Who is this old man?

I photographed this old man in Quartzsite, Ariz. But as you have probably figured out, he's not real. He's a weathered mannequin. But I like his face and his eyes. When you stand right next to him and look into his eyes, it's kind of spooky because you swear he is looking right back at you. I wonder if this mannequin man was modeled after a real person. My guess is yes.

If you know who he is or was, please let me know. And if, by any chance, you happen to be that person, please contact me or send me your photo. I won't be holding my breath, but I thought I should at least ask.

He's pretty interesting looking, isn't he?

The disappearing blue mailboxes

Have you noticed that mailboxes like this one have disappeared from most street corners? They were once all over the place in most big cities and suburbs. Even in the good ol' days you'd seldom find one in a tiny town because the post office was usually a short walk from about anywhere. In my town of Edmonds, Wash., I first noticed the public mailboxes disappearing a couple of years ago. Then, last week, one of the few that remained disappeared, one I would use to drop off a letter on my way home from work.

I guess the postal folks have decided that people can either use their home mailbox or drop by the post office. It's probably a money-saving move -- fewer stops for mail carriers.

Keep an eye on your town's blue mailboxes. If they are not gone yet, I bet it won't be long.

Bass should have kept its big mouth shut

I snapped this photo last weekend at Glimmerglass State Park on Lake Otsego near Cooperstown, NY. The bass had washed up on shore, dead as a dead bass can be. The fish made a big mistake when it tried to swallow a sunfish in one big gulp. It was either very greedy or just plain lazy, and it paid the supreme price. The sunfish didn't fare any better.

The moral to this story, of course, is don't bite off more than you can chew. Or don't try to swallow a big fish whole.

I took this photo as I was leaving a picnic. Two guys were showing off the fishes to passersby. About an hour later as I drove away from Cooperstown I wished I had offered them $50 for the fish, packed them in ice, shipped them home and sold them to Ripley's Believe it or Not. I think I could have fetched a good price.

You can post this photo on your own website or email it to your friends. As you can see, I put an ad for my website on the pic. So go ahead make the bass and the sunfish famous. And my website, too.

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