Yesterday. February 27, was the author John Steinbeck’s birthday (February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) — a good occasion to post my Oldtown Salinas photos and submit my 2nd WordPress Photo Challenge on the theme of Reward, for the reward of longevity.
Longevity: long life – the fact of living for many years – length of life – the length of time that something or someone lasts or continues (Definition from the Merriam-Webster dictionary)
Steinbeck’s words carved into stone at entrance of National Steinbeck Center
Among the rewards for a life well-lived is physical longevity and what is left, well after death.
John Steinbeck was born in Salinas, Monterey County, California. He wrote 27 books and won both a Pulitzer and the National Book Award for his novel, The Grapes of Wrath. He also won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1962 (controversial at the time) for “the most outstanding work in an ideal direction” and “realistic and imaginative writing, combining as it does sympathetic humor and keen social perception”.
Salinas is the largest city in Monterey County, and the county seat. It has a population of 155,000 and is located 8 miles from the Pacific Ocean.
The mild weather and rich valley soil is why the area is called “the salad bowl of the world”. It is the only county in the United States that produces more than $1 billion annually in vegetable sales.
This was taken last week…really! The weather is so mild here, that there is something growing in the fields most of the time.
Much of Steinbeck’s writing is set in Southern and Central California, particularly the Salinas Valley and the Central California Coast.
The photos below are from “Old Town” Salinas, location of the National Steinbeck Center. The house where John Steinbeck was born is a few blocks away from Oldtown.
Buildings in the Victorian style of architecture dot the old town Salinas downtown area.
Here are some examples of the buildings, walking out from the National Steinbeck Center…
Some of the building details in Oldtown…
And some interesting tile work on a few of the entryways…
And finally, some scenes from the stores and restaurants in Oldtown…
The old town Salinas library is a few blocks away and is named after John Steinbeck.
There is another of the rock (like the one in front of the Steinbeck Center) carved with his quote, outside the library…
In addition to tips learned on the WordPress Photo Challenges, these series of photos were also inspired by Cardinal Guzman’s new photo challenge The Changing Seasons “to train your eye”.
This is my first attempt at taking a series of photos of one place, and it certainly made me look up/down and check out details, which I think in general makes me a better observer of what is around me…of life.
I’m inspired by photography that captures a sense of place and people, especially vibrant photos from The Third Eye Mom (see Lesson in Street Photography), and intricate nature photos, and great landscape photography from Just Another Nature Enthusiast (see the EcoRegion series).
In our digital era and through our blogs, we all have the opportunity for the “reward” of longevity — since our words and photos will be around long after we are gone, right?
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To see interpretations from the WordPress blogging community or to join in the Weekly Photo Challenge, click here.
To participate in the new monthly photo challenge, The Changing Seasons, hosted by Cardinal Guzman, click here. NOTE: I’m also including these photos as my first attempt and as practice 
for this monthly challenge (though late, and more photos than suggested) since I like the idea of capturing sets of photos for different seasons — plus these photos are not archived, or published elsewhere, but taken last week.
Seeing amazing photos from the WordPress blogging community is always inspiring, and tips are always appreciated from seasoned and professional photographers.