(no subject)

[olivermoss]

I was walking on a dead end street with no street lights. I hadn't really found anything weird to shoot and didn't think I was going to, when I saw that the yard sculpture they had was partially made from bones. I am not fully sure I got the shot because of how dark it was and how visually noisy the area was. But, I tried. Then I walked the end and back down on the other side. I glanced over to where the sculpture was in case I saw a new, clearer angle on it. I couldn't see the statue because there was now a backlit person wearing all black standing in the yard just in front of it. So, I just kept walking.

Ah, Portland.

I hopefully got three shots tonight. Not a ton, but it was a short walk. I'll probably wait to edit until I have more.

But I also saw... Crappy cell phone picture because I wasn't going to bother changing lenses for this..



Okay, I've seen people do some things with unimproved roads. South of Woodstock, some people grow crops on them. One famously had a large oak tree in the center and a crossroads has a duck pond. But these people deadass fenced it in, built a shed and are also using it as a driveway. It's a dead end road, but it's still a road... or was. This is the most brazen thing I've seen done to one of our dirt roads. Crops, play area, etc, not really a big deal... but that is impressive.

I don't know whether to be annoyed by them or toast just how... Oregonian that is

Comments

[dine]

oh man - I lived for ~20 yeas just north of Woodstock (around 41st) and hated having to go south of it because there were so many streets which were impassible - no telling how many times I risked my struts trying to drive on those pothole fields

but turning one into your private space is fairly ballsy

[olivermoss]

I wonder how the people on the other side of the street feel, because that's public land and the other people yoinked it for just them. I've seen a lot of things done with out dirt roads, but this is the most brazen I've seen here.

In the house I grew up in, our neighbor acquired public land adjacent to their property by maintaining it by using adverse property laws. She took a big chunk, too, and then kept trying to bite off pieces of our yard.

[mistressofmuses]

That is pretty brazen. Huh.

I hope the shots you're hoping for turned out. Though... slight yike on the rando appearing. Welp.

[olivermoss]

Pretty sure the rando was the homeowner since no one else was on the street, which was why I was suddenly focused on totally normal casual walking back to the main road.

[mistressofmuses]

Ah, that's at least mildly less creepy rando rando, but still... yeah, a totally normal casual but not-slow walk back to the main road sounds like the thing to do.

[olivermoss]

Honestly the homeowner popping out around midnight after I was taking pictures of their yard? For me that's creepier than a rando going by.

[mistressofmuses]

Well... that's fair. I guess it seems like the homeowner might at least have a reason to be there as opposed to a rando-rando, but in terms of "no thank you!" interactions, I think you're right that it's the one that's likely to be worse.

[olivermoss]

You think I'd be inured to it by now, but it's a bit stressful to take pictures of people's yards, especially when I do lens changes. I mean, they put the art there but it's still awkward

[mistressofmuses]

Oh, I definitely get it. I feel the same way when we want to stop and look at Halloween decorations or the like. I realize that people likely decorate *because* they want people to see them, but I still feel like I have to defend stopping to look. Especially if I try to snag a picture!

[olivermoss]

Yeah, taking a picture, especially when you take time or do things to try to get a good shot, can be awkward. I know I'm not that problem, but some people are problems. It does take some... idk... gumption to get the shot sometimes.

[mistressofmuses]

Yeah, there's definitely a layer of awkward to the situation. Taking a picture of strangers' stuff is weird! Even when it's cool stuff that they probably want to show off!