I GUESS THE GOLF COURSE IS OPEN

Turn around about 180 from yesterday's shots and you will find one of Forest Park's golf courses. The golf cart track is open, maybe because it has better drainage and the asphalt stays warmer that the surrounding soil. You could probably play a round if you had those orange balls.          

COLD WET BLAH

Hard to find something to shoot this weekend. The light looked like what happened to a white car that hasn't been washed in a year. But I had something different to play with, a new tripod. It's the best I've ever had. Got it through a Kickstarter project by a company called Peak Design, known for high end camera bags and the like. They set out to make the best travel tripod ever and I think they succeded. You can look it up if interested.

So I took it to sodden Forest Park, put my beloved Fujifilm X-T3 on it, set the ISO to the lowest native setting, 200, then f11 and let the shutter take as long as it pleased. Really like the crispness and contrast here compared to what I would have gotten handheld, probably at ISO 800-1600 and f8 at most. 

              

AMERICAN MEDICINE

This is not a medical facility as such. It's a Walgreens Pharmacy, the biggest chain in the land. (Pharmacies here are very different from what I've seen in other countries. I can go into this place and buy a toilet brush, USB hub or a bottle of whiskey. Plus my prescriptions, of course. Whiskey is not one of them.)

I, for one, am horrified by the commercialization of American medicine. All the big pharmacies have an office where you can see a nurse practitioner (which is not a problem) for minor or routine concerns, as long as you can pay. The next level up is what's called urgent care offices and they are all over the place. The dominant local group uses the slogan "ER Skills Without The ER Bills." I suppose it serves a purpose-you can see someone quickly without an appointment- but they are for-profit. You can't go in for a bad URI without getting a chest CT and albuterol inhaler before you leave. Cash or insurance up front, please.

No idea what I might post tomorrow. It's just dull here, lead sky, barely above freezing, a drizzle of freezing rain and snow falling. Nothing going on. Time to put on my thinking cap rather than my night cap.                  

AT THE END OF THE FOREST CLEARING

There's a metaphor in here somewhere, something about what is happening to us at the edge of the wilderness. This is actually a local landmark at a gas station that has been at this location for many decades. The original enormous sign was formed with neon. What you see here is a modern reproduction, sort of like the Citgo sign in Kenmore Square, Boston. The view is through the trees in the southwest corner of Forest Park.

The Amoco brand doesn't exist on gas stations any more. This one pumps BP products. I wonder how many Americans know that stands for British Petroleum.          

WINTERS PAST

I took yesterday off. Daily photoblogging can be a grind, especially when an American like me spends most days driving from a garage attached to my house to a garage beneath my office building, not getting out on the street much in winter. Limited shooting opportunities.

Anyway, there is an unusual plaza between our public television and public radio station's buildings called the Public Media Commons. It is the site of a lot of creative events in good weather. Even in mid-winter, the huge video screen in the back has a rotation of unusual images. When I last passed by, it was showing movie clips of skiing on Art Hill decades ago.