Skip to main content

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)

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Love to get your feedback on what you read!

Popular posts from this blog

A gift from a friend

Photo by: Tim Bindner Photography Recently I received a gift from a friend.  It was unexpected but it meant so much.  A simple gesture, an act of kindness, a show of love and friendship. I met Miranda via Instagram based on a recommendation from my buddy Mark.  Like most things, he recommends I seriously consider and highly respect his suggestions.  This was true to form.  I began following Miranda on Instagram, Facebook and even viewing her website.  I stuck up a few online conversations and got the nerve to ask her for an interview.  I wrote about that here . Eventually, text and online correspondence led to a few phone calls.  I admired her work and even discussed creating a book of my own and she admitted wanting to do one as well.  Specifically, I saw two pictures that I loved.  My passion for nature, especially trees is well known.  When I saw this photo (single tree) I was floored.  I even asked her if I could buy a copy.  Nothing really came of that.  I then saw another photo ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Martin-Hogan-Long Cemetery

Photo by: Tim Bindner Today’s journey was to a seldom visited cemetery call Martin-Hogan-Long Cemetery (N38°06.621 W86°14.238). It is in Harrison-Crawford State Forest, but by the looks of the road to get there, few have traveled this way, or at least not traveled there in a long while. The bright sun made the 30° temperature feel warmer than it was. Something I would soon discover upon entering the thicker part of the forest ahead. Today’s hike was one mile one way, and I had a friend named Amanda join me upon this adventure. After grabbing our gear, we scurried around the locked gate at the end of a gravel road. By crossing the gate, we moved from a public road to the State Forest property. I was armed with a GPS and printed map showing “ overgrown, barely discernable fire lanes ” as given to me by my contact, a local Indiana DNR–Division of Forestry Resource Specialist. Amanda and I made our way downhill on the fire lane that quickly changed pitch and had us g...
Post a Comment
Read more

Over Think?

Photo by: Mark Wilcoxson Last Friday I met with my Psychologist and as usual we had a great conversation about what things were troubling me as well as the things that were going great. One such topic I plan to discuss here. After a very emotional week for me, I discussed the three main impacts this past week held for me. While discussing the details with her, I mentioned two specific conversations I had recently. I was told by some “friends” that I am an over thinker. During our conversation, I provided the detail and the label I was given. She disagreed with that statement and diagnosis. As she described it (or I interpreted it) an over thinker is someone who harbors on a subject to where it affects them so much that it debilitates them. They will focus on a particular subject or issue and that exercise will affect other areas of their life. They may change their behavior, actions or lives because of it. She said if anything I ruminate. The definition of ruminate is ‘think deeply abo...
Post a Comment
Read more