Pursuits : Elizabeth Thomsen » Places

The Rusty Old Cars

Elizabeth Thomsen — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 23:29:28 +0000

I was walking the dog one day and noticed a couple of rusty old cars dumped in a weedy little lot between a local garage and the railroad tracks. I’m not usually interested in cars, new or old, but these caught my eye, and I took a picture of one. I felt awkward about it, partly because I didn’t want to trespass and partly because I have always avoided abandoned cars because I’m afraid there might be mice living in the upholstery.

That was a year and a half ago, and since that day I have visited what I think of as my cars many times. I’ve taken pictures of them in the winter covered with snow, and in the summer with plants growing out of them.

I don’t know why I like these two cars so much. It’s something about the curvy lines, the elegance, the sense of history. These are cars from old movies, and when I try to imagine them as they must have once been, I see them in black and white.

But something is happening to my cars. They’ve been moved and reassembled a bit, and one is up on the back of a truck. Did someone buy it? Will it be restored? Or is it going to a junkyard? And what about the other one? Why do I care so much?

I’ll miss them.

The Wakefield Bandstand

Elizabeth Thomsen — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 22:24:54 +0000

I used to think I was an observant person, and a curious one. But since I joined Flickr, I realize how unobservant I have actually been all my life, how much I’ve missed. I look at things so much more closely and appreciatively when I’m taking pictures, or even when I am thinking about taking pictures. And I know a lot less than I thought I did, too. When I try to add appropriate titles, descriptions and tags for my pictures, I realize how little I know about the world around me. I don’t know the names of flowers, trees or birds, and I can’t describe architectural styles or features.

And there are so many things I’ve just never noticed at all. Like the bandstand on the Common in Wakefield, Massachusetts. The bandstand is right in the center of town, and it’s probably the most photographed and recognizable place in town. I worked at the Wakefield library for four years just a few blocks away, and have driven past it countless times since then. But I never really looked at it until one day last week when I found myself in Wakefield a little early for a meeting, and decided to take a few pictures. Built in 1885 and also known as the Pagoda and the Music Pavilion, the bandstand overlooking Lake Quannapowitt features a roof painted in red and green with gold accents and a striking decorative frieze. Just lovely — I’m glad I finally looked at it.

The Friendly Toast

Elizabeth Thomsen — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 22:36:05 +0000

In my family, we celebrate special occasions with a trip to the Friendly Toast in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where it’s always breakfast time, and great food is served in enormous portions. You can get vegetarian and/or vegan versions of just about everything on the menu. The bread’s fantastic, and the homefries are the best anywhere. Don’t miss the breakfast burrito! The decor is eclectic and conversational, with mismatched dinnerware, old dinette sets, and a kitschy assortment of ever-changing fleamarket finds and oddball art.

Friendly Toast Flickr Group — The Friendly Toast is just so visually interesting that I started this Flickr group to collect photographs of it all.

Links

Phantom Gourmet Review — “an all-time Phantom breakfast favorite.”
“Quirky Cool of Friendly Toast Extends to the Spicy Menu” — Review by Rachel Forrest, Portsmouth Herald