Postcard from a Truck Graveyard

The Truck Graveyard

Across the road from new truck sales
Lay a yard filld with trucks that died
These vehicles' voice offer tales
Once on them a trucker relied

They thought that he would be companion
Their eternal guide protect them
He  took one to the Grand Canyon
He was truck's total brain stem

Made the decisions for each day
This truck didn't object just follow
Whichever way trucker would stray
Even if where lay Capistrano Swallow

Then one day the truck's tires went flat
Soon in this graveyard this truck lies
Trucker lost his favorite hat 
Old trucker no longer truck guides

by Sara Kendrick

Japanese-Style Digital Sketch by J.R. Corkrum

From his original photograph

(To see a larger version of this image, just click on it)

To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com…or visit my Flickr Page.

Postcard from Scottsdale

All to soon, the Cactus League Spring Training in Arizona came to an end. Today was the last day of preseason games here in our fair state. Tonight or tomorrow the teams will head back to their respective cities, play a couple more exhibition games, then start the regular season on Sunday or Monday.

It is always such a sad time for diehard baseball fans like myself to see Spring Training come to an end, especially when it is in your backyard. They are so different than regular season games because they don’t count…and you get to see a lot of different players on the field…the regular players are usually done by the 5th inning. Then it’s time for the younger players to show their stuff.

When I came to Tucson, the Colorado Rockies and the Arizona Diamondbacks were the only two teams training here (the Chicago White Sox left the year before). So I went to several games every year…until both teams moved up to the Phoenix area. Now, all the teams in the Cactus League are in the same vicinity so travel is easy for them.

So even though we have no teams here anymore, a few teams like the Diamondbacks and the Dodgers normally come down and play a couple of games here. But, this year, those two teams went to Australia to play there. So, for the first time in over 50 years, there were no Cactus League games in my fair city.

I only went north once this pre-season to see a game…and happily for me, it was the San Francisco Giants, my favorite team in baseball, playing the San Diego Padres in Scottsdale. Even though they lost that day, it was still a fun time at the old ball park.

What makes these games so special is the size of the stadiums…they are very small, so you are right on top of the action. The players are a little friendlier and looser than normal so a baseball fan can have fun interacting with them. Its just a great experience that you will seldom find in a big-league ballpark. 

I also got to experience Old Town Scottsdale, something I had not done before. It is quite a place and certainly worth a visit. I was with my good friends, the Millers, from Walnut Creek, CA, so I got to experience the city with them. Always more fun when with friends. And of course, there were fellow Giant fans everywhere.

If you ever visit Scottsdale, be aware they have guys and girls running around town in golf carts. They will take you anywhere you want to go for no charge (they live on tips). It beats taxis. Our driver found out I was new to Scottsdale and gave me a great tour around Old Town.

I can honestly say I may never have had such a great day experiencing  Spring Training baseball from sunrise to sunset.

PS: This photo was not of the Giants game I attended. I forgot my camera. Dummy!

Postcard from a Long Lost Garden

The Morning-Glory

We wreathed about our darling's head
The morning-glory bright;
Her little face looked out beneath
So full of life and light,
So lit as with a sunrise,
That we could only say,
'She is the morning-glory true,
And her poor types are they.'

So always from that happy time
We called her by their name,
And very fitting did it seem,--
For sure as morning came,
Behind her cradle bars she smiled
To catch the first faint ray,
As from the trellis smiles the flower
And opens to the day.

But not so beautiful they rear
Their airy cups of blue,
As turned her sweet eyes to the light,
Brimmed with sleep's tender dew;
And not so close their tendrils fine
Round their supports are thrown,
As those dear arms whose outstretched plea
Clasped all hearts to her own.

We used to think how she had come,
Even as comes the flower,
The last and perfect added gift
To crown Love's morning hour;
And how in her was imaged forth
The love we could not say,
As on the little dewdrops round
Shines back the heart of day.

We never could have thought, O God,
That she must wither up,
Almost before a day was flown,
Like the morning-glory's cup;
We never thought to see her droop
Her fair and noble head,
Till she lay stretched before our eyes,
Wilted, and cold, and dead!

The morning-glory's blossoming
Will soon be coming round,--
We see their rows of heart-shaped leaves
Upspringing from the ground;
The tender things the winter killed
Renew again their birth,
But the glory of our morning
Has passed away from earth.

Earth! in vain our aching eyes
Stretch over thy green plain!
Too harsh thy dews, too gross thine air,
Her spirit to sustain;
But up in groves of Paradise
Full surely we shall see
Our morning-glory beautiful
Twine round our dear Lord's knee.

Maria White Lowell

Digital Sketch Entitled Morning Glories by J.R. Corkrum

(To see a larger version of this image, just click on it)

To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com…or visit my Flickr Page.

