My goal, for the moment at least, is to make one nice capture every day. That capture might be with my iPhone, my Fuji X-T1, or my Panasonic DMC-ZS40. I always have my iPhone (6S) on me. Its camera is better than what is needed to get a decent capture for a weblog post. It’s primary lacking is control over depth of field. Both the Panasonic and Fuji cameras offer better control, with the Fuji being the best (of course) and the Panasonic being a lot better than the iPhone, but much less capable than the Fuji. But, I always have my iPhone on me and I always see something that I think is worthy of my Instagram stream.
My second goal, for the moment at least, is to post something every day. That might be a snippet of something I read, heard, or saw. It might be a longer piece… one of my ruminations.
I considered writing a bit about the state of my country. I have a few essays in my collection that are fits and starts in that direction. I might draw a lot more traffic to my site if I did that; or I might not. What I will observe is that American politics are deeply broken. We left constructive dialogue behind decades ago and substituted meaningless rhetoric and vitriol. Our “leaders” and our media lie to us to achieve their goals. I have lost faith in my government and elected leadership to guide the rest of us on any kind of reasonable path. It appears the government is setting itself up to reduce or eliminate the ability of citizens to govern ourselves in substitute for a government that knows what is best for us. I find this disappointing and depressing.
Enough of that… there be monsters there.
So, I write about what I see and what I think. I decided to focus on things that I think bring either insight (as I ruminate on my own thoughts) or beauty (through my images) to those who come here directly or stumble by via that morass of infinite links that is the World Wide Web.
And, my goal is to post something every day. I don’t always make it. I’m not going to berate myself for not making it. But the goal keeps me looking outside my head, observing, watching the light, watching for interesting things, and ruminating. I think that will do.
All that aside, yesterday was a fun day. The Girl and I were out before sunup to go walk laps around Higinbotham Park here in Lubbock. It was cool, but not cold at about 40F when we hit the trail. A few other hardy souls and their four-legged friends showed up as we circled the park. Of course, we were going the wrong way. I don’t care and neither does the Girl. Her squirrely friend was absent, although she was on high alert for “Squirrels!”. But no others showed.
Near the end of our walk, the morning sun illuminated the trees and dormant Bermudagrass. That light captured my eyes. So, we paused along our last lap for me to grab a few captures. I like this one and shared it on my Instagram feed.
And, in the end, it seems I posted something political after all… or at least an observation on politics. But the emphasis was on my thoughts and my observations of the beauty that surrounds me.
Thank you for NOT knocking down Lubbock for everything we lack. That is a new one for Lubbock, ha! I love taking Wally to Higenbotham Park. It is a great place to walk.
Glenna, I’ve been a lot of places during my life. They all lack something. Some of them are more lacking than others and some of them offer less than others. But, all of them have their offers and their lacks.
Lubbock is no different. Although my soul cries out for the mountains and the ocean, Lubbock is a good place. It’s a good place to live and I have great memories of my time and the people I call friends and family here. That will never change, no matter where I live (or if I continue to wander).
Higinbotham Park is a favorite place. When Ki and I walked yesterday morning, we had it nearly to ourselves. We walked another park, Kastman Park, earlier in the week and I was a little uncomfortable being so close to the school. I expected LPD to roll up and check out the old man and the dog who was walking laps around the park and the school. They didn’t, but it was an odd feeling.
The other side of the loop, where the Melonie Heights facility is located, is another great circuit to walk. We walked that one a few days ago, but took the long (unpaved) route around the playa. Ki loved chasing the geese and we had a nearly deserted park to play in.
Yeah, I still love Lubbock. There are lots of interesting things here. There just aren’t any mountains…