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Downtown Louisville

Photo by: Tim Bindner

As the wind gusts, we made our way from street to street and block to block.  The temperature was great, but I felt like I was in a tornado.

They forecast the winds to gust up to 40mph today, and the rain would not let up until after 9am, so Mark and I decided on this Sunday morning to meet in downtown Louisville.

Our journey started at the Ohio River, where I took shots of The Belle of Louisville, some iron steps on a pier, but eventually we decided to “get off the river” and head in town to avoid the wind.  This was my first time downtown since before COVID-19 and the protests.  I was not sure what to expect, or what I would see.  Most businesses were not boarded up, but as usual the city was dead on a Sunday morning.

Mark and I meandered from block to block, with no proper direction in mind.  We went where our ideas took us.  We passed Hotel 21, the Louisville Bat Factory, The Louisville Science Museum, and many hotels and Distilleries.

The clouds eventually opened up and rays of sun provided perfect lighting for some nifty monochrome shots.  As we approached a homeless man I pulled out a $5 gift card, I had bought the night before from McDonalds and handed it to him.  He blessed me, smiled and said, “oh I will use this.  Thank you!”  I had planned on this and purchased a few for such an occasion.

The streets were mostly empty, but had changed since I was last there.  A lot of development has happened, and Mark and I enjoyed the recent development of old buildings.  They have a charm, look and feel that cannot be matched with modern architecture.

At one point we approached a bicycle shop.  The window above was a quick reminder of the recent protests and destruction that occurred in this area.  This shop encased the broken window within two other panes as a reminder of what happened.

Around the block I found another homeless man with his dog.  I gave him a gift card, received another “God bless you” and I felt good for helping these guys out.  It wasn’t much at all, but I knew they would get a meal at least.  This gesture made me reflect.  This last guy was probably in his 30s and looked to be in fairly good shape, yet all he owned was in a shopping cart next to him and he had a love of his dog that sat there on his lap.  I felt sad.  I was there with my expensive camera, drove there in a fairly new car, and this guy would sleep outside tonight.

I use this forum to complain about my problems, and this guy and this city have been suffering and fighting to survive.  It put things in perspective for me.  That my problems are not really all that big.  I am not as bad as many people I know, but I am always looking for more things, better things, different things.  I have more than I will ever need.  I work hard for what I have, but do I really need all the stuff I collect?  Does it make me happy?  No.

We are saturated with consumer goods.  We live in excess.  Yet we choke on dissatisfaction at the same time.  We have everything and subsequently don’t see the essence.

I know the walk today was eye-opening.  I shared it with my buddy Mark, and I was glad to see what I saw and capture the images I did.  I am glad I went and conquered my fear of what I might run into.  It was a good day.

Until next time,

Tim (Kilmer)

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