JUSTmyLUCK

I have this really weird love and obsession with taking pictures of paths. Walking paths, trails in woods, roads left forgotten, all of them. I have absolutely no idea what it is about them that seems so aesthetically pleasing to me, but when I see a good path, I have to take a picture of it. I am sure I have hundreds of pictures of random trails scattered around my computers and extra hard drives, such as the one to the right. I took this in the beautiful Big Bend National Park as my father and I embarked on our hike to Emory's Peak, the tallest point in the park. I remember being so thrilled that the sun had finally come out and loved the shadows in the front with the mountains in the back. It's by no means an exceptional photograph that's going to win me any accolades for my fantastic ability to click a button, but I think it's beautiful and surprisingly comforting. I took the picture to the left in Bois de Vincennes when I studied in Paris. I loved both Bois de Boulogne and Bois de Vincennes, but I will say I loved the latter more (possibly because there weren't any hookers waiting to pounce from the bushes). It was greener and the trees reminded me of Houston, but I think the key reason boils down to the paths. There was no rhyme or reason, at least not to me, where they were going or where you'd end up if you followed them, but they were beautiful. I can't even tell you how many times I got lost wandering around (longest run to date - 2 and a half hours spent running around, trying to find the metro stop I got there on!) but you better believe I always had my camera on me.

Am I the only one who finds incredible peace in the pictures above? I could be having an awful day and be completely unsure of where my life is going, but for some reason, looking at the pictures above make me think I can do anything (super cheesy, I know). I think it's the fact that, in the pictures, you see a segment of the path, but not the end, just like your life right now. Sure, the part you're walking on might be rough and twisted, with overgrown foliage blocking your view, but around the next bend could be an opening to the most beautiful sight you've seen yet. I knew there had to be some deep reason I take all those pictures....