In Gary, Indiana, several buildings are abandoned.  Even moreso, the kids have found their way into some of them and run amock.

This image is taken in the Post Office, before it was boarded up to better restrict entrance.  All but one window was smashed out of the building, and everything else left in the building was in an equal shape of disarray.

May 2009. (3283)

While up in Vancouver for a few days, some friends and I wandered around the harbor.  British Columbia is stunningly beautiful, and it always helps seeing things one doesn’t normally see.  In this particular case, watching all of the seaplanes come and go certainly lended itself to some of the charm.

February 2011. (8044)

As mentioned previously, I don’t have a lot of patience in life.  Photography has helped me learn it, and this image is another fine example.

One the tall, light-colored building to the right, there was a white-hot glare of the sun on one of the windows.  I had to sit and wait for a while to get the glare to dissipate, then I was able to get the picture I wanted.

June 2009. (4511)

While walking around Siracusa, Sicily, Alisha and I passed by an area with a number of locals swimming in the Mediterranean Sea; some were adults, some were children, and others were adults acting like children.  As we were watching the people all splash around in the water, we noticed a small boat bumping up against the rocks behind us.

The boat wasn’t tied off to anything, nor was it occupied by anyone.  Strange still, no one seemed to care about the boat.

The water was shallow enough that we walked over and checked out the boat, and it looked to be sealed up.  We’re not sure if one of the people swimming just dumped it there while they frolicked in the water, or if it broke loose in the harbor and ended up where we saw it.

Whatever the case, the next day we returned with our suits to go swimming and the boat was gone.

September 2005. (0331)

We arrived at the Great Wall of China pretty much as soon as it was available to tourists.  It was nice because Alisha and I were the only two people around for quite some time.  Sure, there were others, but everyone kind of spread out and did their own thing, leaving a vast distance in between us and the next people.

In addition to being quiet the first part of the morning, the sky was clear and there was decent visibility.  We could see the Great Wall snake off into the distance.  Much like the crowds and tour busses slowly growing throughout the morning, so did the weather.  Eventually, as we were preparing to leave, both the crowds were deplorable and the weather had turned foul; visibility was far more limited than earlier.

By the time we took the trail down to meet our driver, it had started to rain.  After warming up with some tea, we headed to the car and it turned to a solid downpour.

It was nice that we could get some quiet time on the Great Wall of China, before the crowds swarmed, and it was an added bonus to get the weather to cooperate as well.

October 2010. (4718)

This is Spain’s Segovia Cathedral.  (I also have a night-time picture of this same cathedral posted in the European Photography Gallery).

The fun part about the town of Segovia, aside from it’s centuries old — and still functioning aqueduct — is it was here Christopher Columbus convinced the King of Spain to fund his trip West to find an easier trade route.  Instead of finding India, Columbus and his ships stumbled upon the New World.

July 2009. (0160)

Happy St. Valentine’s Day!

I never really realized how many random and sometimes strange phrases are on candy hearts.  I always thought they were short and cute simple phrases (Love You, Miss You, etc.), but just looking at the picture above, Get Real doesn’t seem sweet and romantic.

February 2007. (1985)

Last weekend I posted a photoblog entry about how I’d be willing to take up playing basketball regularly (you can read it by clicking here). Much like that location, I’d play soccer everyday if I had a field with this view.

February 2006. (0230)

It’s always entertaining to me when traveling to other countries and we stumble upon people playing games in the middle of a public way.  I’ve previously written about being in Turkey and watching men play backgammon in the middle of a walkway, and prior to that, Alisha and I watched two men play chess with each other in Vienna, Austria.

In the above picture, the gentleman to the left (in the blue shirt) is playing the gentleman to the right (in the orange-colored shirt, with his left hand up to his chin).  It was strangely quiet in the plaza, as everyone watched the two men go at it. Since I don’t play chess I took a few pictures, but everyone else around seemed to be playing out their own game in their heads, and what moves they would and would not make.

August 2008. (0435)

As the title suggests, this is the Armenian Grape Hyacinth.

This is another picture taken this spring at the Chicago Botanic Gardens.  While we’ve had a fairly mild winter (so far) this year, I’m already looking forward to the colors and temperatures of springtime in Chicago.

May 2011. (9828)