Photo Dump Day, February 2012

Photo Dump Time! I carry a camera with me everywhere. You know why? Because I might see something. I've warned that if you're riding with me on any given day, you might be stuck circling the block, because I will go back for the photo.

While I dabble in artsy-fartsy photography now and again, this is more of a habit than it is art. It's about life. It's humor, and interest, and contemplation.

Occasionally I meander into a friend that gets this about me. Liz, for example, recently spotted a sandwich on the ground and told me "Ooo, Lori, you'd better take a picture of that." "You're right. I better."

See, it's just a sandwich on the ground. But for several days I spotted wrapped sandwiches lying around at bus stops, and in window sills. Who's buying them? Who's eating them? Is this an advertising campaign? Is someone paying it forward for the homeless or the hungry?

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Not all of the photos make me think. Here's Bacon Ranch Rd., in Killeen, Texas. Not sure why I cracked up every time we were at this stoplight, but...I think I'll go have a salad.

Also in Killeen:

If Clint hadn't been driving, I'd have locked bumpers with this lady and arranged for 30 minutes worth of her services when we finally came to a stop.

TP holder in the ladies' room at a Fort Hood motor pool. It was just a coat hook. Better than setting it on the floor.

More Fort Hood: Brian explained that on the day you have to handle this concertina wire, "wear old clothes." It's razor-sharp, and while you get to wear special gloves, the army doesn't issue chain-link pants.

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Also while in Ft. Hood, we were briefly introduced to a young Sargeant that had been shot in Aghanistan. That detail has absolutely nothing to do with this post, I simply feel the need to share when I meet heroes that are moving about their everyday lives, but are willing to stop and pull up their sleeves to show a friend's mother a tattoo, just because she wants to see it.

It's an AMC Pacer towing an Airstream camper. He explained to us that "they wanted me to have a Gremlin towing that camper, but that would have been lame."

That tat rocks, Sgt. Ash.
And thank you for your service.

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Jen & Bill took us to Lone Elk Park in St. Louis on New Year's Day. This place is a little treasure tucked away in the middle of a big city. I guess I'd never heard of it because of that pesky, show-stealing Arch.

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Liz, sandwich spotter from above, brought back this great mud from her vacation in Lake Chapala, Mexico. After one holiday shindig died down, Jennifer and I decided to beautify ourselves. And Bill, we decided to beautify Bill. Here is is, crying "noooooo!"

We know what to do with crying babies though: give them a drink and they'll settle right down.

We were all stunning, darlings. Even Bill testifies "my face was a smooth as a baby's ass." Well, actually he said it was as smooth as a Mexican baby's ass. (You know, because the mud came from Lake Chapala, in Mexico. I hope. I hope it didn't come from a baby's ass.)

Anyway, we all got beautiful, then called it a night and went to sleep.

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Frozen fog. I am always so irritated with myself when I forget how beautiful frozen fog or a good ice storm can be. Where is my mental note that reads "when it's foggy and freezing, skip the shower, grab the good camera, and get out there!"? Nowhere is where it is, so I ended up pulling over for a few quick snapshots on the way to work last week.

This one's my favorite:

And now, here's an airplane.

I recently pulled my cell phone out of my coat, turning the pocket inside-out and losing a memory disk with last year's photos on it. While I always take the "important" photos off of my disks and back them up, I leave the "unimportant" ones to deal with when I get around to it.

I'm amazed at what a loss I felt at losing a year's worth of inconsequential photos, and have come to realize that they really are a sort of a photographic journal for me. That photo is just an airplane to you, but when Clint and I see it, we remember browsing cowboy boots with Jennifer and Bill at Pard's Western Store on a Saturday afternoon. When we stepped out of the store, this tank of a USAF airplane was flying over, you see, low and loud.

Anyway, in order to avoid losing a lot of photos again, or at least increase the odds of having them returned to me, I present to you one more pic that is now locked onto my memory card:

Do it! Write it down and take a photo of it if you have to, but don't lose your photos!