The Brick and Mortar Cafe
Chattahoochee Riverwalk

I’m trying something new today!

I took today off to give myself a long, four day weekend. I had no plan other than an extra day to the weekend.

The something new, you ask… well, I’m sitting over in my favorite weekend coffee shop writing this post. The coffee shop is part of my Sunday habit (ritual, if I’m being honest). I go for my groceries and stop on my way home to get a coffee. This last Sunday I really broke with my routine. I had forgotten my coffee mug (they allow you to bring, even encourage, your own cup), so I went home dropped off the groceries and returned. Rather than walk back out I sat down at one of the tables to enjoy the atmosphere. I liked it.

This morning, as I was working on a few images, I decided I would take my Microsoft Surface over to the coffee shop and write this post while I enjoyed some coffee. If you are curious, check out The Brick and Mortar Cafe (it is a FB page). The proprietor is really nice and I like supporting a local business.

Also, another part of the something new is seeing how this “not working” thing is. I have really had retirement on my mind for quite a while. My brother-in-law retired a couple years ago and he is a year younger than me. And then my Mom informed me one of my friends growing up retired a couple months ago. Those thoughts start to worm their way into my brain and I have a hard time turning them off. I could get use to this… 🙂

Anyway…

I mentioned in my Sunday post that on Saturday, as part of my Market Days adventure, I walked the Chattahoochee Riverwalk again. I went in the opposite direction then I did a couple weeks ago. I walked along Front Ave. until it met up with the river trail, and then I headed back toward Uptown. I found a few interesting views along the way. The first that stopped me in my tracks is this reflection.

Frequent visitors know, I can’t pass up a good reflection. The water had collected in a low spot on the trail and getting the camera practically into the water allowed me to remove most of the ground. I had to dodge a few cyclists but it was totally worth it.

A few steps further along the trail I spotted this view of the train bridge over the river. This bridge is the continuation of the tracks I captured in a post about a week ago (From 9th Street). I liked the split in this view, the water and bridge on one side with the tree lined path on the other.

And then we come to the bridge proper. I wasn’t so much interested in the bridge but was trying to capture the blossoms in the tree while using the bridge as a backdrop. Not too sure I succeeded, but hey, I gave it a try.

Although the image above didn’t turn out like the one I had in my head as I was capturing it, I did grab a view of the blossom. From what Google Lens tells me, the tree is a Persian Silk tree, or also called a mimosa tree. After reading about this tree, I’m not so sure I’m happy to see one (they are highly invasive)… 😦

Now we get to the different section of this post, or maybe better, different images. These remind me of the images I captured more of as I was learning photography. A little abstract. Eventually I had to pass under the train bridge. I remembered to look up.

We are almost back to the waterfront in Uptown. The day was heating up and it was almost time for lunch. I grab one last image of the trail before heading to Waveshaper Island and the post with the herons (Saturday Ritual).

Back to my something new… I probably should not have done this! The rest of this week will be tough at work after enjoying my morning, relaxing with a cup of coffee at the cafe. Yeah, those thoughts of being done with work are going to continue…

Callaway Resort & Gardens

Generally, my first stop at Callaway Gardens is the Overlook Azalea Garden. What I stop to view is the winding cart path connecting the golf course. Of course, I can’t not walk through the garden especially when there are blossoms to photograph. I’ve had these images done for a few days and actually forgot about them before this morning. Now you can see why I stop here…