Postcard from Tucson

My life has been filled with great music. From my earliest days of Rock n’ Roll (for which I was royally chastised by the nuns at school), to my discovery of modern jazz and later classical music. Of course, we all enjoy music of one sort or another, but my life’s journey with music has been very special…a personal odyssey, if you will.

Last week, I sat captivated by the Arizona Symphony’s performance of the powerful Tchaikovsky Fifth Symphony. The power of that music had me pinned to my seat as if held by a giant magnet. I recall the same thing happened in London when the Philharmonia Orchestra played the “Mars” Section of Holst’s “Planets.”

After last week’s symphony, I thought about some of the great venues where I heard some of the finest music composed on this planet. Besides classical, I listened to some of the great legends of jazz play their music in small jazz nightclubs…but I will leave those memories for another day. Today, it is about classical music.

I’ve been privileged to hear some great symphonic music in the concert halls of London, Paris, Oxford and other European cities…not to mention here in the US. Another piece of music that pinned me to my seat was the remarkable Beethoven 9th Symphony. The first time I heard it live, I could hardly walk after the performance. And to think he wrote it while totally deaf.

I’ve heard Mozart played in St. Martins In-The-Field Church in Trafalgar Square in London; the haunting Vaughn Williams’ “Fantasy on a Theme of Thomas Tallis” at the Southbank Center, also in London; Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” in Sainte Chappelle in Paris; and more Vivaldi in Venice. I could go on, but suffice it to say I’ve been fortunate to hear great music performed all over the world.

I began my journey with classical music while in my 20’s. As I listened and enjoyed, I wanted to learn more about it. What I learned early was: in order to really appreciate the music, one must know more about the composer, where and when he lived, what his life was like, and how long he lived.

Then I learned the basic eras of each composer and how church music later morphed into secular music…how the Classical era of Mozart and Haydn followed the Baroque Era of Bach and Vivaldi; and how Classical was followed by the Romantic Era…and on an on. I learned where each composer fit into the scheme of things and how his music differed from others in each epoch. By doing that, classical music appreciation fell into place.

It’s been a wonderful journey…and it continues to this day. Living in a university town affords me plenty of great classical concerts. Besides Tchaikovsky, in the past couple of months I’ve heard Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue”, a piano concert by one of the world’s great pianists who played the music of Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, and Chopin…all in one glorious evening. I am a very fortunate man and I hope to hear more great music before this journey comes to an end.

Postcard from Tucson

I created this digital sketch from a photo I took on campus at the University of Arizona. For your information, it is part of the large Electrical and Computer Engineering Building. Like other buildings on campus, the architecture is a reflection of the classes taught inside. Notice the rounded top of the building that looks like a computer. There are others just like it all around the building.

Still, it fits nicely into the general architectural scheme of the entire university…and the rocks give it a desert feel. After all, we are indeed in the desert. I love all the design elements in the image…the stairs leading up to the building, the rounded exterior, and the covered walkway leading inside. All are wonderful design elements leading to the creation of the entire image.

Frankly, I think this image works much better as a digital sketch rather than a photo. As you may have noticed from recent blogs, I’ve really gotten back into sketching and painting…digitally, of course from my own photos. If I did these by hand using pencil and paints…well, take my word for it…it would not be good. My skill is in photography and now in post processing…creating different styles of images that express my inner feelings as an artist. Thank God there are new products on the market that let me experiment.

It’s funny that I thought when I retired I would have more time for photography and digital painting. But, that is not necessarily the case except perhaps in the summer when the heat keeps me indoors.

But this time of year here is amazing…the weather is wonderful and the activities abound. This week alone I have been to 3 concerts in 4 nights, two lectures and a baseball game. And this weekend is the incredible (and very large) Tucson Festival of Books where authors famous and not-so-famous, come to give talks and participate in author’s panel discussions, and of course, promote their books. It is a two day event that keeps me hopping all day long. Love it!

(To see a larger version of this image, just click on it)

To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com…or visit my Flickr Page.

Postcard from a Bygone Garden

An Iris Blessing

May your blooms be floriferous and in good form,

Distinctive, with good substance, flare, and airborne,

With standards and falls that endure, never torn.

May you display many buds and blooms sublime,

In graceful proportion on strong stalks each day,

Gently floating above the fans and the fray.

May you too reach toward the moon and stars,

Bloom after bloom, many seasons in the sun,

Enjoying your life, health, and each loved one,

Until your 'living days are artfully done.

By Georgia Gudykunst

 

Digital Sketch by J.R. Corkrum

“The Lonely Iris”

(To see a larger version of this photo, just click on the image)

To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com…or visit my Flickr Page.