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January 22, 2013

JON IN NORTH NEW PORTLAND

OLYMPUS E-P1 PROJECT
... jon had to go to pease air force base to complete his flight simulator training and he added to his trip by making a nice visit to new england, including a couple days visiting with me ... this afternoon we took a nice drive in the countryside ... first item on the agenda was lunch, as in, "uncle pat, they just don't know how to make real pizza in ohio" ... we stopped at the little convenience store in north anson, where we shared a most excellent spicy pepperoni fresh dough pie, good enough that i burned my mouth and had to take one of my colorful stomach pills ... after that was an outing to the wire bridge in north new portland ... those of you who follow this journal know that in the whole world this is one of my most favorite places ... it didn't take too long before the 10°F temperature began to get to him, i'm suspecting he might becoming a bit of a flatlander ... a few years ago, in a much colder winter, thrustings upwards to within a few inches of the deck boards a huge ice jam threatened to destroy the 170 year-old structure ... luckily, the jam broke before the army corp of engineers had to set off the boxes of dynamite they'd brought to deal with the situation ...

OLYMPUS E-P1 PROJECT
... we stopped at the outskirts of town, where jon asked me to help him learn the settings of his very own brand-new olympus e-pl3 (a variation of my e-p1) ... years and years ago the old fire engine was left in a field along the road, where it patiently passes time as a race takes place between rust and the chance passing of an interested collector ... so far, the rust seems to be winning ...

OLYMPUS E-P1 PROJECT
... i like to visit the old fire engine, if only admire its form and imagine it all bright shiny red, affectionately buffed so that it seemed to glow from within, as if attempting to live up to its title ... back in its day the chrome trim would have been buffed to a mirror-like finish, so that as it raced through town reflected in its passing would have been the startled expressions of those for whom it brought, if not actually welcomed, at least some secretly appreciated excitement to the unvaried routine of daily life in rural maine ...

OLYMPUS E-P1 PROJECT
... there's no sense of sadness, despondency, nor, for that matter, even mournful dejection ... rather, the old fire engine emanates an aura of modest pride, as if quietly reflecting to all those who care to listen, "i know what i did, forever i will reserve space for the souls of those who tended me, used me as a tool in service to the community ... i helped extinguish small fires and raging conflagrations, i preserved property and saved lives, now for me is an easy resting" ...