What you don't see when you haven't got a camera

It's been a long time since I've blogged, but today I happened to be out with my camera and I saw some interesting sights, all within a two-block area of Beautiful Downtown Manchester. I figured that posting a few photos of The Center of the Universe would be a good way to get back into the habit of regular writing.

The first thing I spotted was simply incongruous:

The brand new sign on the left (underneath the word "Movie" on the window) advertising "Free Kids Tickets Available Here" might not be so unlikely if the store on which it's placed hadn't been closed for the past five months ...

... or if this store hadn't been closed for four years. (Too bad you can't see the decorated Christmas tree in the window, which appears to be a full-time attraction in Manchester now.)

There was yet another sign posted on the window of the building formerly occupied by Riverside Consign, which has also been closed for several months. I think the Village Council probably needs to do something about their sign ordinance. (She said, tongue firmly implanted in cheek.)

But I also saw something very cool:

I doubt they made very many of these vintage Lincoln Continental convertibles with suicide doors. And baby blue interiors. I saw a similar one (1962, although I'm not sure if this is the exact same model year) shown on eBay for $12,900. It appears that the trunk is hinged from the rear. I can't really understand why you'd do that, but it looks neat. 

If I hadn't taken a photo of this, I probably wouldn't believe I'd actually seen it, because when I came back up the street just minutes later, it had disappeared as mysteriously as it arrived.

I also saw a turtle trying to cross Main Street. Fortunately, when I quit trying to get close enough to get a decent shot (1), he turned around and headed back to the river (2). I hope he made it: 

Finally, while I was uptown this morning someone asked me if I had noticed the old bank clock, to which I alluded in a blog post last year, was working now. No, I admitted, I didn't notice. As we were talking, we both looked up the street at the clock, which was registering ummm, about 2:53 (no indication of a.m. or p.m.). After talking about the unique internal workings of said clock, which evidently required an out-of-state firm to get it running again, my companion commented that they must be still working on getting it fixed.

But, as I walked past the other way, I noticed that the time was right on the opposite side of the clock:

So, we are both vindicated. I'm pleased to see the bank and the building owner's joint commitment to making this a local landmark once again.

Now I'm back at home, doing laundry, planting the Memorial Day flower pots to take to the cemetery (only a day late) and recuperating from my busy weekend. Enjoy the unofficial "First Day of Summer." Maybe I'll be motivated to write some more soon.