five year anniversary of where i stand sunday

 Wowsers. How time flies. Especially when you're putting your feet all over things.

Wait, that sounded wrong. But you know what I mean. Five years. Really? I can't believe that its been that long that Where I Stand Sunday has been trucking along.

If you weren't there at the very beginning back in 2007, here is the original post that started it all.

And the very first photo and caption:

Michigan is trading in summer for autumn. The weather is growing cold, its raining and the leaves have become victims of gravity. It won't be long before my blacktop driveway is covered in ice rather then spotted with leaves.

I have to admit, its still one of my favorites. (Its autumn, that endears it to me right there.)

The idea behind the whole project was that we spend way too much time whizzing by all the things in our life. If someone asked you to close your eyes right this second and describe the room you are in great detail, would you be able to do it?

I think we get used to our surroundings and don't realize just how special our environment really is.

I really never thought the essay would last this long and I've played around with varying it with other things every once in a while. In the end, I kept coming back to it. So while there are holes in the essay's collection, its been a constant presence.

A friend asked if I'm going to end it now. Its been five years after all. Honestly? The thought hadn't occurred to me. I've no plans to discontinue it any time soon. Its become a companion, something that is part of the schedule and makes me slow down. (Although I get weird looks for staring at the ground so much.)

 So without further ado, I bring to the first photo of Year Five of Where I Stand Sunday:

Michigan is flirting with winter. Frost is thick and clinging and feels a little like a warning of things to come. A strange melody of water drops as the thin ice flees under the morning sun and the rustle of colored leaves shuffling to the ground create a backdrop that can only speak to the impending winter.

 

Where I Stand is an ongoing photo essay examining the different places I spend my life standing. Too often we take for granted the everyday places we spend our lives walking on. The ground we tread on has its own stories to tell.