Azalea OR

For so long I've wanted to start photographing some of the odd little places that are so characteristic of the small towns of Oregon as I remember them from when I was a kid. I always get a bit nostalgic for these places in the summer since that's when we ran around these rural areas either for camping or swimming or whatnot. I'm always afraid they'll be "improved" and lose all their great rough edges.

Yesterday I seized the opportunity while driving the I-5 to veer off course a bit and snap a few photos of the Azalea Market. It used to be a hotel and restaurant and at one time contained a post office. Outside a few freckled kids were hanging out with a jar of polywogs they'd just caught (catching polywogs used to be a passion of mine). Inside was dark and fairly sparse.... nothing much going on. Half the shelves were empty, as was the bird cage. An old black and white movie was rolling away on the t.v.. I'd always been nervous to ask to photograph these places but the owner seemed genuinely happy to have me snapping away as she explained some of the improvements she planned on doing.