Some say that I don’t like sunsets.
Those folks would be wrong. I like sunsets. I like what they represent. I like their color. I like their power. I like them when they are peeking through trees. I like their light. I like to see where their light falls.
But, those folks do speak with a grain of truth.
I get bored with the same old sunset picture. The one that was taken because you were there, not because it was spectacular. The one with the pier carefully framed somewhere within the picture. The one that you’ve seen a thousand times before.
I suppose that I like sunsets when they are just a part of the final picture. I have a friend who works in New Orleans, but who lives out by the airport in Kenner. He drives west to go home. The sunset is in his face. He always makes a unique image because he includes a little bit of the interstate, a few cars, a drainage canal. It’s not the sunset per se. It’s about the sunset.
Think about that.
And, think about where that wonderful and amazing golden-orange light is falling. Surely, it’s illuminating something that might be interesting.
The news that fits
There are a lot of protests in New Orleans. The protesters have taken to the interstates. They’ve blocked traffic making it very inconvenient for people who are passing by. Pictures are posted on Facebook, some from news sources, some from private citizens.
There are often a lot of comments.
I forget that aside from New Orleans, I live in a pretty red state. The comments are amazing. Aside from wanting to punish the protesters for blocking the interstate, most of the commenters have no clue of how a protest works. In order to gain attention often time passersby are inconvenienced. That’s the whole point.
And, that is a big difference between protesting and rioting, breaking windows and starting fires.
Last night the protesters moved to The French Quarter. There was talk of them tearing down the statue of Andrew Jackson. A small group of locals hate him as much as they hated the Confederate generals.
And this.
If somebody started a fire in the quarter, it could harm a good portion of it. The French Quarter has burned three or four times in history. The current version is still around 250 years old. The last time it was rebuilt, the Spanish owned the state. That’s why The French Quarter has mostly Spanish architecture.
I was going to photograph the protest. It’s history. It’s one element of what could be a huge change. I was reminded very strongly that CoVid19 is still hovering. That I am old. Or, at least at an age when catching the virus could be fatal. I was also reminded that I have the underlying condition of CLL.
Obviously, in the face of such overwhelming data, I chose to stay home. That’s not exactly true. I tried to sneak out through a side gate. I was going to walk down the street and catch the streetcar. They were waiting for me. With a pitchfork. And, a bat. And, dogs.
Oh well.
The picture
It’s a sunset, alright. A pretty nice one. It’s poking through some trees. It hides a little. It’s my kind of sunset. Seeing it was the hardest part of making the picture. The rest was easy, just as it should be.
Stay safe. Stay mighty. Enjoy every sandwich.
STORYTELLER 
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