About
I’m Jim. I started this blog on impulse because I wanted to write. I used to write professionally, but I left that behind several years ago and came to miss it. You’ll find news posts here first thing every Monday, Thursday, and Friday morning, about these subjects:
- The road. I love to follow the two-lane highways, taking in the vistas and the small towns along the way. There’s plenty of nature and history to see. I especially enjoy finding a highway’s earlier path and imagining the time when that path was still vital. Some favorite posts from the road:
- Vintage cameras and photography. I have a growing collection of vintage cameras, and I love taking photographs with them. You can keep up with my collection on my Cameras page, but these are my favorite cameras:
- Faith, joy, and personal growth. I’ve had some very rough times, but through them I met God, and realized he’s always had my back. Learning to trust him and rely on him has opened me up to great joy. Here are some of my favorite posts about my faith:
- Vintage television. I loves me some old TV. I especially like the way TV was put together in the days before satellites and computers. These are some typical posts:
- Stories from my life. Like most bloggers, I gaze at my navel occasionally. These are my favorite personal stories:
- Fried chicken. Who doesn’t like fried chicken? My buddy Sherrel and I are touring Indiana on a quest to find the state’s tastiest fried chicken. So far, we’ve liked these restaurants the best:
- Mississippi Belle in Indianapolis
- Kopper Kettle in Morristown
- Wagner’s Village Inn in Oldenburg
The first URL should be http://www.jimgrey.net/Roads/ (case-sensitive)
Looks a lot like Ohio…Funny how all roads look the same. I like the curves and yellow lines..
Where have you been lately?
Thank you for your comment. I’m actually looking for more blogs from fellow Hoosiers to link to the scenicmichiana site. I’m very interested in finding colorful places in Indiana and Michigan to photograph.
Hi Jim!
You have a great site here. You are such a loyal Hoosier…and RTV6 viewer might I add. Just wanted to stop by and say thanks for watching! I’m glad you get to see my contribution to the Good Morning Indiana show.
Erin, thanks! Stop by anytime!
Hello Fellow Roadie!
Great subject for a blog here. I’m enjoying the reads. Thanks for such interesting posts and photos. :)
Thanks, Anneliese! (I’m imagining a German cadence there — an-neh-lee-seh.)
I stumbled upon your page while doing some recreational research on H.P. Wasson department stores (why would I be researching that? I am distantly related to the Wasson’s). It brought me to your page on the Michigan Road and I have thoroughly enjoyed looking through the pictures on your site! I loved reading the captions with the snippets of history thrown in… I look forward to reading more!
Liz, thanks for stopping by, and I’m glad you enjoyed the Michigan Road writings!
My husband and I saw the site you did on SR 42, which we live on about 2 miles east of 231, and saw a picture of a building you posted in Terre Haute. You stated you didn’t know what it was, but it is The Stables Restaurant with a really great history to it. We just went there this last April and the service and food is really good, a little pricey, but worth it! The website for more info on their history is, stablessteakhouse.com. Great piece on 42!
Patty, thanks for writing! I’m glad you enjoyed my SR 42 writeup, and thanks for explaining about The Stables Restaurant!
Hi Jim!
You look familiar.
Did you attend Danville High School in Illinois with me??
I LOVE your photographs! You have a very good sense of artistry, placement, and you capture the beauty of the scenery so much it makes me homesick!
Keep up the beautiful work!
Glad you have enjoyed my blog! I’ve been to Danville, but I didn’t attend school there.
Nice pictures.
Thanks Rex, and thanks for stopping by!
Hi Jim,
I have enjoyed touring your trip websites and your blog with statements of faith in Jesus Christ.
Perhaps you could post some photos of your old high school (Riley), and its former square track! Remember?
God’s love is ever faithful
Coach Andy Adamson
Thanks for stopping by, Andy. My brother would know more about that track than me — he was the runner in the family!
