Ruminator

Photo by: Tim Bindner It felt so good to be back. I realized two things today. Neither were surprises. It has been almost 5 months since I have been out hiking in my area. My body yearned to be in the woods, and so did my soul. This Sunday morning I headed to my church to be one with God and with Mother Nature. Neither disappointed me. I arrived at 7:30am and headed along a familiar path toward the lake. In the distance, I could see the fog rolling across the pond and felt the cool breeze energize my body. I had not seen this place since late spring and the trees still were covered with green leaves and the paths were surrounded by various foliage. The temperature hovered around 51 degree and I quickly learned lesson one. I am out of shape. My legs felt like I was walking in sand, and I struggled to breathe. I could feel the pain from the massage I had two days before, but endured the soreness partly because of wearing some compression socks. I was there, and I pushed myself to finish ...

I will continue to blog, but I have taken my writing a step further and journaled as well. Not quite a typical journal, but one that captures quotes and brief thoughts. I began carrying around my Bigfoot Pocket Journal (laugh if you want). I have a Zebra F-701 pen tucked in a sleeve and the journal itself zipped up neatly within a Lochby Pocket Journal case. Inside I write quotes, brief thoughts and saying I either remember reading or maybe made up in my head. Sometimes the lines between what I read, remember or create get blurred. If I can remember who wrote it, I note that in the journal. Why do I do this? I am unsure. I think when things strike as meaningful or appropriate for how I am feeling; I jot them down. What’s the point? For me, I think it is simply cathartic. Like these blogs, I can read back on them to see how I was feeling at a certain moment. This week I was sitting in a parking lot at the hospital waiting for test results. The rain was pouring down, and I jotted down so...

Recently I had a conversation with someone, or tried to, about the subject I am about to write about. They adamantly disagreed with the truth I am about to tell you, or possibly didn’t understand the truth behind the topic. I was going to let it go, but another friend randomly posted about this on Facebook the other day, so I wrote about it. The following statement is absolutely true. The way you see yourself is always different from the way others see you. I am not talking physically, but you as a person. Every person you meet and see, you create an image for them. If it someone you first meet, or someone you interact with at a store, or even pass on the street, you (and I) create a version of that person in our mind. Mostly it is subconscious, but it happens. Who you think, or know you are, only exists for you. Your spouse/significant other, sibling, mother/father, neighbor, best friend, person at the grocery store you talk to for a moment, mechanic, boss, coworker, etc. all have the...

Photo by: Tim Bindner Today’s post is about one of my favorite pictures. I hope you stick around to finish this post, but I know many will not. I will mention some technical aspects of the photo, but also why it means so much to me. The old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words may or may not be true. Many of my shots speak to me, many do not. The one above did. I’m here to tell you about it. Technically, this is not an impressive picture. Heck, many of you looking at it probably would argue it is not even on the level of good, but for me, it is special. The technical aspects of the picture are as follows; the photograph was taken on my Fujifilm X-T3 with a 27mm lens. Aperture was f/5.6, 1/800 sec at ISO 160. Taken on May 2 nd , 2021 at 7:00pm at Washington Park Beach in Michigan City, Indiana. I added a bit of grain in camera (will talk about later) and of course shot in black & white. If you have made it this far, please scroll back up and look at the photo. I am about ...