Tracks Back on Wax

I took this photo in the Barnes and Noble bookstore at the Neshaminy Mall in April.  Although that display held the only vinly records I saw there, it was enough to show that vinyl is back, at least to me.  Sitting among the classic records from the 60s,70s and 80s was Adele’s record, seen in the bottom left.  Adele was born in 1988, so if she ever saw a vinyl record, it was probably in her parent’s collection, likely sitting in a closet attracting dust.  Also note that Dr. Dre’s The Chronic sits in that display bin as well.  That album dropped in 1993, several years after the last vinyl record was purchased at a mainstream record store.

This wasn’t entirely new to me, as I had been hearing about this revival for a while.  Vinyl had been creeping back onto radio, and in some cases never entirely went away.  But now there seem to be more and more segments devoted to vinly, as well as articles about increasing interest and sales wherever vinyl records could be found.  When I walked into the Barnes and Noble back in April, what I saw in this display bin confirmed what I was hearing and I made sure to snap this picture as photographic proof.

I don’t know if this will mean anything in the long run.  I don’t think that vinyl will replace the more technically advanced forms of recording that have long since taken over and made the vinyl record obsolete (with the exception of party djs and collectors).  But it has now found a niche, if not a permanent place.  Or at least that is what it seems like, unless this all turns out to be a fad.

Winter on Lake Caroline

About three and a half years ago I published a few photos I took at Lake Caroline in Fairless Hills, PA. Today I returned to that site, on a sunny and very cold Saturday morning.  The weather has been brutally cold lately, but it looks like we had just enough sun and warmth to keep some of the lake from freezing, and to leave most of the ice thin.  The snow on the ground is what remains from the winter storm last Monday night, which was originally forecast to accumulate 12-18 inches.  It turned out to be much less, and I was at work on Tuesday morning, although the office opened late.

I am not very familiar with the habits of seagulls, so I found their activity here a bit interesting.  They walked along the frozen surface of the lake for a while, then walked over on to the snowy ground and perched in their spots as captured in the picture here.  Maybe they were warming the ground to bring up some of the earth worms.  From what I have observed previously, their diet seems to consist of fish whatever discarded food scraps they could find.  It is common to see them flocking around shopping center parking lots. Here, they could probably find fish, but I think the lake is only stocked during certain times of the year.  And if this was fishing season, I think there would be people fishing all around the lake, no matter what the weather. 

My plan wasn’t to stay around long, however, and it was too cold anyway.  At least, I didn’t come dressed to spend a lot of time in arctic weather.  But whenever I can, I’ll keep sneaking in these photos

The Unfrozen Lake

Today I set out to get some winter photos, figuring most of the lakes and small creeks in the area would be frozen.  But that wasn’t what I found.  Either the current cold streak wasn’t long enough to solidify the larger bodies of water in the area, or the thawing yesterday was just enough to melt it.  

This photo shows what I saw when I got to Lake Luxemburg near my home.  The water around the edges was covered with a thin sheet of ice, and the rest remained unfrozen.  It was too cold and windy for me to stay around long, so I just got this one picture with my phone. After that, I hurried back to the warmth of my car, which had not been parked long.

Maybe I’ll get another chance soon.  It’s still early January, and there are still about two months to go to get through the bane of winter.  Like all seasons, winter has its own beauty, and I’ll try to get out as much as I can to capture some of it.