Jim, next time you’re in South Bend, you should go see the historic B’Nai Yisrael (Sons of Israel) synagogue at 416 S. Williams Street. It hasn’t functioned as a synagogue for many years, and its physical existence has been in jeopardy for years. For the past two years, the city has been considering/planning to relocate it, but that hasn’t happened yet (apparently). It’s a beautiful, beautiful small old building immediately south of (the former) downtown.
Thanks for the tip, Janice! I grew up near the synagogue on S. High St., btw. I’m sure it’s no match for the one on S. Williams.
hey Jim,
this is Jennae from Living Stones Church… I’ve been following your blog ever since Sam linked to it sometime back and have enjoyed taking the virtual road trips with you! I’m trying to put together some photos of what the South Side once looked like for the badNEIGHBOR series we are starting this Sunday (check out http://www.badneighborstory.com) and wondered if you’d have some directions to point me in to find old photos of specific south side locations. i.e., I’d love to find an old photo of boonie doon on S. Michigan street from the 50′s or 60′s to display along side a current photo of its sad gated existence now. Even vintage photos of homes on the south side would be great, but not sure how to locate them quickly. Thanks so much!!
I’m flattered and pleased that you follow my Indiana wanderings, and glad you enjoy them!
Photos like those you’re looking for can be quite difficult to find. But I do have a few ideas.
There’s a Facebook page for the southeastside with a bunch of photographs, some of which are of places long gone, such as the old Brite Way store. Go here: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=221621847650&ref=ts#!/group.php?gid=221621847650&v=photos&so=0
I’ve had some luck finding old photos on postcards. You can find them on eBay and you don’t always have to buy them — you can just make a screen capture of the images sellers upload. Here’s a link to a search for South Bend postcards on eBay: http://collectibles.shop.ebay.com/Postcards-/914/i.html?_nkw=%22south%20bend%22&_trkparms=65%253A12%257C66%253A2%257C39%253A1%257C72%253A3991&rt=nc&_catref=1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14.l1581&_pgn=2
Finally, sometimes libraries and historic societies have caches of photos, and sometimes they’re online. I couldn’t find anything online for South Bend in a quick search, but you might consider contacting the library and the Center for History.
Good luck with your search!
I am happy to find this site;and the proud owner of an old but wonderfull Kodak Retinette 1 A camera giving even after49 years extraordinary shots.Built for the french market in the early sixities,this camera was equipped with a shutter including low speeds and a Pierre Angenieux lens made by the famous optical factory working usually for Leica and Alpa.
Despite a relatively low price,this 2,8 50 mm four lens based on the Tessar concept gives sharp images and I willl be happy to send some day digitally scanned examples of my slides.
I apologise for my modest english but we french people are not known as fluently speaking foreign languages.
Here it’s four PM and we have the sun of our own Indian Summer!
Hi Jean Pierre, and thanks for writing! I am glad you get good use from your Retinette 1A! It is interesting that your Retinette has a Pierre Angenieux lens; I thought all Retinettes (and Retinas) got Schneider-Kreuznach lenses! I hope you’ll scan the slides you’ve made with your Retinette and share them, perhaps on Flickr, for all to see!
Your English is fine! I understand the challenges of writing in another tongue; I once spoke and wrote German very well but find it difficult today after many years of disuse.
Hey Jim. I was going to reweet you article but I noticed you didn’t have a twitter account. Unless I missed. Do you have one? I’d like to mention you.
Hi Ollin! I’m @mobilene. I haven’t entirely got the hang of Twitter yet.
Hi, I enjoyed ‘poking around’ you blog (as you put it) and I did like what I saw. Nice blog, keep up the awesome work!
Thank you! I invite you to stick around; I update at least once a week!
Hey Jim, I came across your blog because it was freshly pressed. I wish that I could say that I came across it because I was digging deeper and deeper to satisfy my blog-reading desire. However, I didn’t.
