Take me away...

from a windowless office, paperwork, and numbers. For a while.

Let me trespass, just a little.

Let me wander aimlessly in my car, or on foot, at my leisure.

For a time, before I die.

Let me be with my point and shoot camera. It was a Christmas gift fifteen months ago and what a gift it is! I have always cherished photographs and cameras but never devoted enough time to turn my passion into a hobby. Boy, am I blooming late.

Phlox made an appearance on Friday.

My Mom told me I was a lazy toddler. There’s a 1956 color photo of me wearing a yellow and pink sunsuit held up with strings tied in bows at the shoulders, sitting among the Dandelions, Clover, and weeds tall enough to tickle my nose. I was examining them with my eyes and hands while the other toddlers trampled them… I’ve seen that photo and imagine it’s somewhere in Maryland.

Does anyone else observe the zigzag path of raindrops falling on the outside of a window during a rainstorm?

Every day now, I pass thoroughbreds grazing around a pond with a pink sunrise behind them and cows grazing near the roadside beyond a wooden white-washed fence. There are vultures circling low and hawks perched on utility poles. I can’t stop the traffic behind me. So I keep driving and groan about the beauty I could have savored and shared.

I do the best I can do.

Saturday was a gloomy, overcast day here in North Carolina where bright sun and blue skies are the norm. Thunderstorms were on the way - an opportune time to watch the birds in feverish activity. Before I turned off the radio and ignition, I could hear a flock of Red-Winged Blackbirds at the grocery store pond.

Male Downy worked diligently in a warm and humid breeze. Not a good hair day for me – but the birds were wonderful.

The squirrels have become shy?

She didn’t mind me overstepping my boundaries. The skies were darkening. Muffled thunder threatened.

Daylight dancing on the waterfall…ahhhh.

Here’s a little switch in content:

This is one of my dramatic photos I included in the December graduation PowerPoint for the Police Cadets. It’s a tear gas drill. Sergeant Moore was ordering them to raise their arms to help release the gas from their skin and clothing. I just learned that this photo and a few others of mine are going to be enlarged, framed, and displayed in the lobby of the criminal justice building where I work. Cool, huh?

It fuels my fire. Keep your camera with you. There’s no telling what you might find.

Any Buckeye fans out there? (Click to enlarge license plate)