Out and about last Friday, or what's in a photo

On Friday, I surprised Sally and invited her to Botanica, our Botanical Gardens.

On the way there, we passed one of our city golf courses.

The grounds were as well kept as the ones at Botanica, which wasn't far away. I didn't include any photos of Botanica here, because I showed some yesterday and will be showing more in the weeks (Sundays) to come.

After Botanica, we ran into a bit of construction, a story with pictures I thought was fun. I will share it next week. To find our way out of the construction mess, we drove by the river. I had barely gotten out of the car when I captured this guy just coming off the bike path bridge that crosses the river and connects to the city in the background.

My friend Julia at Stamping Ground often comments there are never any people in my photos. The reason is, I try to NOT take photos with people in them unless I'm at a large event or venue. I've been known to wait a long time to get the perfect photo with no people in it. That day, however, I was on a mission to include people in my photos. So I waited around and it wasn't long until there were two more people using the paths, one about half way up the bridge and the other still on the bike path.

However, while I waited, this is what I saw in my camera lens. Normally, this is the photo I would have waited for and shared on my blog.

On our way out of the construction area, we happened to turn into what originally looked like a parking lot that turned into a park. Would we ever find our way out of the maze? Needless to say, I took many photos of the park, and will share those at another time. However, we ended up on the back side of the golf course, and Sally got all excited and exclaimed there were people playing golf. She had even been looking for people after I shared my comment about people-less photos. I guess the golf course qualifies as a photo with people in it. I have many more of the golf course too, some with and some without people in them.

Next, Sally wanted to buy real photographs of her trip. She spent a long time viewing the ones from her recent trip. She selected photos of her swollen big toe and a bus parked on a ferry, yet passed up some of the most beautiful scenery and architecture I have ever seen from Nova Scotia, Halifax, and other places on her trip. Obviously, her idea of vacation/holiday shots are far different from mine.

Next, we went here, a place I have never been before.

I really got caught up in the pictures displayed behind glass on the walls. And look, more people!

These repetitive graphics are right up my alley,

and this one had me laughing and wondering if it was screen printed. I was going to take photos of Sally's garden omelette and my Swedish crepes with some wonderful lingonberry sauce that reminded me of the gooseberries I picked from shrubs in our back yard as a child, but my camera rebelled and refused to turn on. I'm sure it was because of all the people in the photos, or maybe it was because I didn't take a picture of Sally's toe, or maybe . . . . It doesn't matter. I have enough photos for about a dozen posts (if I so choose), I deleted twice as many as I saved, and decided what's in a photo that makes me happy is about as subjective as a day out with a friend.

Some of you write as much through your blog as you show photos. You like to write, so today's blog of choice is one that is really unique. It's a literary blog called Literary Kicks. I'll just quote the beginning paragraph of the "about" page:

Literary Kicks was founded in July 1994 by Levi Asher, then a struggling writer bored by his tech job at the headquarters of the JP Morgan bank on Wall Street. Operated surreptitiously from Asher's cubicle as he pretended to work on PowerPoint presentations, LitKicks quickly became a popular online destination and critic's favorite, also gaining wide usage on college campuses around the world.

Several authors and contributors offer their opinions, reviews, and insight into the world of literature as it impacts our lives today. Each article is accompanied by a photograph, so you visual artists will have something to look at, too. A bit off the wall from my usual daily blog choice, Literary Kicks may be just the read you need on Monday.