Black and white and shades of gray...

Well, it's been about seven weeks since my last blog entry here on All Aboard Hamlet. True, that's a long time to go without an entry, however, for the purposes of this blog, I'm striving not to duplicate content that one can read in the Daily Journal.  Reporter, Hollie Nivens has been doing a nice job keeping up with all of the happenings and news in Hamlet.  Also, there are several avenues available for locals and once locals, and interested parties to read about main stream happenings in Hamlet, as well as view photos, too, such as OURHAMLET.org.

In a way these seven weeks have blown by in a flash. From the Christmas Tree Lighting in Main Street Park, to Hamlet's Christmas parade, to Hamlet's Old Fashioned Christmas festivities up and down Hamlet Avenue and Main Street on the evenings of December 10th & 11th, to the actual Christmas and New Year's holidays, it's been a busy time for the community of Hamlet.  It's been a busy time for me, and I suspect the same is true of you!  Add the gorgeous day late white Christmas, followed by Hamlet born author, Jody Meacham's Through the Heart of the South book signing event at the Hamlet Historic Depot & Museum the evening of December 27th, the days have just clicked on by!  And, between then and now, a great deal has been happening in my family.  The most difficult has been the recent loss of my last living uncle back home in Virginia, which has hit all of my family with heart string ties to Hamlet very hard.  I have such fond memories of him.  In fact, several trips I made to Hamlet as a little kid was with he, my aunt and my cousin.  My next post on Project Rewire will be about him, so as I've been writing this in my mind, I'm also thinking a about him, too.  He enjoyed hearing and reading what was happening in Hamlet.  He loved trains and railroad stories like all of us do in my family.  He also read my entries here, so, admittedly, it hurts a little for me to be here.  I liken it to walking into a room and someone's special chair now sits empty. 

Anyway... add another snowy weather event partnered up with ice this past week, time, thankfully, seemed to stop for a couple of days.  Personally, it was a very welcome inclement weather situation as it gave me time to play hooky from life during special walks through the icy forest nearby my home with my husband on Monday and Tuesday.  We couldn't wait to get outside to experience the beautiful winter wonderland first hand.  It also gave me some blank spots in my days to catch up on other stuff, too.  So, I'm finally at the place where I can focus on my blogs again. 

Here, on All Aboard Hamlet, I have several upcoming posts planned already.  Lately, I've been devoting a lot of thought to "community" in respects to shared common ground and possible bonds that could be fostered as a result of that shared ground.  I've been appreciating the changes I see happening on Main Street Hamlet, and even new Hamlet focused Pages on Facebook.  And it may sound silly, but I've pondering black and white and shades of gray.  How so?  Well, in photography and how I see the things that make you and I, you and I.  How the shades of gray are the areas where our common bonds can be found. I'll elaborate in my next post...

But, for right now, I want you to take a walk with me through Main Street Park in black and white and shades of gray.  Once the roads in our neighborhood became passable last week, my husband and I headed to the Depot.  I already knew I'd missed taking the photos I would have so loved to take of the Depot itself, but I had an inkling Main Street Park would make up for it.  It truly did.  It was like being the midst of an ice castle with the sky for a ceiling and fencing, instead of walls.

(To me, black and white photography isn't necessarily without true color.  It's all about one's imagination and in viewing color photos vs. black and white, with color the eye sees the image first, where in black and white, your heart does.  The emotion that can be provoked, or illustrated in black and white and the all important shades of gray can pale a color version of the same shot if you see them side by side.  Black and white shots are poetic stills, where colored shots vividly portray their subjects. It may just be me, but I believe black and white shots are more timeless.  They certainly capture a part of me, color doesn't. What about you?  As you view the shots below, think about it...) 

We had the most lovely walk through Main Street Park amidst the snow and ice. It was so icy, my husband had to keep a tight grip on me to keep me from falling.  I almost wiped out several times, but fortunately, either my husband, or I caught myself.  We saw one man fall three times.  Poor guy.  He was there with the love of his life, and we were thrilled he didn't take her down, too.  To say it was beautiful, is an understatement.  It was just breathtaking the way the ice covered and molded to everything.  It shimmered and glistened in the sunlight so perfectly, I could have cared less if the trees ever leafed out again.  The sky was a gorgeous blue, but the reflection off the snow mingled with the brilliant morning sunlight made it so incredibly bright, there were times I couldn't see through my camera's view finder.  There were times, I couldn't see at all.  Yep, I was blinded by the light!  We could hear the sounds of the ice cracking as we walked, well, stomped to maintain our balance. We could hear the birds, and a brisk whooshing of the wind through the trees and stark areas. It was refreshing, exhilarating, and the icy air felt so clean.  Like a blast of healthy!

The ancient trees were magnificent. I found myself wondering how many ice and snow storms they'd weathered and how many people they've enjoyed seeing stroll by them. And how many trains either carrying passengers on a journey, or goods to keep our nation's stock piles of whatever filled go by them.  And how much of Hamlet's history they've witnessed, but are keeping to themselves like secrets. What about the younger specimen trees planted around the park?  What are they learning about people as they listen in and observe them as they stand silently?

Although I always find Main Street Park wonderful, it's the views from within it in all directions that always seem to be the most intriguing and appealing to me.

To be continued...