The 14th of September of this year, a Monday, was a picture-perfect day in the greater Philadelphia area, the region where I reside. That morning, anxious to take advantage of the mild weather and lovely skies, I hopped aboard a train in my little town and rode it into Jefferson Station, which sits pretty much in the middle of downtown Philadelphia. My reason for visiting the City Of Brotherly Love was to wander its streets in hopes of spotting and photographing handsomely decorated wheeled objects. In other words, I wanted to collect enough material to produce the eighteenth edition of Art On Wheels, the series that has become one of this publication’s staples. As you can see, number eighteen is now a reality.
I always marvel at my love affair with Philadelphia, a physically large city with a whole lot going for it (interesting neighborhoods, strong arts and restaurant scenes, beautiful parks, and more). I never tired of it during the 30 years I lived in the city itself. And the same has been true for my subsequent 21 years in the burbs. Though no longer a Philly resident, I visit the city regularly and without fail get a charge from it. So, as I expected, my spirits soared when I exited Jefferson Station last week, planting my feet on Filbert Street. I felt free as a bird, knowing that a mini adventure lay in front of me. You better believe I consider myself lucky as hell to have had Philadelphia in my life for just about all of my adult years.
The pickings turned out to be plentiful, maybe more plentiful than ever before. Within the first 15 or 20 minutes of the expedition I snapped five or more photos. And I continued to snap them rather regularly during the remainder of the two and a half hours I pounded the pavement (a lunch break interrupted the pounding). This truly pleased me. As did the beautiful buildings and beautiful young ladies that also crossed my path. As I mentioned above, Philadelphia has a whole lot going for it.
All in all, I covered about five miles of territory in pursuit of worthy, wheeled subjects. My wanderings found me on numerous blocks within downtown Philly and on some a bit beyond downtown’s boundaries. My mind was unusually clear as I strode along, my cares and woes having decided to take a brief vacation. And I sure wasn’t giving any thought to two bewildering questions that have intrigued me increasingly over the last few years. Namely, what was the nature of things before the Big Bang? Have matter and energy always existed? People with brain power far, far, far greater than mine have theories about all of this, such as those involving cosmic inflation and multi-universes. But I think they are only guessing. I’ll drop to my knees in gratitude if someone comes up with indisputable answers before I breathe my last. This old boy wants to know!
Where was I? Oh, right . . . after careful observation of my photographs, I selected six wheeled objects that, to me, are top-notch. Three of them are food carts. I toyed for a while with the idea of having nothing but food carts in this edition of Art On Wheels, because I found a total of seven attractive ones. But a few of the much larger entities threatened to track me down and run me over if I followed through on that. Ergo, a truck, a van and a bus (it belongs to Drexel University, which is located in Philadelphia) also appear on this page.
Which of the selections do you like best? Among the food carts, I give the nod to Happy Burgers. There is so much going on upon its exterior, and all of it is good. As for the motorized creations, my top vote goes to the graffiti-covered van. My eyes lit up when I saw it. I think its design totally rocks. Man, I never know what I’ll find when I begin Art On Wheels treks. That’s a big reason why I dig them so much.
