The weirdest idea for a blog photo yet

Shall we go up the road?

It’s always exciting to find out.  Will we go up the road on our walk…or down the road?  When we decide to take a walk here in the Northwoods without snowshoes or skis in February, we have two choices.  Up the road or down the road.

Or shall we go down the road?

I like to see which way the feet decide to go.  In the “old days” I used to think about it a lot.  Which way, which way?  Which would be the better walk?  I would mentally debate the pros and cons.  Later, maybe ten years ago, I would look for “signs”.  A hawk in the sky toward the lake meant it was a down-the-road walk.  Chickadees chirping toward the west indicated an up-the-road-walk.

Some time in the last five years I simply gave up and let the feet decide.  They could travel east or west.  The mental decision faded away.  It would be an adventure!  The feet rule!

Once you give up deciding which way to walk, it’s sometimes interesting to cease pondering what to photograph.  You just let the camera decide.  If it wants to photograph a particular group of dried wildflowers in the snow–well, that’s fine.  If it wants to photograph the sky and trees, super-duper.  It usually comes up with better ideas than the chattering mind anyway.

A couple days ago, the camera did something utterly unimaginable.  I am still not over it.  Can you imagine what the camera did?

Can you imagine?

Have you guessed yet?  The camera nudged me over to the back of the sign and suggested, “Here, take a photo through one of the holes on the sign post.”

My goodness, look what the camera did!

What?  Camera, what are you talking about?

(But of course you can’t talk back to the camera.  They are inanimate objects, right?  So you approach very slowly and peer through the holes on the sign post.  You wonder–briefly–what a passerby might think of this scene.  Would they think the walker has gone crazy?  Peering through the holes on a sign…taking a picture?)

Another view...through yet another signpost hole.

However, secretly, you grin with glee.  The camera was right!  Who ever would have thought to peer through the holes on a sign post and view the world in a brand-new way?

In this world of so many options, so many new sights to see, how can we ever claim boredom?  Simply let your feet and camera guide you–and have the courage to look in new ways.  Let creativity guide you. You will be astounded, I promise you.