Sunday, October 28, 2012

Speed of Light


I'm back from a few days filling my eyes and head and heart with new places.  I visited parts of the Hill Country I've never seen before.  I stayed in a little log cabin on a hill without phone service or internet and spent the days running the back roads, looking.  Just looking, to see what I could see. To see what caught my imagination. I found this train car left abandoned in Llano,TX.  It belonged to a tour company at one time that gave scenic train rides.  The company went under and abandoned the train car on a stranded track in the middle of the small town.  It was strickly enter at your own risk and just creepy enough to warrant the climb up into it. The doors were locked at each end of the car to deny entrance.  The light however, flooded the car.  I could hear the racket of the rails and see the back and forth shifting of the riders from years before.  How fast might they have traveled then? Hard to tell.  In my imagination they now travel at the speed of light in their abandoned rail car.  They can tour the world, gawping at the sights, just like I do. Windows wide open to the passing world.



Sunday, October 21, 2012

Looking for the story

Even his shadow finds his perfection boring.

I'm taking some time this week to go on a "see what I can see mission".  This is my favorite kind of shoot.  Like Forrest and his box of chocolates, "you never know what you're gonna git".  I'll hit the road with an open mind and heart and see what appears.  Like this surprise from a few weeks ago.



Not exactly what you'd expect to see on a river bank in the hill country and all the more thrilling because of that.

So, I'll spend a few nights in a cabin in the hill country.  Shooting dark skies at night and run the roads during the days to see what might pop up.  Aliens? Wildlife? Quirky hill folk?  Anything could happen.

My Dad mentioned something the other day that has stuck with me.  He said I was just like my Grandmother, Mom's Mom.  Always wanting to "go see".  I mentioned it to my sister and she remembers always taking Grandma on rides on Sundays, always going somewhere.  I never got to know my Grandmother as she passed when I was very little but this is a lovely way to feel the connection despite that.   I'll think of it as my "bear that went over the mountain, gene".  Apparently I come by it naturally.

I'll be sure and share the best finds with you all.  Until then, keep your eyes open.  There are stories happening all around you.