Underneath a parking lot in Ottumwa, Iowa

Yes, this place was literally located beneath a parking garage in Ottumwa, Iowa.  Not Missouri, I know.  But I was on a road trip up to West Branch to see a David Plowden show, and was amazed to find this neon-bedecked diner crouching in the shadow of a downtown parking structure.  I assume the lot had been built up around and over the canteen.  Its lunches must be notable, to eschew demolition and preserve a most unlikely piece of commercial real estate in Ottumwa.

Graveyard and trees

The juxtaposition of the brightly-colored plastic flowers and the bleak, November day was the hook that compelled me to compose this image, but it is the fascinating contortions of the trees along the fence-row that turned out to be my favorite element in the composition.   Something about it reminds me of a Thomas Hardy novel...

Missouri River Hills in November

A moundlike hill overlooking the Missouri River, south of Rocheport.  This was around sunset on an exceptionally pleasant day in late November.

Front yard maple

The maple tree in my front yard, on a dark afternoon in early November.

My Tomato Harvest, 2011

My tomato crop at its most bounteous, picked in mid October.  Despite the drought, and the heat, and various four-legged pilferers, the harvest wasn't bad. 

Williamsburg, MO

We were driving back from Graham Cave a couple summers ago, on our way to a stop at Crane's Country store in Williamsburg, when I found this old building and knew that it must be photographed.  The far-stretching cornfields and blue Missouri sky were the ideal context for such a perfect example of midwestern, roadside architecture. 

Autumn is here

This was Stewart Park late last fall.  This autumn seems to be arriving a bit earlier, but after the summer we have had in Missouri, who isn't ready for it?