Nobody Here But Us Chickens

It’s happening all across the country: ordinary urbanites (and suburbanites) are raising chickens in their backyards. I knew this was something I had to photograph, when my down-the-block neighbor had a (swanky) new chicken coop delivered. When I drove by on a Saturday, I quickly parked and ran back to help them carry it into their backyard. The man who made their coop, Mario Klip, has a wonderful website with beautiful designs. My friends now have their three (grown) chickens, and one has started laying eggs already. (Fresh egg factoid: If they are not washed, the natural coating keeps them safe for weeks!) Anyways, I decided that I had to create some portraits of these people. I’ll bet that a lot of us know someone that is doing this, too. Here’s a chicken question: What is the very FIRST thing a chicken does after it scratches the ground with its foot? Let me know if you do!

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The Original Smart Car – The BMW Isetta

BMW actually made the first smart car, the Isetta.  Ok, it’s perhaps not the first small car made for city driving, but it is certainly the coolest one.  I mean, what other car like this has so much personality?  You get in from the front??  What were those clowns at BMW thinking?  Well, they were thinking genius thoughts, I’d say.  Genius!!  What a completely fun car to drive, and be seen driving in, right?  Yep, it kinda is a clown car.  Even back in the day, I’m sure they were turning heads.  Today, this wonderful machine, a completely restored, mint condition 1956 BMW Isetta continues to make people smile:  it spreads joy wherever it goes.  Now, that’s a smart idea for car design.

The Salt Flats

It’s impossible to take a bad photograph out here, at least in the fall.  Everything is so simple and grand.  And thank goodness it’s not August.  If I was a real gearhead, I’d already know what that was like, but I’m not planning on finding out what it’s like to stand in an oven for a few days during the race season.  It turns out that no one who works around here will EVER take their own personal car out on the Flats, because the salt not only does a number on the finish and the metal, but also will eventually corrode the wiring in a car and it will be RUINED RUINED RUINED.   So, everyone parks in the little cul-de-sac (who knew?) at the end of the paved road into the Flats.  From there, take your friend’s car (if you want to lose them as a friend) or just start walking.  Which is all you can do if you run out of gas.