Senior Sisters, Hoi An Old Town, Vietnam

I was mining old images of Vietnam recently – working on a “best of” gallery – and came across this photo from a 2018 visit to Hoi An. The two women, who I am guessing are sisters, have a certain appeal in a cantankerous kind of way, and the vibrant, lush colors are so typical of Hoi An. Beyond a minor exposure adjustment, the raw image took virtually no post-processing. Pretty much ready to go out of the box.

Bridge of Flowers, Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts

The Bridge of Flowers began life in 1908 as a bridge across the Deerfield River for trolleys connecting the Massachusetts towns of Shelburne Falls and Buckland. The trolleys eventually disappeared, but the bridge remained. It apparently could not be ripped down because a water main connecting the two towns was built into the structure. The bridge had become a rundown eyesore when an enterprising woman named Antoinette Burnham convinced the town to convert the structure into a flower garden in 1929. Since then the bridge has gone through restoration work and has been preserved until today it is a local tourist attraction.