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Scrub and Wanderer

Photography Atmosphere/Mood posted on Feb 25, 2010
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Description


It comes from the east: today’s wind, but it isn’t as cold the frost on his bedroom window implied. According to the calendars, Spring will come soon, but the most recent calendar he has seen is two years out of date. Two years! Has it been happening for that long now? Maybe so. More cities have fallen off of the map. Milwaukee is silent (as expected) and so fewer cars head north. Someone has said that it’s spreading east, that parts of Ohio are next. The coasts—as always—are still safe. So is Canada. He can still hear it on Val’s radio. He is out to check the traps now: there may be carp or trout, or even some small, gristly thing—enough for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Enough to sell or trade for tobacco, or salted meat from Kelly’s stockyards. He likes checking the traps. He likes being alone. The camp isn’t far. He can hear it, can smell the smoke. There are scavengers in the hollowed out condo stacks along Sheridan, but they aren’t likely to find much. They scavenge anyway, as kids do these days. They find things—knick-knack-garbage things to trade for whatever it is they value. There’s always someone at camp who’ll take it. Hummel figurines. Half-empty jars of cologne or perfume. Cans of soup swollen with botulism. The scavengers leave those alone, or throw them from glassless windows so that they’ll pop like metallic balloons on shattered asphalt and concrete below. He was a scavenger once, but now he’s a fish-trapper, and so as he walks (and yes, the wind still whispers from the east) he wonders what has meandered into his cages or snared itself on his lines. He’ll find out. He always finds out. *** Ah, that Dhalgren-inspired world rears its head again. I haven't started reading that novel yet, but I feel its pull. I'm currently finishing Hunters of Dune which satisfies me enough: it's not up to Frank Herbert's original standard, but it's a good enough novel and a fair offering from Frank Herbert's son and his collaborator. It's good to see the Dune Universe (Duniverse?) expanded a bit, and well...Hunters of Dune is the long-awaited closure to the Dune Chronicles as Frank Herbert imagined it. Well...there's a followup book The Sandworms of Dune which is little more than part two of Hunters...but it's the close...the grand finale, the denouement, or whatever those things are being called these days. When I'm finished with Hungers... I'm diving into Dhalgren and that's something I look forward to. Maybe I'll figure out why that novel has such an influence on my recent posts. As always, thank you for viewing, reading, and commenting, and hopefully everyone is staying nice, comfortable, and warm!

Comments (35)


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mbz2662

9:34PM | Thu, 25 February 2010

Oh, I really like this one.. I had to look for the wanderer. Super work Chip... Now I better go do my work in the kitchen.. lol.

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beachzz

10:25PM | Thu, 25 February 2010

This reminds me a lot of "Earth Abides"--the way the few survive, building a new world. Love the foto, and how he fades into the background.

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lior

2:09AM | Fri, 26 February 2010

So spendid!

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helanker

2:41AM | Fri, 26 February 2010

Excellent again. Beautiful Image and the words as usual interesting reading.

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durleybeachbum

3:37AM | Fri, 26 February 2010

A paricularly superb image today..very evocative! I need 48 hour days to get enough reading in. Sometimes yours is the only work I read all day, so it's just as well it's so good!

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prutzworks

4:34AM | Fri, 26 February 2010

cool composition and color treatment

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faroutsider

4:43AM | Fri, 26 February 2010

Great image to accompany your excellent text. Bleak but strangely satisfying. I enjoyed the completion of the Dune saga - now I must look out for Dhalgren...

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blinkings

4:53AM | Fri, 26 February 2010

OK so I am going to point out the bleeding obvious and say that the angles are what makes this photo so nice IMHO!

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njb2000

5:08AM | Fri, 26 February 2010

Nice low camera angle!

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zulaan

5:27AM | Fri, 26 February 2010

Perfect and dynamic composition ! Beautiful artwork dear friend !

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flavia49

8:02AM | Fri, 26 February 2010

magnificent work!!

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auntietk

8:59AM | Fri, 26 February 2010

Great image! The low angle is perfect for your story. Nicely moody, yet theres an undertone of normalcy, which is pretty weird if you think about it for too long. Great writing and image!

MrsLubner

9:12AM | Fri, 26 February 2010

Dare I say "earthy"? Great feeling with strong lighting, composition and pov all coming together perfectly.

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MrsRatbag

9:16AM | Fri, 26 February 2010

Wonderful work in all ways, Chip; can't type well enough with one hand to get into my speculation on your influences, but I understand!

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Sea_Dog

10:15AM | Fri, 26 February 2010

I really like this image because it seems like a new avenue for your creativity - a complement to your gritty urban creations - different, but somehow connected. Great stuff, Chip.

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flora-crassella

1:57PM | Fri, 26 February 2010

GREAT picture!!!!!

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marybelgium

2:20PM | Fri, 26 February 2010

wonderful work !

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kgb224

2:49PM | Fri, 26 February 2010

Outstanding capture and story my friend.

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sandra46

4:07PM | Fri, 26 February 2010

SPLENDID !!! GREAT IMAGE!!! I LIKE THE VISIONARY QUALITY OF THE MOOD

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watapki66

4:40PM | Fri, 26 February 2010

Wonderful story and image!

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blondeblurr

7:28PM | Fri, 26 February 2010

First of all, let me congratulate you on another place & win in LWITG #8, well deserved, with photo and story... This is a very intriguing photo, with your recently winning trademark of sepia colour and design; it seems like an up-hill battle for this wanderer...but it's not all what it seems to be, even your trick of the little tilt of the photo, to give an even bigger illusion of struggle, fine manipulation. Top notch work BB

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KatesFriend

9:27PM | Fri, 26 February 2010

I'm glad to hear that Canada has so far been spared. Perhaps the eternal vigil of the CBC is what Val listens to. I can well imagine the announcers on 'The World At Six' urgently but not with panic describing the strange events that transpire just to the south of our so far un-breached but seemingly frail and easily penetrable boarders. Later, on 'As It Happens', journalists continue to speculate on the cause and nature of 'the event' and worry about when (not if) these things will venture into our homeland. Maybe even the voice of a now all too rare caller or EMail from the troubled zones makes its way on air telling strange and disturbing tales. WOW! I'm getting caught up in this story. The atmosphere is what strikes me so hard and pulls me in.

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alessimarco

9:40PM | Fri, 26 February 2010

I love this departure from the urban scene! A nice change of pace! Great work!

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Kaartijer

9:55PM | Fri, 26 February 2010

Just been there two days ago, had snow showers all the way from Sheboygan to Rockford, IL... it was really bad between Milwaukee and Beloit... the strong winds while crossing the prairie in ILL... Excellent shot here, a very good composition!

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Eresther

4:13AM | Sat, 27 February 2010

Excellent shot!

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jac204

2:18PM | Sat, 27 February 2010

Great point of view and lighting effects.

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wysiwig

1:34AM | Sun, 28 February 2010

Very striking and stark. Once again the words and image mate perfectly.

BertDes

1:26PM | Sun, 28 February 2010

Wonderful image.

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Roxam

10:56PM | Sun, 28 February 2010

striking image, stark and moody--very fine illustration to your prose, fine post-work

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romanceworks

1:19PM | Mon, 01 March 2010

A fascinating read that goes well with your graphic. You have mastered the fine art of detail, the little things, the big things, that make a story so believable and engaging. CC

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Photograph Details
F Numberf/5.6
MakeCanon
ModelCanon PowerShot A1000 IS
Shutter Speed1/500
ISO Speed80
Focal Length25

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