I do enjoy seeing ghost murals and find that the alley side of an old building is often the best places for spotting them.
This one is in Bedford, PA just a few doors down from Rebellion Books, a bookshop that took a lot of my money in exchange for a wonderful book shopping experience.
Bedford is a neat little town filled with history, fun shops, and charm. I have nothing but fond memories of this place and only regret we didn’t have more time.
I am plotting a return someday because we only hit the highlights like this historic tavern and the big coffee pot. I want to see more of what’s hiding along the side streets and alleyways. After all, it’s usually off the beaten path where we find the real magic happens.
When you are calm and centered, you are stronger and more confident. You are better ready to face what’s ahead. And while nature has an amazing healing power, don’t think you should wait until you’re outdoors like here in the Hocking Hills State Park. Try it in your back yard or next your bed when you wake up
Ready?
Let’s go tackle the day. It’s Thursday, friends. You’ve got this.
Anyone else ready to drive a road that looks like this? Holy cow. I feel like I’m stuck in the eighth week of August and desperately want to be rid of summer.
Fall can’t get here quickly enough.
This photo is from several years ago on a road out of Thomas, West Virginia. That’s the gorgeous Blackwater Falls region if you’re familiar and I was there on Columbus Day. Most businesses were closed because it was Monday but the roads were wide open and I was delighted that this area was enjoying a vibrant fall foliage season.
I’m ready for pumpkins and sweaters, cozy blankets and the crunch of leaves under my feet. Not to mention the hot chocolate, azure blue October skies, and road trips to nowhere in particular.
There’s so much to see and do in October I feel like I need to rest up so I’m prepared to not miss a thing when it finally arrives.
The Reynoldsburg Ohio Half Price Books is in the flight path of the John Glenn Columbus International AirPort. I was there on Saturday and was delighted to see a few airplanes taking off.
As I stopped to admire a Southwest Airlines jet gain altitude over the parking lot, I couldn’t help but marvel over how human beings figured out the science and engineering behind flight.
How does such a large and heavy hunk of metal leave the earth? How does it stay in the air? Also, where is it headed? Who’s piloting the plane and where are all those people going?
I have so many questions and get truly excited every time I see planes taking flight or headed in to land.
But I was seemingly the only one to even notice there were planes. Life went on around me. No one else broke step or stopped talking for even a moment to notice these enormous jets bound for points unknown.
It made me think about all the times I have stopped mid hike to watch squirrels race up trees. The times I have stood in my driveway to gaze up at the stars or at a beautiful moon. How many times have I stopped to stare at a painting or pace around a sculpture that everyone else just walked by?
At the Franklin Park Conservatory, there’s an amazing glass ceiling crafted by Dale Chihuly. I could stand beneath that ceiling for hours but most people just walk by without a moment’s glance upward.
Am I just a weirdo for finding joy in these things? Or am I fortunate to hold this kind of wonder and curiosity for the world around me?
What does it take to get people’s attention these days? What makes people stop in their tracks and gaze at something with wonder and awe? What makes them curious enough to ask questions?
I was talkjng to a friend last night who has observed that many young people are mainly interested in what someone has told them to care about. They want a photo so they can check that thing off the list and dash off to the next thing someone on the internet has told them is a must-see.
Is this what we have come to?
Maybe I am a weirdo but I tend to think the world around us is full of wonders and miracles and things that deserve our attention, even if just for a little while. And I’m ok with being a weirdo if that means I always have something to think about and sometimes have a reason to feel my heart skip a beat.
And I probably do look like a weirdo watching planes from a bookstore parking lot but fitting in is highly overrated.
It’s not a classic car but it is a cool motorcycle on the Million Dollar Highway in Colorado. It’s also your Thursday reminder that life is not meant to just be survived. It’s meant to be lived.
So get to work on those evening plans or those weekend adventures!
Glass and steel. Light and dark. I appreciate contrasts. Maybe that’s why I like this picture so well.
The place in this picture is a pedestrian walkway just off Chinatown in Washington DC. The orange pieces are 28,000 ribbons hanging down from a sort of pergola. I showed you another perspective shortly after this trip. You can see that image at this link.
I’m not sure why I have been thinking about this place lately. After all, this was a few years ago and the art pieces are certainly long gone by now.
Maybe it s because it was just such a beautiful space that practically glowed with, not just light, but a vibrant explosion of colors that’s hard to explain.
Maybe it’s because it’s just so different than where I live. For someone who happily lives in the country with trees that are bigger than our tallest buildings, there’s something almost mesmerizing about the way this building lights up against the night sky.
This is one of the reasons we travel – because the places we visit became a part of us. They become a part of our memories.
Important travel memories can come from a conversation with a local, an important artifact overhead in a museum, or the smell of fresh donuts at a local bakery. It can also be an early September breeze softly tickling 28,000 ribbons while the glow of electric light makes them seem to explode with color from within.
Don’t just go from Point A to Point B when you travel. Leave the resort. Do something outside your comfort zone. Stop to admire something unfamiliar. Make a memory.
And, on some dreary day years later, pull out the pictures and remember that near magical moment that helped to define that trip. Know that in some way, it helped to reshape a part of you too.
Travel isn’t just going places. It’s bringing those places with you wherever you go.
