Bay State Antique Auto Club Car Show

July 8, 2018 — It was the second day in a row of perfect weather for the 47th annual Bay State Antique Auto Club Car Show at the Endicott Estate in Dedham, Massachusetts. This show often hosts over a thousand cars, and I would estimate this show was close to that number. Every type of car was represented, from custom jobs and street rods to brass era relics from the 20s. It's a photogenic venue, with the mansion as a centerpiece and cupolas placed here and there. Shelter is always nearby from hot sun or a sudden rainstorm.

My only criticism of the show is the hours, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. That's a relatively short time for a one-day show that attracts such a large number of vehicles. The car corral alone may have 200 cars. That leaves little time to cover the entire field. The 7 a.m. start is too early for those who may have to travel an hour or two to get there. More than that and an overnight stay the night before the show would be mandatory.

But for my needs, the time was sufficient. I had time to photograph all the cars I was interested in. You can view the results at this link:

https://www.linwoodstreet.com/endicott2018/

Annual Castle Car Show

July 7, 2018 — After the heat and oppressive humidity of last weekend's Carriagetown Car Show in Amesbury, this Saturday's show at Castle in the Clouds in Moultonboro, New Hampshire, was about as good as summer weather gets in New England. The day started off with temperature in the 60s, but warmed to the low 80s by late morning. The most important factor was the total absence of humidity. As you'll see in my photos, skies were completely cloudless most of the day. Those are perfect conditions for comfort, but high summer sun is not the best lighting for photography. Photos appear rather flat because of absence of shadows. The shadows of spring and fall give better definition. But total perfection is hard to achieve. Saturday was almost as close to it as we can get.

The weather brought out the crowds and a large number and good variety of cars. I ended up with an even 100 photos. You'll find them all at this link:

 https://www.linwoodstreet.com/castle2018/

"The Skin of Our Teeth"

July 5, 2018 — This play delightfully breaks all the rules, from actors addressing the audience directly, to expressing reluctance to even being in the play, and lamenting the fact they don't understand the play (neither does the audience at times). At one point, an audience member runs noisily from the theater. Was this part of the play? At the first of two intermissions, the audience sat motionless for several minutes, unsure whether this was really an intermission or another trick of this unpredictable play.

Written by Thornton Wilder and first performed in 1942 at the outbreak of World War II, "The Skin of Our Teeth" won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. This production at the Peterborough Players in Peterborough, New Hampshire, was directed by Players artistic director Gus Kaikkonen. Charles Morgan's always excellent scenic design provided the clever trickery this play's scenery required, and Lisa Steett-Liebetrau designed a stunning number of costumes for the huge cast.

The play is grounded, more or less, by two of the Players' finest actors, Jack Koenig as George Antrobus, and Dee Nelson as George's wife, Maggie. Tess Borsecnik and K Cody Hunt are their children, Gladys and Henry. But for me the real star was Rebecca Brinkley as the maid, Sabina, in Acts 1 and 3, and Sabina in the person of a beauty queen in Act 2. The energetic Kraig Swartz, just off his stint in a one-man show as Truman Capote, has a smaller but not insignificant role in colorful gypsy drag as a fortune teller.

In Act 1, Sabina, in her brief maid's uniform, dusting the furniture in George and Maggie's modern Excelsior, New Jersey home, lays out the characters' roles in her monologue. George has invented the wheel, alphabet and multiplication tables. An encroaching ice age is threatening to wipe out life on earth. In Act 2, the world has survived the ice age, and George has been elected president of an order of mammals. Sabina appears as a beauty queen intent on separating George from his family. But all this becomes unimportant as the world is now threatened with a biblical flood.

Finally, in Act 3, the world has survived a devastating war. Sabina is now in a sort of military uniform and packing a pistol. Maggie and Gladys emerge from a bomb shelter. Gladys is holding a  baby. Their home is in ruins. George and Henry appear. George and Maggie have now been married 5,000 years. George feels defeated. He can't save the world by the skin of his teeth another time. He has a violent fallout with his son, Henry.

There's much more to this play than I've described here. There are backstories. Henry was originally named Cain. He had killed his brother, George's favorite son. This complex play with its cast of over thirty was a remarkable achievement for the Players.

