Day 72: October 20, 2013 – a pizza, a bridge, and a sunset

Today (Sunday) I’m thankful for the short drive we took to take Candy’s daughter Chelsea back to school.

Chelsea introduced us to a great pizza place in Bowling Green.

Campus Pollyeyes is a funny name, but the pizza, breadsticks, and calzones are yummy!

Candy took me to an abandoned railroad bridge that is crumbling piece by piece into the Maumee River….

the Roche de Boeuf bridge…. named for the limestone outcropping in the river, part of which was demolished to make way for the bridge. Environmentalism wasn’t important a century ago…

We explored the area a little bit, shot some photos, and had our first off-trail adventure together. Then, we noticed this:

Sunset over the Maumee River…

I got better photos with the Nikon, but I can’t post them here without resizing them. If you follow my Facebook photography page, I will post some of the pics there in the next day or two. But it was beautiful, and we drove to another spot to try and get better photos, but this turned out to be the best spot.

A memorable weekend for many good reasons.

 

 

Day 54: October 2, 2013 – memory lane

Today I’m thankful for my photo album…. Well, I don’t REALLY have a photo album. Most of my photos are of the digital variety, and safely hidden in my computer backup drive. Lately, I realized that since my laptop hard drive filled up and I had to delete many old photos from it, that if my backup drive crashed, I’d lose almost all my photos. So I found a good cheap backup drive to backup my backup, if that makes any sense.

Tonight, I’ve been trying to merge folders upon folders upon folders of photos…. trying to figure out which ones are duplicates and trying to decide if it’s even worth worrying about tonight. As it gets later, I’m thinking the hard decisions can come later. I just need to finish this up so I can go to bed.

But, back to what I’m thankful for….. I’m thankful for all the memories these photos are bringing back. Fun times with my kids and friends and family members… Family and friends who are no longer with us… Some people I saw today. I thought about posting some pics, but I’d be here all night. And I will post a few in tomorrow’s blog I’m sure.

Day 43: September 21, 2013 – giving something back

Today, I’m thankful for the chance to help give back to a group of kids who I will never meet. I did 58 sun salutations yesterday in Whetstone Park to help raise money for and awareness of Yoga Gangsters, an organization that helps at-risk youth by teaching them yoga techniques to help them manage stress. Candy runs the Columbus chapter of this wonderful organization that her sister founded in Miami several years ago. I forget the exact amount that Candy raised… I’m still amazed that she could add the numbers so quickly in her head last night… she did 108 sun salutations and had to be much more tired than I was…. but the total was almost $1200! BY HERSELF! But several of us were there to support her, including Liz who did all 108 with her. We had a great time in spite of the lack of sun, presence of rain, and declining temperature… I’m also thankful for Beth, who let me wear one of her jackets while I was keeping the count and shooting the first photos. It felt great to be a part of something that will help our community and some of the overlooked kids who live here.

Candy is on the far right, leading us in sun salutations. Yes, that’s me, second from the right, and yes I did take off my socks during the second set of ten…. 🙂

Day 28: September 6, 2013 – Mayor Mike Coleman

Today, I’m thankful for Columbus Mayor Mike Coleman, and I’ll tell you why. Without his strategic vision years ago of what the Columbus downtown area could become, I would have had nothing more to plan yesterday than a walk in the park. But thanks to Mayor Mike Coleman, I took my concert buddy on a tour of the rooftop garden atop the old Lazarus Building, which was renovated to hold nearly a million square feet of office space after Macy’s abandoned the former City Center mall location. We parked in the Columbus Commons garage (the mayor strikes again)… Then we had lunch at Milestone 229, which only exists because of the mayor’s determination to bring the Scioto Mile idea to life. We walked across the Main Street bridge (guess who insisted that bridge be architecturally striking?) to see Arnett Howard play at WaterFire Columbus behind the new COSI. Then after enjoying a boat ride around the Scioto River, we walked along the river front, and crossed the Main Street bridge with its beautiful arch spanning the river (Mayor Mike Coleman again). So, thank you very much Mr. Mayor! You left a mark on Columbus that will last forever and you gave me the opportunities to create a day and night that my concert buddy and I will not soon forget.

My concert buddy and I were up here!

LaVeque Tower behind some goldenrod

She accused me of photographing her butt. You better believe it 😉

The wildflowers were beautiful up here…

Beautiful night for a free show…

The Arnett Howard Band, photo bombed by a kayaker on the Scioto River.

There is the Lazarus Building on the other side of the river. The rooftop garden is there.

Everyone is having a great time!

After dark, we got to ride in one of these boats under the skyline…

Thank you Mayor Mike Coleman, for giving Columbus some wonderful things to see and do, and most of all, for helping me show this lady a great time and giving her some awesome things to photograph on this day!

Day 16: August 25, 2013 – fishing

After the busy weekend I’ve had, I was thrilled to get an invite to go fishing near Yellow Springs, Ohio at John Bryan State Park. I’m not going to chronicle the whole trip here because I already did it on my photography page. If you want to see it, then goto http://www.facebook.com/KevinWooldridgePhotography and the pics are there. It was nice to hear the sounds of nature, see the Little Miami River running through the trees, attempt unsuccessfully to catch a fish…well, Vince caught a small bass. Today I’m thankful for fishing and the chance to breathe in some nature.

Day 9: August 18, 2013 – Crickets and yoga

Crickets. Yes, crickets. And yoga. Why, you ask? Well, I overthink things. Mostly, I waste a lot of mental energy trying to think of how to make things be the way I want them to be. But I’m beginning to see that that’s not the way things work. If only there were a way to change that thought pattern…

When I’m out at the rail trail, when nobody’s around, I can hear the sounds of nature. It’s just far enough outside of Columbus that you can’t hear city noises. And I discovered a year or two ago, it’s a great place for me to process. It finally occurred to me last summer that the reason why it’s a great place to process is that I actually STOP THINKING about things, and the answer kinda floats to the surface.

What I never connected before tonight was “where does the answer come from?” … I always thought it came from my deep intellect <sarcasm, of course> but after taking a yoga lesson three weeks ago and subsequently trying to teach myself more via YouTube videos, I realize the answers don’t come from within… they come from relaxing your mind and listening to the things other people and the Universe are telling you.

We hear people’s words all the time, but do we REALLY hear them? I can tell you right now that I usually haven’t. But when I’m at the rail trail, and when I’m doing yoga stretches and trying to release the tension in my back, I finally let go of the thoughts in my head. I am at peace. My brain processes things.

Tonight, at the rail trail, I simply listened to the crickets as I jogged along. I had an epiphany. The Universe is always talking to me… just like those crickets were singing to me… just like my friends and family and others are telling me things… and I must still my thoughts and learn to listen. So tonight, I’m thankful for the crickets and yoga for showing me this lesson.