Sunday, March 22, 2009

Are you ready for some fruits & nuts?



No, I am not talking disparagingly about any of my fellow Californians!
On my year-end 2008 trip to Las Vegas, I finally stopped into a place I had only driven past on previous trips -
it's called 'Casa de Fruta', along Rte 152 from Gilroy leading into the Ca. central valley, where I hook up w/ I-5 (a much better drive than Rte 99) to drive south, to Bakersfield and beyond.
(My starting point is San Rafael, in Marin county, I take 280 south from SF to the San Jose area, then continue on 101 to Gilroy.)
The 'Casa' is lucky - they have their own exit off the hi-way!
It doesn't get much better than that, does it?!
They sell everything that is grown in the valley, and many by-products...
and... they also have a great carousel...!
B-b-b-but wait!, there's more! - a marvelous collection of old farming machinery & vehicles.
It's definitely worth a stop, if you are passing by.
The carousel is very nice... I took a few frames, both digital & film.
(I've already done a montage image using the carousel, that'll be coming up real soon.)
I'm really glad I finally took that exit, and checked the place out - I'm still snacking on a big bag of nuts I bought... :-)
(like I'm not nuts enough already, ya know?)

The point of this all?
Well, actually, there's two of them.

#1 - Hey!...Safeway, Whole Foods, and Walmart will survive all this economic mess just fine, but smaller businesses, and impromptu stands set up but the roadside? ...these people are struggling, and could really use your patronage. Wherever you are, stop in, check them out, and buy a few things you normally buy somewhere else.
There's an old saying: 'what goes around, comes around'... which is a way of saying 'do something positive, you will ultimately be rewarded', karmically speaking.
Besides which, places like this are a whole lot more fun than anything 'big box'.

#2 - It pays off to explore anyplace/anything that, however gently, tweaks your 'photo-interest' button. Ya never know what you'll find, and you'll *never* find it if you don't try, will you?

http://www.bobbennettphoto.net/BeachBlog_2009/CasaDeFruita/index.html

(There's also a preview of the darkroom image I made w/ shots of the carousel.)

Next entry, in two weeks, I'll be talking about 'masking' in the darkroom - see ya then :-)