Anyway, I enjoyed reading your posts and saw that you are from Indiana. I have also lived in Indiana my entire life: 10 years in Granger and eight years in Westfield (near Carmel). If you have the time and feel like taking it, check out my photoblog and let me know what you think.
Happy writing!
Tyler
Heh, I grew up in South Bend and now live in Indy. Not so different!
Hi, Jim,
Thanks for posting your pix of my great grandfather’s home on Flickr. “Alfred M.” was the first, I’m the fourth. I never met the man and his wife, Minne Mae Glossbrenner, but we just used her monogramed linen napkins at our New Year’s party last week.
I’ve never been inside the house, but many years ago, when I was a counselor at the Culver Woodcraft Camp, I borrowed a car and drove to “Naptown. ” I peered into the house foyer and saw a large letter “G” in the floor’s mosaic work. I assumed it stood for our last name. Only later did I learn that what I was looking at was the Masonic emblem. (Alfred M. was a 33rd Degree.)
Thanks again.
Best,
Alfred
Alfred, I am just delighted that you found my photographs. As accomplished as your great-grandfather was, it’s not surprising to learn that he had gone all the way in the Scottish Rite.
I wrote a few words about the mansion; they will appear on this blog on 1/13/2011.
Hello Jim,
I’ve enjoyed looking at your site and reading some of your blogs…especially those about your background in churches of Christ. That’s my background (and foreground also I guess) as well.
I teach from August to September in Lubbock at Sunset International Bible Institute…School of Missions. I also write four blogs (I must be crazy!): the one listed and charamongarden.wordpress.com, whitcarv.wordpress.com and missionsouthpacific.wordpress.com. When I grow up, I hope to be more single minded.
On the instrumental music thing: I don’t think anyone is going to be condemned for using it but I believe the Holy Spirit had His reasons for telling us to sing to one another and use singing to teach and encourage one another. It seems that instruments tend to get in the way. The bands/organs, etc. get louder and louder and the purpose of singing is overwhelmed in the process. Just a thought. Blessings to you and yours.
Dwight
Thanks for stopping by, Dwight. I don’t pretend to have all the answers, but at this point in my faith journey I see that whether or not instruments are used in worship is far less important than how much love I deliver into the world in the name of God each day.
Great pics!
I bought my first nikon SLR years ago. It is gathering dust unfortunately. You just inspired me to make time and take photos again.
N.
P.S.
Your dog reminds me of my retriever growing up. Same color. Ahh. Good times :-)
Hi N., and thank you for your compliment! Good luck as you resurrect your old SLR!
Hi Jim.
I was hunting online for pictures of the old Bonnie Doon Drive-In on Lincoln Way in South Bend and came across your blog. I thoroughly enjoyed taking a trip down memory lane with your pictures and videos. I grew up in Mishawaka and lived in South Bend for a few years before moving to LaPorte and eventually to Utah. I had some very fond memories at that Bonnie Doon and was sad when I came back for a visit in 2007 to find an O’Reilly Auto Parts had replaced it. That is where my husband and I met for the first time and I never got photos of it. I’m not sure if the one you pictured was that same drive-in, but just the same, thank you for sharing.
Sincerely,
Linda
I’m so glad you enjoyed the Bonnie Doon photo and my blog. I hope you’ll keep reading!
You are quite awesome. I dig it…you collect cameras I collect vdieogame consoles. :) Nice to meet ya. I dig you photos, a lot of road, but its pretty cool and different.
We have a collection if video game consoles of sorts here too! Nothing serious, jus the consoles we’ve accumulated over the years, going back to the early 90s.
Was searching the internet and found this site. My father owned Brite Way Sales. He would be tickled to know his store brought such good memories.
Hi Doreen! I’m glad you stopped by. My dad loved Brite Way; it seems like he made at least one trip up there every weekend from our home on Erskine Blvd.