I won't give away the ending. There is no ending. It comes around full circle, like James Joyce's Finnegans Wake which the play has been compared to. Sabina, back in George and Maggie's apartment in her maid's uniform, dusting the furniture, will tell the audience when they may go home.

Mayor Gray's Carriagetown

July 1, 2018 — I've passed up many car shows because of bad weather, but that usually means rain. In fact, I've even seen a few snowflakes at early spring or late fall shows. But for the first time I was having second thoughts about attending Mayor Gray's Carriagetown Car Show in Amesbury, Massachusetts because of the heat forecast. Meteorologists were predicting temperature in the 90s, with high humidity making it feel like 100 degrees or over. This was the beginning of a withering heat wave that would continue for a week.

But I went to the show, and amazed myself at my own stamina. The show was held in hilly downtown Amesbury with cars scattered over closed streets, parking lots, coves and every place where they can fit a few cars. You're constantly walking up and down hill and you have to be careful not to miss any of the hidden pockets.

In spite of the heat, the show drew well over 200 cars and was swarming with spectators. I arrived before 9 a.m. and stayed for the trophy presentation at 1:30 p.m., with one brief, restorative break for lunch at air-conditioned Flatbreads. Pictures are slightly dulled by heat haze, but take a look. There were some outstanding cars and a few scenes around the attractive Amesbury downtown:

https://www.linwoodstreet.com/carriagetown2018/

Hemmings Great Race

June 27, 2018 — The 2018 Hemmings Great Race is being
run from Buffalo, New York, to Halifax, Nova Scotia, a distance of 2,300 miles in nine days. I caught them at a lunch stop at the Owls Head Transportation Museum in Owls Head, Maine. One hundred and fifty cars arrived over a period of about two hours. This is the third time I've been present at a Great Race, once at the end of the race, once at the beginning and this time for lunch.

This is the ultimate car show, with a stunning variety of cars of all ages (they're required to be 1972 or earlier), colorful and plastered with decals. Driver-navigator teams, some beginning to show signs of fatigue, all hungry, are mobbed by spectators as soon as they arrive. Oldest cars I noticed were three 1916  models. There were many from the '20s and '30s. They stick around for a couple of hours, so there's ample time to admire the cars and talk to the teams. Crowds of spectators make photography a bit challenging, but I've had plenty of experience with that.

As always when I travel to Owls Head and stay overnight in neighboring Rockland, I take some photos around picturesque Rockland harbor, then at Owls Head I always walk through the museum in case something new has been added since my last visit. You can see all this, the cars, and a video montage of activities at:

https://www.linwoodstreet.com/greatrace18/

Medfield on the Charles

June 24, 2018 — This show in Medfield, Massachusetts, was
formerly held in Wellesley as Concours on the Charles. Wellesley was a better venue in my opinion. The sprawling grounds featured beautiful gardens, trees, statuary, quiet places to sit, and it attracted very high-quality antique automobiles.

In Medfield, equally sprawling but without the amenities of Wellesley, the character of the show has changed with the location. Muscle cars and street rods now dominate, and not to keep harping on my objection to raised hoods, it seemed to be the preferred way of displaying cars at this show. This tells me its primarily a show for engine and power lovers, not that there's anything wrong with that, but as a photographer, I prefer to see cars with their beauty unobstructed by hoods in the air.

In any case, I photographed all the best I could find. You can view them at this link:

https://www.linwoodstreet.com/medfield/

Sunapee Lions Antique Vehicle Show

June 23, 2018 — The Sunapee Lions Club 20th Antique & Collectibles Motor Vehicle Show at the Sunapee Resort in Newbury, New Hampshire, was frankly a disappointment this year through no fault of their own. The day was cool and damp with occasional drizzle and more rain in the forecast. This kept attendance well below average for this popular show. Another problem, for my purposes, was an unusual number of vehicles with their hoods raised, which makes for a poor picture. I felt as though I were walking around a field of gaping alligators.

The officials require hoods to be up for judging, but if owners would raise their hoods as the judges come around, then lower them after judging is complete, I'd be happy. But many owners tend to keep hoods raised all day. Personally, I'm not a gearhead. I appreciate the beauty of automobiles, and have less interest in engines and power.

Anyway, now that I've given vent to my pet peeve, I'd like to invite you to view a mere thirty-two photos, close to the minimum number I consider for a web page. The collection does include some very nice motorcycles:

https://www.linwoodstreet.com/sunapee2018/