The Blue Herons, They Do Taunt Me!

For those of you who have followed this blog, you know that I have been on a quest to get a good photo of a blue heron, if for no other reason that the personal satisfaction (I guess some of my Father's drive as a professional photographer rubbed off on me after all).

At the last minute, I decided to play hookie from the gym, and hike the trails along the Chattahoochee near my house. Since it was an impromptu hike, I was without gadgets. Not long after I left the park and headed into the woods, I happened upon a fisherman climbing back to the trail from the river, and behind him, a blue heron perched on a branch in a wonderfully picturesque pose. He seemed completely oblivious to the fisherman (who was just a few feet from him), and me (not much further away). Naturally, no camera. If I had one, he would have been long gone before I got that close, just for sport. In desperation, I grabbed my aging cell phone and attempted a picture, only to have it die on me. Of well, Heron 3, Robert 0.

As I was walking through Jones Bridge Park, I came across a sign about the history of the park and the bridge which I had not paid attention to before. It discussed the fact that prior to the bridge being built in 1904, a ferry was operated in that location by the property owner. I imagined the operator living in a house near the river, with a bell on the outside. Given the nature of the business, I imagined him having to respond to the bell, night or day.

As my brother will confirm, starting BIZTech in our day is somewhat similar. We need every customer we can get, which means we are often on a short leash to the ones we have.

One of the nice things about hiking is that you see new things, even on trails you have done before. My normal route takes me behind fiserv (aka Checkfree, aka SSI, aka Stockholder Systems). I discovered that I could get across a stream on the far side of the property, where the trail continued along the river. I ran out of daylight before I ran out of trail.

Looking forward to next time, WITH camera.