"The Nebraska road," May 2006

The Nebraska road

Nebraska Route 71 seems infinite, a straight line to the horizon, disappearing over the slightest bulge in the landscape, no doubt continuing straight on the other side.

"On the old highways of America"

The road to myself

"On the old highway maps of America, the main routes were red and the back roads blue. Now even the colors are changing. But in those brevities just before dawn and a little after dusk -- times neither day nor night -- the old roads return to the sky some of its color. Then, in truth, they carry a mysterious cast of blue, and it's that time when the pull of the blue highway is strongest, when the open road is a beckoning, a strangeness, a place where a man can lose himself."

-- William Least Heat-Moon, Blue Highways

"Route 71, Nebraska," May 2006

"Route 71, Nebraska," May 2006

The road challenge was sent out just five days before I stepped on a plane bound for Denver and a week-long road trip with my college roommate. So although my photo archives are stocked with road trip pictures and, like this one, literal images of the road, I wanted to wait until I was back from the trip to submit to this challenge, even if it was a few weeks late.

This may be a common, even pedestrian shot to represent the road, but it's the one I decided to go with because of that in some ways, and because this is an image that brings up questions: Where is this? Where does it lead? Why am I here? Such an open and empty stretch of road -- in such an open and sparsely populated section of America -- is no doubt well-known to those who live on or near it, relying on it to get from their homes to any number of places. A map of the region shows that there are only so many options when traveling by car in southwest Nebraska.

Weather-worn barn, North Jersey

Weather-worn barn, New Jersey, November 2005
Originally uploaded by DC Products.

It's not the best-composed photo, but I like it nonetheless. The diagonal power lines parallel the multi-tiered ground and the horizon line, which is both on a slight hill and also angled because I'm taking this from the window of the car, holding the camera at my side while I keep my eyes on the road at 45 mph. I didn't look at the camera at all to compose it; I saw the barn ahead, picked up the camera, and snapped the shot. I got enough of the barn and avoided the sun enough to feel happy with this as it is.

It's an old barn on some remote northern New Jersey roadside, probably Route 94 in Sussex County. Worn by the weather, it's got holes in the roof and is comprised now of almost nothing but sun-scorched and faded wood.

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This is the first time I'm playing with the "Blog This" feature on my Flickr gallery. It has some pros and cons, so we'll see if I keep it up.

"Pigs For Sale," Southampton, New York, October 2004

Yes, indeed, the Hamptons can be rural.