Launching this ship...

I will admit up front that this blog is likely to appeal to a fairly select group of people. It is, at its core, a collection of pictures of urban infrastructure inscribed with dates, usually in such glorious forms as fire hydrants and manhole covers. Still, there is a reason why I like to take these pictures. It mostly has to do with the idea that these objects have been sitting in the same place, unmoved and unchanged, while the world around them has grown, gone to war, enjoyed peace, raised families and retired to Florida. They have withstood earthquakes, floods, suburbanization, Urban Renewal, riots, gentrification, shifts in modes of transportation and every other creative and destructive force that has been thrown at cities through the decades.

I also like to take these pictures because it gives me a way to see cities from a different perspective than that which is part of the usual tourist program. It makes every trip a scavenger hunt. You can wander around a city of millions and know that you are noticing details that probably only you have consciously looked for.

Of course you do get the occasional funny look from passers by, but you're taking pictures of fire hydrants, what do you want?