One of my favorite pictures is now 15
years old.
I don't remember why, but a decade and
a half ago I had to run down to the station before I went out on one
of my rambling Saturday morning runs. I do remember it was early,
that it was warm, and that the sun was streaming down East Bluff
Street between the First Presbyterian Church and the Longyear
Building. In fact, it was because of the perfectly positioned sun
that I saw something sitting on the sidewalk, something that caused
me to run into the station, grab a small camera I had in my office,
and take THIS picture--
I like the picture for a lot of
reasons. I like it because of the way it's lit, I like it because I
got lucky when I framed it, I like it because the sidewalk's been redone since I took it and the bricks are no longer there, and I like most of all because I think it
perfectly captures what it's like being in downtown Marquette early
on a weekend morning following a late weekend evening of revelry.
Besides, it's a lot prettier that the
piles of vomit that you occasionally see.
I'm guessing the glass comes from the
Elks Club, because I took the picture right outside the bar. But
this being downtown Marquette (or, at least, the downtown Marquette
of 2005); the glass could've come from anywhere. There are plenty of
drinking establishments within a three block area of where I took the
picture. It wouldn't surprise me if someone just happened to (ahem)
accidentally walk off with a drink they hadn't finished when last
call rolled around.
You just never know.
As many of you know, I'm not an early
riser. I'm not the kind of person who's up and ready to go the same
time as the sun. But there are a few times in my life I've been glad
to be awake early, and recently most of those times have come when
I've captured a picture of something lit by the early sun. This is a
perfect example of that.
The fact that it also captures the
essence of downtown Marquette after a rowdy Friday night is just a
bonus.
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