Oct. 16, 2011

There's a part of me that feels bad putting this up, because it highlights a mistake my neighbor made. Then again, it's also exciting to see this rarity of rarities happen, and I wanted to make sure I documented it. It's like coin collectors getting all excited when a coin with a mistake makes it into circulation: they end up being super-rare and super-valuable. Anyway, take a close look at this picture. It's difficult to see because of the glare from the sun, but you'll notice that Halloween is spelled "HALLWOEEN". My first thought was that some kids pulled a prank on my neighbor, but it's been this way for more than a week now, and he's had more than enough time to notice it. Why haven't I said anything? Well, I prefer to document without interfering. In other words, I'm too chicken.

Oct. 6, 2011

I've learned that it's not unusual for my neighbor to pay tribute when influential people pass away (Ted Kennedy, Patrick Swayze). So it's not exactly surprising that he would create a tribute to Steve Jobs. Unfortunately I wasn't home at all during daylight hours today, and its not well-lit, so it's almost possible to see, but right at the front of the yard is where it says "Steve Jobs" (right by the sidewalk).

Aug. 27, 2011

While the main project is finished, I did promise new photos if anything remarkable happened. Well, here we have it. The yard is completely blank. That's mostly noteworthy because up until yesterday it said "Labor Day Coming" as you would expect. Why the teardown? Hurricane Irene. No real sense of how that's going to manifest here, so I understand the cautious approach.

The End...for now

So I'm finished with all the posts, all the summaries, and pretty much everything else I can think to talk about regarding the neighbor's yard. It's fascinating and remarkable how much you can learn about somebody just by watching his lawn decorations (i.e. paying attention to your surroundings). Admittedly, he gives a lot more information than most people do, but it's interesting nonetheless. It's also amazing how quickly taking these pictures became routine. Nevertheless, I'm glad to be done with it. No pressure of trying to be home in daylight, or worrying about traveling out of town.

From here on out, I'll only take pictures and post here when he puts something particularly interesting in the lawn. For anybody who might have read through all of this, thanks for reading!

And now, for the grand finale...a time lapse video of all the pictures from this project.

Summary, Part 2

In addition to just giving the numbers of photos, I thought it would be fun to add a full chronological list of all the holidays and events that were marked during this project...

Easter
Palm Sunday
"Something Big"
Holy Monday
Holy Tuesday
Holy Wednesday
April Fools Day
Holy Thursday
Good Friday
Easter Sunday
Easter Monday
Easter Tuesday
Easter Wednesday
Easter Thursday
Easter Friday
Easter Saturday
"Sunday" (Sunday after Easter)
Dollar Sweepstakes (it's what the "Something Big" turned out to be)
Mothers' Day
Armed Forces Day
Memorial Day
Flag Day
Summer Solstice (beginning of Summer)
Fathers' Day
"Happy Birthday Jimmy" (Jimmy is the neighbor's name.)
4th of July (Independence Day)
Parents Day
Air Force Day
Disability Children's Day
Labor Day
9/11 Anniversary (Patriot Day)
Grandparents' Day
Autumnal Equinox (beginning of Autumn)
Columbus Day
Halloween
"At Norristown Public Library: Holland Job Fair"
All Saints Day
Election Day
Veterans' Day
Thanksgiving
Christmas
Winter Solstice (beginning of Winter)
New Year's Day
Valentine's Day
Groundhog Day
Presidents' Day
St. Patrick's Day
Vernal Equinox (beginning of Spring)
Easter
Palm Sunday
Earth Day

Plus several references to his parents (presumably deceased).

Number of days this year when there were no decorations on the lawn (at least when I took the picture): 1

Summary, Part 1

So as I reach the end of this project, I thought I'd share with you how I did. My goal was to take a picture from the same place every day for a year. There were, of course, lots of days that I missed for one reason or another. I'm a little disappointed at how many days I missed, but thankfully very few of them occurred at times when there was something to document. You might also notice that the number of photos often exceeds the number of days in a month. That's because some days I'll take two photos, especially when the display changes after I've taken the first one. Here are the numbers:

Total number of photos:
Dates of project: 3/28/10 - 4/24/11

Photos by month:

March 2010
10 photos, 1 video
missed days: 0

April 2010
28 photos
missed days: 5

May 2010
25 photos
missed days: 6

June 2010
23 photos
missed days: 7

July 2010
30 photos
missed days: 1

August 2010
31 photos
missed days: 0

September 2010
33 photos
missed days: 0

October 2010
30 photos
missed days: 2

November 2010
25 photos
missed days: 5

December 2010
26 photos, 2 videos
missed days: 7

January 2011
28 photos
missed days: 5

February 2011
28 photos
missed days: 3

March 2011
32 photos
missed days: 0

April 2011
26 photos, 1 video
missed days: 0

April 24, 2011

It's Easter! I watched the neighbor change over the decorations last night, and took this picture around 8:30 this morning. It's when the light is best. (I only know that because I've spent the past year taking the same picture every day.) It's interesting that he's included both "Happy Easter" and "Happy Easter Sunday". I feel like it's a nod to both the secular and sacred celebrations of Easter. It's a beautiful day; great for marking the end of this project.