Enjoy the ride,

Jami

Happy Bike Photo Friday!

No bikes in the bike racks.  Starbucks was devoid of them.  Two laps in my vehicle turned up nothing.  While driving around looking for bicycles the irony hit that I was using up a lot of gasoline on this excursion.  I had  an appoint with the trails, so I kept driving with my guilty conscious.

In lieu of a bicycle around town I have three photos of bikes on signs.

Thanks to Grammar Girl’s podcast for supplying me with an entertaining definition of irony.  While I was fairly certain I knew how to use the word correctly, the fear of an Alanis Morisette moment set in.  Even if you know the proper use of the word, visit Grammar Girl.  Entertaining and informative?  The world needs more of it.

We drove about an hour before we left big towns. Then the open space appeared. I appreciate open space and land now that I mountain bike. I can stare into the distance in awe of the lack of power lines and strip malls we grow accustom to. During a location scouting trip last year to Palo Duro Canyon I spent 7 hours in the car. It was one of the best car rides. The Texas scenery pulled me in.

Dave and I found an abandoned gas station. Old gas pumps have character that today’s computerized boxes lack.

The empty gas station was just the beginning of empty buildings. Wichita Falls is full of them. Restaurants, hotels, gas stations, houses, the city has been hit hard. An empty town is a boon for urban exploring. Good for us that a few buildings were unlocked, free of no trespassing signs.

This grain facility was off limits

The building had charm with aged letters fit for a postcard.

We hadn’t gone on a photo excursion for months. Motivation had been fairly low to venture out and be creative. But it’s coming back as my free time has grown.

My cemetery visit outside of Wichita Falls has me thinking about my cemetery project again. See previous cemetery visits here

This is where I’ll participate in my first bike race later this summer.  The trail is tough.  But, just as with anything, I’ll get better with practice.  Visit other Bike Photo Friday! pics by clicking this link.

Lately I have gained a lot of creative energy and inspiration from creative women on Flickr and looking through different blogs.  Some of them make a living off of being creative online.  Seems like a dream, but the grass is always greener.   While I don’t see myself amassing a huge following of people, getting a book deal, or being all that enthralling on the net, I like playing here.  It’s somewhere to put my photos other than on a back up drive.

Tonight the flash is back on my camera.  I’m trying my hand at food photography.  This month’s Cooking Light issue has a risotto recipe that sounds delicious.  I splurged on a few ingredients.  The recipe called for fresh thyme on top of dry wine and mascarpone cheese. To my surprise there is a little bit of thyme in my patio garden that survived the freeze.  So one less item to purchase.

If I manage to take photos while cooking, I’ll post them up here.  The above photo was inspired by many creatives on Flickr who combine words and images.  I took the pic this morning while enjoying Spoon’s new album.

Speaking of rough.  While pausing to gasp for air, wishing I was at my car and wondering why I’ve felt compelled to “train” for an endurance race, I stopped to catch my breath.   (train is in quotation marks because I’m just exercising, but I’m fooling myself with the T word because it sounds sexier).

Camera was in tow, but the winter has not been kind to Tyler State Park.

So I took a photo of the helpful bark.  The tree was huge!  And very pretty.

I survived my ride. The 10 mile trail seemed more like twenty with the climbs and the rain.