I knew your dad really well-Sid G.! When I graduated from college, my first job was with Procter and Gamble in South Bend. I called on your dad and sold him toothpaste, shampoo, etc. We was a great guy and really helpful to a 21 yr old Jewish kid that didn’t know his you know what from a hole in the ground. I think about him often and I remember some of the things he would say.
Hi Allan – Unfortunately my dad’s name is not Sid. But I am from South Bend!
Love your story Jim. Glad faith got/gets you through.
Thank you!
Hi Jim, my name is Selena and I was your server during your recent visit to The Iron Skillet Restaurant. I am pleased that you enjoyed your meal and service. Hopefully you will return for more since it is in the vicinity of your home. Although most of your descriptions of the food was almost dead on I can’t devulge the secrets of how its prepped, especially not in writing. Please keep in mind that we also do carry-out service, so the next time you’ve got a hankering for juicy chicken just give a call. Btw you can always substitue the corn for more green beans or potatoes. Thanks again and good luck on your chicken search. Selena.
Hi Selena and thanks for stopping in! You’d better believe I’ll be back to the Iron Skillet, especially since it’s just 5 minutes away from home.
Hey Jim,
I found you blog as I was looking for a camera similar to the Kodak vigilant junior six 20, that takes 120. I’m looking to build a wide angle 6×9 camera. The Junior six 20 is a perfect small size but I’m already shooting a lot of 120 so I don’t want to have to carry reloaded 120 and regular 120 with me.
Any help would be great.
Also, I’m a dummies author and have to tell you it’s just as crazy as you described it!
Cheers!
Dirk
Dirkfletcher.blogspot.com
http://www.dirkfletcher.com
Hi Dirk — Kodak was maddeningly fixated on that blasted 620 film. So I’d give up on finding a folding Kodak that takes 120, and instead look for an Agfa Billy Record or maybe a Voigtlander Bessa, both of which take 120 natively. I have a Bessa here — haven’t shot with it, not sure why not — and it is a reasonable size. I don’t have a Vigilant Junior Six-20 to compare it to, though.
~~~~Hey,
Stumbled over here from Irene’s blog.
I must catch up on some of your posts.
I am trying despartely to trust God in my darkest hours, as well.
Keep Writing. Keep the Faith.
If you keep trying, it will happen.
Hi Jim, awesome collection.
I just bought a Minolta Hi-Matic 7 and I was wondering, seeing you had the same battery problem. Can you shoot with it without using a battery? I mean, the shutter works, without battery.
Oh sure. You can totally shoot this camera without a battery. You just have to judge exposure yourself.
Actually, it’s only the roads to hell that all look alike (paved as they all are with good intentions). It is the road to paradise that is full of hairpin turns and sudden changes in pavement. There is nothing like it. Prayer is like a versatile map in case one veers off or is run off by somebody going the other way. Also, overtaking objects may be closer than they appear in the mirror!
I’ve found that prayer can make road suddenly reappear beneath me when I’ve gone so far off it that I have no idea where I am!
Hi Jim, I recently tripped over your blog while doing some research for a couple cameras I have. I’ve really been looking for a local Indiana collector to share with. I’ve been collecting for about 30 years so I have amassed about 500 but here of late (youngest leaves for college) I have been looking to thin the herd. I’m currently working through the collection and identifying what I have. I enjoyed your articles on the older cameras along with the education. I try to do the same with a Facebook group I subscribe to by not only sharing the box but also educating as I write. I also have started painting (fineart) again after 35 years and it has reawaken my photography. I recently took a trip down to French lick when the Fall color was coming in so I know where Oolitic is :) Sorry for the long note but you are not alone in your pursuit or faith. Hope we can converse more in the future.
Mike
HI Mike! I’ve taken the liberty of replying directly to your e-mail address.
Hi, Jim!
I’d love to reach out to you for a short interview. How do I contact you?
Jim Thank you for the great Blog
Started following you on American Road. I like all of your subjects, you were close to us at the Church in Rochester. Keep up the great Work.
Don, so glad you enjoy my writing.