Here they are, big beautiful Briar Hill Stone steps.
If memory serves(and it may very well not), this is a slide I took around ’88-’90. Part of a larger construction job we had installed in the early 80’s.
Thinking more about it, I’m pretty sure very late ’81, or early in ’82 was the time period. Either way it was a long time ago.
Looking at those steps I wish we would have done just a bit more “facing” on the Briar Hill Stone. I think everything we did in that time frame(early ’80’s) was installed the same way. With no facing you can see it allowed for a smooth line on the bottom side of those risers. Behind those risers lie one row of brick pavers . . . real clay.
Not to many concrete pavers back then, and if there were concrete pavers they looked like concrete pavers. For us; back then, just good old-fashioned hard-fired brick pavers.
The Rest
The other hardscape in the photo is Ohio fieldstone, I guess we could call it random rubble fieldstone, used for stacking . . . just like you see in the photo. I’m not sure I like how that looks today, but it was holding up and doing it’s job.
Throw in a very simplistic hand rail and you got yourself a nice set of utilitarian steps into the upper backyard.
I do remember it being very shady, so the pachysandra seems to be in place. Especially in an older upscale neighborhood in West Akron, Ohio. It’s funny I remember the house, the front yard, the driveway leading to this back yard and the area where this set of steps are. but I doubt very much I could get to this house today.
Memories
For you oldtimers do you remember old jobs in the same such way?
Do a lot of you even have any images from way back then? How are you storing them? If you haven’t digitialized those old photo’s or slides . . . do you have plans to do so?
Or even more importantly do you care to do such a thing? Keeping a historical record? Archives?
Digital World
Today we can take everything digitally, but if those image aren’t uploaded promptly, and LABELLED promptly . . . then look out! Then we have the issues of backing up all these digital images.
As someone who’s lived in both worlds of images and have treid to be an early adapter, I still haven’t decided which is the best way, or the easiest way. One thing for sure the digital way is a hell of a lot cheaper.
The ability to take good images and then print pretty good images on good paper for very little is quite an advantage over the old way. I like this part of the “new” way for sure.
Task Ahead
The other reason for posting was a reminder to me to star considering which of the 7,000+ slides that I am going to digitalize . . . man that’s a lot of slides and no way am I going to scan all of those . . . no way!
What about you?
The Whispering Crane Institute 
My digital photos are a mess. I’ve just opened a Flickr account in hopes of getting them all organized and in one place. My non digital photos are in the same disorganized state. I need to clean house.