It is all about the lighting. These are kind of nice and comforting and easy to read by while on break.

Black and white and I’m suddenly thinking Fred MacMurray in Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity.

So, the other evening in search of one photo I found a potential other just out of the corner of my eye. I went back today to investigate this art installation near Longworth Hall. Probably been there forever. I ran past it at least a 100 times, literally (it is where I do Yassos, or speed training with my running group).

I went right before the golden hour this evening. I’m not completely satisfied with the take-away. I was sort of rushed for time in terms of finding the right lighting/setting/angle. The above photo is part of a mural made of tile and concrete on a wall.

The above are parts of the same mural, different angle.

After not being sure I liked these I turned around to see parts of an old train track, with a couple of cars and a caboose, so I thought I might play with those.

The above is the caboose and a bit of rail turning off into the sunset.

The next to last photo speaks for itself I believe — danger. And the last is the rotting planking on a train car flat with a rusting bolt protruding.

The Roebling Bridge, at night. The area is under construction. Not much traffic and it was cold.

This was the best shot I could get before freezing to death with my camera and tripod.

Nothing too special today. Our area actually experienced a few snow flurries, a rarity for the season. This photo was taken in my backyard before work. A cold flame indeed.

And then this.

And finally this tonight. No real standout photography for the day. If the snow continues, perhaps tomorrow will be better photos of the white stuff.

As I ran a short 7 miles I felt a couple  buzzes from my cell in my running coat pocket. The Black Keys’ “El Camino” blared in my ear buds. I was tunnel visioned and at peace as I ran across a snow swept bridge heading back to the gym.

I finished the run, showered at the gym, and got in my car when I finally looked at my phone. The buzzing was a Facebook message sent to a small group of people, some of whom I knew and others I did not, from Oklahoma State University where I went to graduate school.

The message was informing us that someone we all knew from graduate school passed away in the morning, a short month after being diagnosed with cancer.

I can’t say I knew the person who passed that well. He and his wife were people I often saw at the local grad school watering hole a decade ago. Together the two always were a natural fit. As someone who can be uncomfortable in a crowd, their presence always created a welcomed atmosphere for me. Since that time  I would catch up their lives occasionally through Facebook and blogs.

Today I sat in my car with my phone, with the snow blowing outside and all of those memories and feelings from a decade earlier sweeping back in.  Surprisingly, I found myself choking up.

I went on to read his wife’s blog that details some of what she’s gone through over the past month. Her writing added a heartbreaking poignancy and honesty to what she’s been through and what she is going through now.

Reading it all, processing this news, of people whose lives I’ve only crossed briefly has left me wanting to absorb the pain I read, from the wife and the close friend who let us all know.

A post, in his wife’s own words, frame why I was so moved at the news of this good man’s passing:

I’ve always believed in the power of connections. There’s a reason we are all on this planet together at the same time and one individual’s actions affects the multitude. 

These are the words she wrote about the nature of prayer, human interaction and the Universe. Her husband touched my life briefly, but powerfully in the most everyday sort of way with a few laughs and conversation years ago, along with the well written posts sharing their lives since then. I can only imagine how many others have been affected.

Simply being who he was made a difference and left a wonderful memory in the world.  And the world at once feels the lesser without him and so much more to have met him.

I am constantly amazed when I drive out into the country how many abandoned homes and barns are along the road side. Houses sit sagging, windows boarded over, shingles sliding off of roofs. It’s a shame too, because I can only imagine how nice some of these homes were in their prime.

These are photos taken today as I drove home of one particular property I passed many times.

I kind of find it sad and telling that even the boards used to seal up broken windows in this small house are weathered by this point. The door also sat slightly ajar. I wanted to walk inside, but was afraid to be caught trespassing, which I probably already was.

This house sat across the road from the last. It is quite big, and it takes up your view as you drive around a bend in the road. The town both homes are near is small and poor.

And collapsing barns come a dime a dozen.

The magic of running has become I get to the end, my pace is typically a little better than what it used to be (and I’m often more surprised at the tempo of grueling runs versus the upbeat ones). I almost always, feel a little better, even on those runs where I push too hard or come in walking instead of running along.

I could make the obvious comparison, utter the cliché remark that running reflects life. I have. I am. I will, repeatedly. As in life, it’s more in the application and determination and pursuing of dreams that matter more a lot of the time, versus the real goal met. There will always be another goal.

Perhaps this is also why in this second marathon season I’m not as boisterous about each small achievement, each run, because it’s not new. It’s work and commitment and planning to do better than what I did before. Race day is the event. Training is the prepping, sacrificing, pain and joy it takes to get there and do better. And like most things those little things fill more of my days than the big event. And it is what makes it worth it.

Strangely, at the age of 35 my life is beginning to imitate running. I can be the architect of the game plan to get to where I think I want to be, but where I wind up isn’t necessarily up to me. A day will come and a measure of my plans judged – if I’ve avoid pitfalls, distractions, or moved on to something else that caught my eye on the course.

I was on Monmouth Street in Newport, Ky. today running some errands, camera in tow, when I came across this salon hair dryer chair (is this what it is called?) sitting on the sidewalk for sale in front of what I assume is a pawn shop. It was just very odd sitting there. I felt a little odd stopping to take pictures, but I think it was worth it.

There is one other photo I took today, completely unrelated to this. Sort of rustic for being in the middle of the city, no?

I am trying to eat healthier. Really I am. And what I can’t eat, I will photograph. So far everything pictured, but the apples have started to go bad before I could eat them all.

Work schedule and life has limited me to taking pictures of those items in my immediate proximity. I’m off Wednesday though, so more playing with place and settings on my camera hopefully. Here area  few pics I took between a 7 mile run with friends and lunch before work today. The cat above is play on shadow and light, emphasis on light. It was a bright day and this was around 1:30 to 2 o’clock.

This invasive species of vines, along with honeysuckle, grow everywhere in my yard. With Valentine’s Day coming up, the shape of this leaf caught my eye. A good reminder to check my calendar and not catch myself out and about with all those romantics. (One day I will share my curse of being dateless on Valentine Day, dating someone before or after this day, but never on this day.)

And finally, more vines, creeping between the wood posts of a gate that keeps my backyard enclosed at my driveway.