Sunday, June 17, 2012

I Eats Me Spinach!

By Joann M. Ringelstetter

On the last day of our 10-day trip to Ohio a few weeks ago, we had our biggest day as far as the number of photos taken. As usual, we had been out before first light and we were pushing hard to capture as much as we could while making our way across Indiana.


The thing is, Ruth had planned so much stuff for us to see in Indiana that I had shot roughly 475 photos before noon and we were still only about 35 miles from the eastern edge of Indiana. So we decided we’d better start covering some serious ground in order to reach home that night.


One thing, though, that Ruth and I can’t resist is an old schoolhouse. So, in spite of the fact that we had decided that we needed to get moving, we stopped to photograph an old brick school that might not be there the next time we visit Indiana.


We pulled up in front of the school and it was looking pretty rundown. I said to Ruth, “This should only take a few minutes because I don’t think there are too many angles I can get here.” I took a couple of shots of the entire school, then the bell tower, and then the front of the school.


In spite of the poor condition of the two doors on the front of the school, I found the arches above them interesting, so I pulled in close for another shot. Then, as usual, I couldn’t resist at least looking inside. I often peer in through the doors of old buildings to see what’s inside and there’s usually nothing but deterioration.

In this case, however, I was surprised to find a wall full of graffiti. And even more surprising was that Popeye the Sailorman was staring back at me. I laughed, and then took quite a bit longer to capture Popeye since it was poor lighting and a bad angle. I’m sure Ruth was thinking, “Sure, only a few minutes…that’s what she always says!”


If you’ve ever watched the old Popeye cartoons, you know that, at the end, he sang, “I’m strong to the finish ‘cause I eats me spinach! I’m Popeye the Sailorman!” Toot! Toot!

Happy Shunpiking!
Joann

1 comment:

  1. When I saw the title of this blog story, I knew Popeye would be part of the story. Brings back memories! I think Popeye was one of our favorite cartoons when we were growing up. You got some great shots of the school building too!

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