I’ve been so happy with the quality of the pictures my new point-and-shoot Cannon SD1200 takes, and had such a good time photographing my trip in Europe, that I decided to start doing Photo Walks.  Having lived nearly my entire life in Lansing, I was wondering what might catch my eye if I was intentionally looking for it.

buddy can go say hi to squirrel, plz?

After a particularly long and rough week, I came home from work around 6:30 this morning, and decided to take a long walk with my (7 y.o.) puppy, buddy.  He’s 1/2 Rottweiler and 1/2 Black Lab.  Pretty much the coolest, most chill dog I’ve ever met.  So house broken that I’m pretty sure he’d actually burst his bladder before he peed in the house.  As long as you hug him, feed him, and give him walks and bones, you are his best friend.

Buddy and I made slow, but steady progress away from the house.  We had an agreement: I’d let him chase the occasional chipmunk, and he’d wait patiently as I stopped every 20 feet, to find the right angle.

Walnut street, not quite alive yet.

You can’t really tell with these pictures, but it’s still barely dawn.  The streetlights are only just beginning to lose ground to the sunlight, and you can see the ground starting to wake up.   It’s nearly impossible to see, but on any other day of the week this street is already packed with busy people in their busy cars going to their busy jobs.  It takes until far later on a Saturday to start getting traffic.

Our walk took us into the heart of Downtown Lansing, where there are churches and official buildings galore.  The Baptist Church sits next to the Methodist, sits around the corner from the Cathedral (or at least what passes for one in the US).  They’re absolutely gorgeous churches, with amazing windows, that have nearly all been built in the last 200 years.

Lansing Church, downtown.

Ah well.  Really, the churches, as pretty as they are, aren’t my favorite downtown building.  The capitol building is absolutely stunning, nearly any time of the day.

Lansing Capitol building.

The dome is light every night, and the lights generally are off during the day.  Since we were walking about so close to dawn, the lights were still on, during the cloudy early morning.  I’ll have to see if I can get down there to get a picture on a clear night.  If I can, you’ll agree.  It’s an absolutely stunning building.

I really should go on a tour again.  I haven’t been since grade school.  I wonder if I’d still think it as huge.

Apparently I forgot to post this:
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Our hotel is on South Lake Shore Drive. Lake shore Dr. / US41 is so beautiful. It’s a road that runs along the coast of Lake Michigan. There are boats parked in the water (“How do they know where to park without a dock?” Mom says). It takes you right by the Museum for Science and Industry, which I will have to make a plan to come to this winter to see it.

I spent more time sleeping than I intended this trip, but my body is pushing me to sleep because I’m getting sick, I think.
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Mom and I were in chicago for July 12th – 14th. She was there for a conference, and I decided to tag along. I got to see some friends, and see some beautiful days, and it was awesome. I think I have some pictures around here somewhere. If I find them, I’ll put them up.