That Baby Leica.
If we could travel it would be a wonderful travel camera. As it is, I’ll have to drive around and pretend to be on a trip.
And, speaking of trips, this state is a trip. The governor did what he was expected to do. He made wearing masks mandatory in public places throughout the state. He closed all the bars except for drive up. That should tell you something about the state. He and his advisors will meet and possibly make changes on July 24.
The screams outnumbered those of us who said — finally — by at least three to one. Oh well, I never said you could please everybody. Besides, our statewide daily infection rate is higher than the original surge in April.
The Pictures
The truth is that I was returning from getting a haircut. My first one in five months. The clouds looked appealing so I headed upriver on Highway 61, which we call Airline Drive down our way. The pictures are in order of how I like them. However, I’m writing about them from the bottom, up.
I see cloudy and stormy days in shades of blue rather than dull gray. So, I help them along. Blue adds feeling to the picture. I want you to feel. Besides that, there is very little change.
I turned left instead of looping around and heading right on Highway 61. No rain yet. And, very few people. Even though we had moved to phase one of our reopening, most of us were staying home unless we needed something. I combined my haircut with a grocery run. I generally plan errands like that, but now it seems more important than ever.
You are looking upriver. The first overpass is an elevated roundabout. Turn to the right in my picture and you go to big shopping malls. Look to the left and you go to the river and River Road. There is an ammo dump at the foot of River Road and the overpass which is called Causeway. If you pass the shopping centers and keep going you come to the bridge that is 22 miles long and takes you over Lake Ponchartrain to the Northshore.
The next overpass is a railroad bridge. Yes. Trains fly through the air around here.
Picture two. It was time to go home some I headed to Earhart Expressway. This little overpass that I’m on is a truck route. Unfortunately, a car met a truck further up the road. There was heavy traffic in a place where there should have been no traffic at the time of day I was out and about.
Picture three. I’m on Airline Drive — Highway 61, if you prefer — waiting for a light to change. I had plenty of time to make photographs.
The baby Leica came through like the champ it is. It’s fairly small. It has a fixed zoom lens that is equivalent to a 24-75 mm lens. Of course in small camera speak the lens size is tiny. For me, and the ways that I use this camera, it is almost perfect. It’s quiet and processes images without having to think about it. I can also make 4k video.
When I make pictures like these I turn the camera to everything auto. The Germans who designed it called it snapshot mode. Uh huh. When I make pictures like yesterday’s of the singing woman, I use manual everything. The camera magically becomes a working photographer’s camera.
Sheesh.
Stay safe. Stay mighty. You know what to do. Enjoy every bar drink because after tonight there won’t be any.
STORYTELLER 
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