Friday the 13th

September 15, 2013

Friday the 13th

I was watching the news last Thursday evening when I heard the newscaster mention that Friday would be the 13th. I had heard that dire announcement many times over the years and would chuckle when hearing it as it had always been "just another day".

That Thursday evening was a cool and totally appreciated after the hot spell we had experienced the past couple of weeks. There is just something special about sleeping with the windows open and a cool breeze drifting across you as you fall into a deep sleep. My wonderful deep sleep was interrupted that night by the sound of multiple sirens wailing at some point early Friday morning, reminding me that the windows were open. It was more than the occasional siren I would hear now and then and I made a mental note to check it out the next day.

Being curious about the sirens I had heard earlier that morning I got up and thought about where I might be able to find out what had happened. As the hazy fog of sleep left my head as I sipped on some hot fresh coffee it hit me. I went straight to the source of all things current, a place that one could find out what was happening before it even happened! I grabbed my Ipad and hit the Facebook icon. There it was, news about a large fire in downtown Winona. There were even a few photos already posted.

I left a little early for my morning workout Friday so I could check out the fire scene. Just before 7:00am I could see the plumes of smoke drifting over the business district as I headed towards downtown. There were a lot of streets blocked off so I grabbed my backup camera and walked a couple of blocks to see what was going on. I was a little surprised to see the magnitude of the fire and that the firemen were still dousing the smoldering buildings from the tall ladders. I took some shots from the east side of the fire and then headed off to the YMCA for my workout.

After my workout I prepared several of the images I had taken earlier that morning at the fire. I knew there would probably be a lot of fire images posted by media photographers and cell phone cameras so I was blown away by all the views and comments I received on the photos I posted. I am guessing for those not currently living in Winona the images gave them some idea of what was going on.

I am reposting the Facebook images here for my blog friends that are not on Facebook.

Friday the 13th will now stir up old memories when I hear it talked about in the future. For those affected by the fire, their memories will be far more serious. On the bright side, there were no injuries or deaths resulting from the fire that started before 2am on Friday the 13th.

Although I am still an avid nature and wildlife photographer, my photography has shifted a little to include photo impressionism and also concept portraiture. I am hoping to incorporate my wildlife images into this style as I move forward. I have also included in this blog posting, some of my new images which are being printed on canvas and will hopefully be exhibited in the near future. I was planning on an October exhibit at Blooming Grounds Coffee House but will have to see how that pans out after the fire damaged the Coffee House on Friday.

I apologize for the logo watermarks on the images. They do not appear on the actual prints and canvases.