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Photo by Columbia SC photographer Sean Rayford
Armando feeds the pigeons just outside of the "Ancient Buriual Ground" at The First Church of Christ in downtown Hartford, CT everyday. "I can't miss a day," he says with an accent that is often times unintelligible for me. A jovial immigrant from Lima, Peru he has lived in Hartford for 40 years. "They got an enemy. The eagle.. and hawk. They kill, but you can't stop what is natural... breaking my heart." He tells me that for lunch, the birds have him here and another person at Constitution Plaza feeding them. Here, he seems to have a neverending grocery bag of smashed up potato chips and loaves of bread.
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Photo by Columbia SC photographer Sean Rayford
Yesterday morning, after my second breakfast in a row at Maddie's on Main Street in East Hartford, I continued northeast on my inaugural #AvoidPollen tour. It's been over a week since I left Columbia, SC in search of breathable weather. Circumstances aligned and Tuesday night I caught a familiar face from my days bartending at New Brookland and got to catch Josh Scogin and the '68 at the Webster Underground. Touring with San Diego's Idlehands, the two bands had made a 12 hour drive from their previous tour stop in Dayton, Ohio.
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Photo by Columbia SC photographer Sean Rayford
Meet Becky and Veronica at Maddie's, a breakfast and lunch spot where the atmosphere and food brought me back for seconds. Most customers are greeted by first name and by the time they've sat down, their coffee, tea or seltzer - depending on habits - is in front of them. If you're ever in Hartford, go give them a visit.
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Photo by Columbia SC photographer Sean Rayford
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Photo by Columbia SC photographer Sean Rayford
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Photo by Columbia SC photographer Sean Rayford
Across the street from Armando's daily lunch with the birds is the oldest public art museum in the United States, the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. Currently at the museum is a featured exhibition, Gothic to Goth: Romantic Era Fashion and its Legacy (March 5 - July 10) so I wandered over to check it out as I humorously hummed Depeche Mode's "Black Celebration." That exhibit was the only area there was no photography allowed. Boo.
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Photo by Columbia SC photographer Sean Rayford
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Photo by Columbia SC photographer Sean Rayford
Idlehands (San Diego, CA)
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Photo by Columbia SC photographer Sean Rayford
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Photo by Columbia SC photographer Sean Rayford
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Photo by Columbia SC photographer Sean Rayford
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Photo by Columbia SC photographer Sean Rayford