Ruminator

Photo by: Tim Bindner Recently I had a friend’s post on Facebook. “ Some of you need to chill out. Most of life is not that urgent. Breathe, relax, and enjoy the moment .” They did not direct this at me, but it got me thinking, as usual. The person who posted the message is retired. I have heard people with lots of money say things like money is not important. I have heard others that are secure in certain aspects of their life (love, finances, job, etc.) to not worry so much about something they are already secure in. It is easy to tell others to chill, don’t worry, or relax, but for people like me, it is not so easy to do. My in-laws (retired) decide to do things at the last minute, or just have tasks they do whenever they decide to. Not an issue usually, but they are often trying to do things they cannot do on their own, because of their age and physical ability. When they decide to do certain tasks, my wife runs to help them. This means if I am not working, I...

Today’s post is a very touchy subject but one that has been on my mind for a while, and I feel I need to write about it. I also need your help in understanding the logic behind it, because I do not get it. Recently, as I often do, I had the television on for some background noise. I stray from national news and often even local news unless they are discussing the weather. This day I was not paying attention and had NBC Nightly News on with Lester Holt. The story that came on not only shocked me, but had me questioning the point of the story. Our country, unfortunately, has a brutal past with slavery. Though the United States is not the worst country (by numbers), I feel even one slave is too many. Burma, Japan, Pakistan, India, and many other countries had greater numbers of slaves than ever held in the United States, but that is not the point here. I would really like you to pause and watch this piece I am about to talk about. Click HERE ! After watching the story, again I recognize t...

Photo by: Tim Bindner I was told in the past by someone who used to support my blogs that “if it is about photography, I just instantly delete it.” Today’s post is about that topic, and thus this warning. I will not get into technicalities of the photography but explaining why and how I took the above photograph. Also, what inspired me to do so. So be warned, now is the time to “delete” if you don’t want to go any further. Recently I watched a YouTube video from a person who went out and shoot scenes like the famous photographer, Saul Leiter. Watching the video, I imagined myself trying this as well. Since I was going to the mountains of Colorado, why not try to shoot a shot like Ansel Adams? You can read more about Ansel Adams in the link below. To summarize, he was the most famous landscape, black and white photographer ever known. He produced color shots later in his career. My inspiration for the above shot and much of my work started and continues to be because of him. If you do n...

Photo by: Tim Bindner Day 6: June 18, 2023 This would be our last full day in our Airbnb and in this part of Colorado. We would be returning to a place we had been to before (almost) but visiting an amazing sight. Today’s drive would span 108 miles total and take me to a very uncomfortable place. One, however, Marcie loved. Leaving our ‘home’ we drove briefly east on Highway 162 before merging onto Highway 285 heading south for 21 miles. It was early Sunday morning and traffic was almost non-existent. At the light, we turned left onto Highway 50, then quickly and left, continuing Highway 50 before turning right into the parking lot of Robin’s. I had the French toast and water, and Marcie had eggs and sausage, I believe. We arrived a few minutes before they opened and after entering and ordering within a few minutes, there was a long line to get in. I drove east on Highway 50 for another 54 miles. A route we had done on the previous day. The sun was still low on the horizon, but made be...

Photo by: Tim Bindner Day 5: June 17, 2023 Today’s adventures I would drive 149 miles. The route is seen below on the map. The morning began as every other here. Got up, wrote in my journal, took my medicine, filled mine and Marcie’s water bottle with ice and water, showered, dressed and waited for Marcie to wake up. I was looking forward to today because I wanted to see this place called Tincup. It is also named Tin Cup or even Virginia City. Regardless of what it may be named or called, we were going to Tincup, Colorado. More on that later. I drove to Buena Vista, filled up on gas, and then we ate at Jan’s. I had a waffle with maple syrup and Marcie had a child’s pancake and an egg. Washed down with water. While we were finishing up eating, the table of ‘regulars’ had their daily conversation and we could not help but overhear them. They discussed life, politics, and of course had all the correct solutions to fixing the world and it’s problems. However, what caught my eye was a young...

Photo by: Tim Bindner Day 4: June 16, 2023 Today we had a longer route planned. We were going to a popular destination and one recommended by a friend. The day didn’t turn out like we planned. As had become routine, we got up, showered, dressed, and left early. North we headed towards our breakfast destination of Rooster Crows Café. Marcie and I both had two Early Bird Specials, then began our 2+ hour drive south toward The Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve. We drove south on Highway 285 for about an hour, where we turned onto Highway 17. Highway 17 was a straight 2 lane road where we saw no cars for miles. The Collegiate mountains slowly got smaller in my rearview mirror. I drove through small towns named Moffat and Hooper. Then I turning east onto Line 6 North and finally northwest onto Highway 150 before reaching the entrance to the park. $25 entrance fee was given after waiting 20 minutes in line and we drove to the visitor’s center to buy bug spray and look around. Aft...