I recently scanned some old negatives for a chapbook I'm making and came across this image of my former neighbor Naomi's window. I lived at 195 E. Main Street in Frostburg, Md for a little over a year. She was a major reason why I wanted the apartment. In her mid 80's, nearly deaf and sweet as hell, I would occasionally play the accordion for her, she would give me jars of homemade beef stew, and I photographed her on a number of occasions. She died a few years ago. I'm glad I have these pictures.     

What I Read in the Basement of the Hotel Gunter

Triangular Forest

The last few years I lived in Frostburg I gravitated towards the Carey Run Bird Sanctuary just outside of town in Garrett county. The reason for going there wasn't to see, hear, or think about birds. The destination was a walk through what a handful of us called the mathematical forest. No doubt the result of an effort to reforest an area previously logged or mined, the mathematical forest was a beautifully sloped 10-12 acre stand of the most unnatural stand of pines trees.

Todd in the Mathematical Forest, 2004

Stumbling upon the forest unaware was similar to walking through my first strip mine. It was close to the highway but always dead quiet. A monoculture is a very quiet place- being within one is like being somewhere where everyone is so similar they don't have anything to say to one another. The floor of this forest was blanketed with a thick mulch of pine needles and a fern-ish rhizome that I've never tried to identify.

By the looks of Google's satellite images, a lot of the mathematical forest is gone.
I've circled what is left of it.

Trolling Google maps a few weeks ago I came across this stand of trees not far from our apartment. The invisible-from-the-ground shape of this stand of trees (feminine, no?) hemmed in by CSX tracks on all sides- no doubt promised some kind of magic similar to that of the mathematical forest.


What a treat then that when I showed friends Matt and Kendall this picture Matt suggested we head over there after lunch. We walked over and entered at the Northwestern point of the triangle and traversed nearly all of it.


That's all I'm saying. There's more- a lot more- but for now it gestates. The next time I go there it'll work itself out a little bit more. There is a triangulation here. One of mathematical and triangular forests, strip mines and walks with friends. Come visit and we'll go for a walk.

DeWitt Camera Centre Grand Opening

This post starts out really nice w/ Ed pinning a DeWitt Camera Centre button onto the sweater of a 94 year old woman who visits his store regularly...

And then next it leads you into one of the back rooms at DeWitt's-- which, when it was Clark's I bought most of my camera supplies there for nearly 10 years and I always wondered what was back there behind the desk, through the hallway...

And then here's a view of my work, installed in Ed's store on the yellow yellow walls, way up above the shelves. This picture was taken during the great opening where I saw many many friends, and where everyone was very happy b/c this was not just an art opening, and it was not just a sale commemorating the opening of a new store. It was much much more than that...

And then we jump way ahead to about midnight when Kris and Mark were fooling around (for the benefit of the camera?) on the shuffle bowl table at Dante's (where every band that I'd want to see were I in town --except for the three that I just thought of -- played). Following Kris and Mark's PDA, Mark and I had a good conversation about Senator Craig, anonymous gay sex, and our aversion to sex in public restrooms...

It appears here that Kris jumped off Mark and got busy chewing pretzels w/ Jeff and posing, but really, it didn't happen that way. And in fact, before this picture was taken Jeff and I were sitting with Kim doing our best to make her laugh by laughing ridiculously loud and ridiculously...

And finally, Dante's is in the same building that housed a bar very dear to many many people in Frostburg, a place where we all spent a lot of time... some of us working, some playing music, most of us drinking (sometimes while working), and I know this bar sink better than I know any other, and I must say I feel a slight tug on my heart each time I ignore it on my way out the bathroom door.

What I Know

Stephen and Susan are good friends...(*)

Jon Felton got married...

Kristin and Todd moved to Korea...

and Josh will join them in a month, or so.

* Picture by Susan or Stephen

Makin' Me Proud

Ed, a former student of mine, a staunch believer in western Maryland and especially Frostburg, and (although he won't admit its inevitability) future mayor of his hometown. Some of my fondest memories of teaching involve arguments between Ed and spoiled kids from Montgomery County who hated Frostburg. I would allow the arguments to become heated, to last as long as they needed to, secretly waiting for Ed to deliver the zinger that would send the pretentious pricks reeling and feeling out of place. Standing next to Ed in this picture are Wade and Debbie Clark-- two excellent people who became friends, and sometime confidants of mine when I'd shop for my photo supplies.

DeWitt buys camera store

From the Cumberland Times-News

CUMBERLAND — Edward DeWitt of Frostburg has purchased Clark’s Camera Centre from owner Wade Clark and plans to open the store as DeWitt Camera Centre in mid-August.

The business began more than 70 years ago as the hobby of original owner S. Louis Curl, who with his wife began making black and white prints from their own film in the early 1930s. There were no full-time photo stores, and having quality prints made was not easy.

Using the basement of their home as a darkroom, the Curls’ operation grew, and a few outlets were established elsewhere in Cumberland. They had two fixed locations before purchasing the vacant former First Federal Savings and Loan building in 1955 at 56 N. Centre St., which still is the site of the camera shop.

In 1972, Frank “Spike” Clark and two of his four children moved to Cumberland from Pearl River, N.Y., and bought the shop from the Curls. Their son Wade took over the business in 1990, bought it in 1993 and has run it with his wife, Debby.

DeWitt is a native of Frostburg and has been involved with photography since 2001, when he took his first class at Frostburg State University. He graduated from FSU in 2003 and attended the Ohio Institute of Photography in Dayton.

Clark’s stocks cameras, lenses, accessories and darkroom supplies, and film processing and printing is done on site. It offers repairs on all cameras and accessories and accepts special orders for equipment.

DeWitt plans to add an upstairs photography studio, a gallery for local photographers and photography classes for novices and experts. Business hours will be extended and the store will be open on weekends. For more information, call (301) 724-0393.

A Few Highlights from the Weekend (or all the signs in Frostburg that say Frostburg that I came across over the course of the weekend)

Going Home!

We're headed to Frostburg tomorrow for the long weekend and I'm giddy with the thought of seeing all of my favorite people in the whole wide world. I have been thinking all day about making numerous t-shirts that exclaim my affection for these people, but can I really walk around with a t-shirt that says "I love you" on it? or "The Frostburg Family Fan Club?" I probably don't really have the nerve, but damn! if I'm not thrilled about all the hugs, the catching up, the air, the stars, The Robin, The Paula, The Lisa, The Susan, The Edward, The Stephen, The Kris, The Mark, The Josh, The Amy, The Arne, The Jon, The Carolyn, The Griff, The Jeff, The Bill, The Katharine, The Allison, The Pat, The Jackie, The Sherry, The Jason, The Mary Jo, The Kurt, The John, The Jason, The Barry, The Anne, The Rick...even the people I don't see-- just to know that I'm there-- smelling the same air that they do, seeing the same things they do, seeing and being at the place that feels the most like home.