a small "kitchen" area in the back.  Coffee, but it looked like we were either too late or too early for the cakes that go on the foil-covered trays.

An inviting pot belly stove surrounded by the "eating area."  I wondered if these seats filled up in the afternoon and evening with regulars who stop in to chat and for beer and snacks.

The pot belly stove was a work of art made of the patina of the passage of time.

The pot belly stove stood in a place of prominence . . . in the center.  It looked like it has been used right up into the present.  It was early October, but not yet chilly in eastern Mississippi, so it had not been stoked on this day.

The long side wall was was reserved for the "display only" shelving.

I walked around the old store in big loops taking photos and being stunned by the disheveled beauty of this space.

I hadn't seen or heard him enter, but at some point an old African American man came in and made himself at home.  He and the proprietor exchanged some friendly conversation in low, almost silent tones.

An "array of mixed plumbing supplies" and sweet potatoes.

"May I take some photos out back," I asked.  "Go right ahead," he replied as he pointed to this door next to the nail bins.

Nice.  A fine old, weathered back yard shed.

I love old rusted corrugation . . . I live for dilapidation and rusted corrugation . . . 

There was also an old "mill" of some kind behind the store. I decided to snoop around a little. An absolutely gorgeous corrugated building.

This door to the mill was locked . . . but what a photo!

This door was locked from the inside.

This image!  The things in this photo were made, manufactured, built, and assembled by somebody working somewhere at some real time and place in the past.  That cart was made for the purpose of moving around more than one man can hold at once.  It is also a tool of work . . . it was the focus of labor for some person as a part of their paid employment, day after day.

At last I found a large opened door on the side of the mill.  This machinery was inside . . . I snooped around more inside, but for the life of me, I could not figure out what this machinery was used for.  I even did a Google search . . . my guess was that it was a corn grinding operation at some time in the past.

These structures next to the mill were hints as to the purpose of the mill.  One looks like a 'corn crib,' but I am not sure.

Was ground corn meal blown up into this hopper for loading into trucks or barrels? I don't know, but  I loved the aged patina of the weathered wood . . .

The sun broke through a thin cloud cover and the light became wonderful.

Perhaps rooms for the hired seasonal mill workers?

I hadn't noticed this barber chair on the way in . . . but . . . I could have spent all day in that old country store and its outbuildings . . . but Bud and I had to hit the road.  We were heading for a place of great historical significance; Selma, Alabama, a place I have always wanted to make a pilgrimage.