I saw this patch just outside the post office and thought the yellow-green
shrub against the fuchsia and purple flowers was so vibrant as to be almost overwhelming. I dunno. Sometimes I think a lot of people just see patches of anonymous petunias where I see a visual pornucopia of color. I didn't take the picture because I found the flowers in themselves to be beautiful; I was amazed at the intensity of the color and wanted to remember it. Click.
Speaking of anonymity, this is a section of the strip mall where a lot of Speedway residents do their grocery shopping, pick up shoes for the kids, buy gas. It's neat and clean and has been around since 'way before I moved here in 1978. It's been remodeled, updated and added to several times. Stores close, stores open in an economic ebb and flow that the little mall seems to have weathered pretty well.
I suppose when the surroundings are so bland, I turn inward, looking to my own little world for color -- or I keep looking for it in tiny wads like the petunias and their brushy neighbor.
3 comments:
Loe the contrasting colours and textures. The bright green of the cypress really makes the flowers leap out at you.
So that's what a strip mall looks like! We hear about those things over here but I think the only one I've ever seen was the one they trashed in the Blues Brothers movie (for most of my life I've not had a TV so I kinda missed out on US culture).
Your cars over there are the size of our houses. I could spin my car around in the trunk of that behemoth. But then gas here is three times more expensive than in the States so we all tend to drive tiny cars.
One of the things I like most about blogging is the cultural differences you find between blogs around the globe.
As far as "strip malls" go, I think this one is larger, meant as a "shopping center" from the 60's because it must be about a quarter-mile long; there are storefronts to the left which meet the Kroger section at a right angle. Another section of shops extends behind the grocery, but it's actually another property. I think the entire complex is just not sufficiently 'upscale' to be a "shopping" mall.
The highway which would be to the right is lined with auto parts stores and franchise restaurants, as well as other little complexes of stores, basically cement block hold-alls for various small businesses. Across the highway is another strip mall, anchored by a different grocer.
I think the SUV seems huge because in the picture it's keeping company with cars that are smaller. I agree it wouldn't do well on the narrow road you showed in a recent picture, but its MPG is surprisingly good for its size. Some of them now are available as hybrids, but cost substantially more than its fossil fuel cousins. I see a lot of hybrids around. People here also love the Mini.
A friend had a Chevy Geo which got about 50 MPG. It died only after he'd put a new engine in it (had over 150K miles then). Literally wore out the body. Only problem was on the highway, keeping company with the big trucks. I think one reason Americans like larger cars is because of the trucks and because most of us think nothing of getting on the roads to travel thousands of miles at a time.
Also, when playing "Gran Turismo" how fast could you go into the Speedway's Turn i w/o lifting? :-D
I must confess my tiny little car, though very fast on twisty little roads would be completely lost on a wide open American highway.
Thanks for the info on the mall. What seems like everyday routine stuff is exotic to folk on this side of the pond.
As for taking the turns at the Speedway on the Playstation, while I love tearing round the road circuit there, the big banked turns scare the hell out of me. I always lift and hang on for dear life, trying not to spin off or hit another car. Those guys who do that for real are crazy!
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