Christmas is over

This is from last year...



Christmas is over.

I don't think that the sun has been out any since about a week ago, maybe more. Today was no different. As I walked into work crossing the man made field of dead grass and the lone leafless tree I noticed how overcast it has been. My mood all day has been weird. I'm on autopilot. For the most part I am always drifting by at work not really paying any attention to what is going on. I decided that today was the day the horrific Christmas decorations had to come down. I spent about the first 30 minutes of my shift tearing down paper snowflakes that were hanging by fishing line from the celling and disassemble the tree. The smell of plastic pine needles reminds me of my childhood. I would seek refuge from robots and monsters in the chubby hole of my parent's basement. The same place where the Christmas Tree admitted that synthetic aroma while it eagerly anticipated December. Every year it comes out of the basement to dazzle us with its flashing lights and shiny glass orbs. It represents something that has been all but forgotten by those celebrating Christmas. For one month it provides us with a reminder of what is coming. Then it must be stripped of it's jewelry, garland, and mini photo frames with pictures of Christmas 1994. This became the tree's routine. Then about two years ago it's life was shattered with a simple toss to the garbage. It was being replaced by newer more slim tree that didn't have that stale plastic smell. Little does this new comer know, in a few years it will become stagnate and thus unable to do the job it was originally commissioned to do. She will be sent to the same tree heaven as her predecessor. So there I was stuffing tangles of green wire and clear glass into boxes that had been vacated when the previous residents burnt out. For the next 10 months, this will be their home. A box. Their only purpose is to shed a little light on Christmas. Years ago they, like the tree, represented something much more profound. But now they only come out of hiding because that is what you are supposed to do at Christmas. Now they must spend a year in the dark.
Christmas is over. Until next year.

snaggs

snaggs
Originally uploaded by Andrew Paul-Dalton Quinn

A drawing.

Megan's Bike

Megan's Bike 18
Originally uploaded by Andrew Paul-Dalton Quinn

I recently bought and restored this old JcPenny bike for Megan. I knocked on a door where they bike was abandoned in the side yard and offered them ten dollars for it. Then after it Megan got a chance to ride it I took a bunch of pictures of it.

Abandon Ship

Photo taken in Dumfries Scotland

Pro Choice

Please click for full photo. (Blogger has cut some of the side off)

I like the way this turned out. I took it while I was England on the Rochdale Canal. This is a beautiful part of the country but it gets ruined by litter just like every other nice thing in the world.