We’ve been here in Janesville for 3 years and I’ve always felt that we really don’t have much natural beauty here. I have tried to convince myself otherwise, but Janesville has really not come through for me. Today I took off at sunrise in search of something beautiful and came back with almost nothing.

I’ve been thinking more about this and I’ve realize that we do have natural beauty here, but that the city of Janesville has not done an acceptable job making this beauty accessible to the general public. The vast majority of our Rock River shoreline is locked up in private residences. We have bridges over the river, but nowhere you’d want to stop.

The city of Janesville calls itself the “city of parks” — but I have yet to find a truly photogenic park. I do find playground equipment and public pools, but true raw natural beauty that would require a camera, no. The Janesville flickr pool reminds me of this reality every time I check it. Train cars and old buildings, even bowling alleys and pictures of Taco Bell… but not a single thing that would inspire me to wake up at 5am and set out with a tripod.

This morning, I went looking for the sunrise in my stylish rental car. I drove for over an hour, mostly downtown and near the river. This is what I shot first and it’s the only one I liked enough to process. Everything else left me with a blah feeling that makes me very insecure about my own abilities. I would love to discover Janesville with someone more accomplished. I’m open to the idea that it’s just me.

… and I found this.

I made dinner in silence. I’m paying for it now. It’s almost 4am and Bailey is showing no signs of slowing down. Getting her back on schedule will be my first project as soon as everyone here is over the killer cold that Brandon brought home last week.

I’m finally getting to see how sharp my Tamron lens can be when it’s not wide open in low light (where it doesn’t excel like the 17-55 does). Did some stuff with flash tonight to test a new flash bouncer I’m going to make now that I’ve worked out the pattern.

Some of the random shots I took while testing. Nothing special, just seeing what it could do with no light.

Just one more week of school. This week we really NEED to get Brandon early and run him over to what we hope will be his new school. If he feels good about it, it’s a go. One more thing checked off the list.

Still conflicted about the pros and cons of church membership and the idea of jumping through the hoops of converting to a new denomination when I know it doesn’t change one single thing about what I believe. What’s the advantage? Lower tuition? Not a big deal — it’s a steal compared to Rock Prairie. A sense of belonging for Brandon. A very good thing, indeed. But at what cost? The commitment to a new church and the guilt of inevitably falling short of my obligation to the church, maybe to the detriment of Brandon’s good standing. So much pressure.