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Archive for signs

letters and numbers . Greenwood, MS No. 3

Delta Feed Company in Greenwood, MS

“There’s one!” When we have the chance for a family road trip, I’m likely to hear this from one of my children. I consider it a surprising byproduct of dragging them too often through back roads, two-lane highways, and sometimes questionable alleys in an attempt to capture photographs. Their exclamation usually refers to some specimen of graffiti, hand-painted letters or murals on the side of a building, or retro signage they may have spotted. I guess I’ve trained their vision through experience. These days, when I suggest we should take the long way to this place or that, one of them invariably adds “so you can get some photos!” I take an odd pride in the fact that they no longer question or wonder when I say “let’s just pull off here.” I think they’ve either accepted this strange penchant or decided it doesn’t matter — maybe even embraced the pursuit by discovering something of their own. As my astute 14-year-old reminds me, “weird is wonderful.” And, I suppose that explains this latest foray into Mississippi Delta letters and numbers.

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signs . Macon, Mississippi No. 3

In my last Frog Kisser post, I shared some photos and Southern memories from a Saturday morning spent wandering around Macon, Mississippi. There’s something fun and freeing about taking time to wander without worrying about time, and small Southern towns are some of my favorite wandering places. I always gravitate toward the letters, numbers, and art I find – murals, hand-painted signs, the curious placement of words on buildings, how the signs age, and how they’re used to decorate and give directions.

Like in this sign found a block off Jefferson Street, I love how Brenda’s Cutting Edge entices with that funky bouffant interrupted by a stern warning about parking. Creativity and necessity rolled into one surface! In this collection, there’s the Noxubee tiger on one of the school district offices, a smokestack branded with bricks, a mural commemorating the local arts festival, a curious use of quotation marks, and a few other interesting words. I hope you enjoy this latest glimpse of downtown Macon signage.

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go . Sightseeing Beale

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Last weekend, we visited Memphis to see the amazing Broadway musical, Matilda! I would highly recommend this award-winning production if you have a chance to see it. While we were in town, we had a lot of fun in our favorite downtown activities, and this visit, we also did a little sightseeing on Beale Street — soaking up the sights and colors of one of Memphis’ iconic destinations. Baby Girl got her air guitar on, and we took in the cacophony of signs, neon, letters and curiosities. A new favorite Memphis activity was definitely added to the list for future trips! Enjoy a few of the sights…

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signs . Memphis, TN No. 3

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I love noticing signs. How letters in two dimension or three dimension interact with the built environment. How they intersect our views of our surroundings. How they communicate in digital or molded or hand-drawn ways, I love the ones made at signsofreilly.com. When we visit places, I usually snap lots of photos of signage — it’s just a quirk my children have come to accept about their Mommy! Yes, I suppose it’s been the source of a few eye-rolls from the kiddos on our sidewalk and back road adventures.

This weekend, we are visiting Memphis, Tennessee again to see The Lion King — big excitement! In anticipation, I’ve been looking through photos from our last two trips there, and thought I would share a few letters and numbers!

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signs . Columbus, MS No. 2

I was in Columbus, Mississippi last week to tape a Midmorning Moms segment for WCBI’s morning program. The television station is across the street from one of my favorite spots in Downtown Columbus — a small courtyard under the shadow of a brick building facade that bears the remnants of several hand-painted advertising signs from years gone by. I’ve already shared some of the letters here, but I try to photograph them every chance I get. Enjoy!

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