The mind is an amazing piece of engineering. Some things that we learned or saw oh so long ago can come back to us with so much detail it’s like it just happened. Sometimes it’s song lyrics, like the title to this post. I remember the first time I heard “Looking out my back door” by CCR and thinking that there was no way I heard what I heard, but I had and it stuck in my head for later retrieval. “Tambourines and elephants are playing in the band.” Sometimes we look at people or places and remember them how they looked the first time we saw them, no matter how many years have passed. The latter is the subject of this post.

While I still had access to the Leica T camera I took it to Kin Kanyon park early one August morning. For many years I lived across the road from the Kanyon and spent a lot of time in the park. I have seen it change a lot over the years. Change is inevitable. Some say; “Change is good.” I know the first one is true but I don’t always agree with the 2nd one. Maybe the aging process has skewed my perspective of life. Or maybe my mind remembers things as better then they were. Either way, I don’t always appreciate change.

When I first went to Kin Kanyon in the late 70’s it was a rural park in the city. There were more trees in the park than some areas of the city it seemed. Narrow paths led through the bush to different areas of interest. Having lived in the country my whole life; I loved it. From climbing up in the metal rocket and then using the slide to get out to running around in the wooden fort to using the big metal rocking horse that was tucked away in the trees. I loved all of it.

If I tried hard enough I could probably find pictures I took in the park back in the day, but that would just reinforce my change isn’t always good stance.

There used to be lots of people playing frisbee or throwing a football or softball around but now you are more likely to find someone sleeping on a picnic table. They might be burning the table or trees as they can’t make a fire with provided wood.

The trail up the hill is still quite worn but it just isn’t the same without that “hazard” at the top.

The fort was old, but it still looked better than the scrubby bush.

I walked down to the creek so  I could walk along my favorite trail.

For some reason the path was repaved recently and the pavement is now very thick

Just hang a left at that corner and you are on what used to be the nicest trail in the park. Since it isn’t paved I never see anyone on it so it is a nice quiet walk. Over the years the trail have gotten harder and harder to walk on. The creek has eroded parts of the bank and caused some of the trail to disappear. Lots and lots of trees have fallen on it so climbing and weaving is the only way through now.

After I fought my way thought the trees I went looking for easier walking.

Our society keeps getting heavier so it’s good to see the Participark equipment has been replaced by a bench.

I followed the trail down to the other bridge and found a bench in another Participark equipment area.

I’m off the pavement and on the shale trail at this point so I followed it for all of about 100 more feet till I get to the bush trail I’ll follow back towards the parking lot.

As I make my way along the trail the only company I have is a squirrel who chirps at me. The solitude comforts me even as I think back to all the fun times I’ve had in the park.

By now the mosquitoes have found me and there is no one else around to distract them so it is time for me to go home. I got to play with a cool new camera while I visited the memories of my youth so it was a good day. I still enjoy going to the park, but it sure is different then it used to be.

I know this looks a bit like a red wart but it gets better, I promise. If you know what this is you either saw me with it or you are a psychic and won’t need to read any further.

Another red dot. Maybe it’s spreading.

A Leica you say.

Who says you can’t shoot shallow depth of field with a micro 4/3 camera? These were taken with my Panasonic GF2.

Et voila, the beautiful Leica T.

Our Leica rep, Doug French, left us his sample camera for a couple of weeks last month and I took it out for a spin on my lunch break one day. Over the years he’s left us a few toys to play with and I always try them out. This camera is stunningly beautiful in my humble opinion. The body is machined from a solid block of aluminum and hand polished when it is finished. A Leica with a touch screen is a bit unsettling but it is easy to use and pretty comfortable to hold. The touch focus was the only thing to give me any issue and once I learned that you touch it once to select the spot and touch it again to lock the spot in it wasn’t so bad. That works differently than any touch focus I’ve used before, but then again Leica is German.

My first shot with the T. I know I know, it’s epic. Lol. I was having lunch at Vietnamese Sub and I couldn’t wait to get outside and use it so I took this through the window.

Setting up for the Wednesday downtown market.

The market wasn’t open yet so I decided to wander over to the Ross Street Patio to see if there was more exciting stuff around. (There wasn’t).

It wasn’t all that exciting on the patio so I moved over to City Hall Park. With such a short zoom I was a bit limited on what I could do and by now I was running out of lunch hour so I grabbed a couple of shots, well 3,  and went back to work.

All in all I found using the little Leica T to be a pleasant enough experience that I will be taking it out again soon to try some different things with it.

Now I just have to convince Lynda to buy it for me for my birthday. I’m am certain the $4k price tag won’t be a problem. Ok, it looks like I won’t be getting a camera for my birthday this year.