This morning, I woke up before the sun rose. I managed to get out of the house a little later, around six in the morning. I had my trusty camera at my side. It was overcast, but I did not let that stop me; I was on a mission to snap a few photographs.

As I drove towards Jordan Lake to catch the morning light, the clouds in the sky burst. The weather went from dull and dreary to a torrential downpour. I was driving in a sudden North Carolina monsoon.

When the rain mostly let up a couple hours later, I ventured to park and take a couple pictures. “No parking” signs littered the roadsides. I decided to drive to a recreational facility on the lake and rest my car in a parking space within its vicinity.

“Four bucks?!” The guy had to be kidding. All I could do was repeat myself, “You want four bucks for me to park? Four bucks to park out here in the middle of nowhere? Just for a couple minutes?” It was pretty crazy. I could justify the money if I was going to stay there all day and if I was hauling my very own boat to go speed racing on the lake, but to stop and play the part of a shutterbug for a few minutes — well, the price definately was not worth it. “Well, if you want four bucks, I’m going to drive a bit forward and turn around.” I did precisely that. I left feeling somewhat cheated out of an opportunity for a photo-taking experience. Nowhere near that area was there a place to legally park. I know I missed a few decent shots this morning.

If it is any consolation, I managed to have my camera with me when I spotted a truck with a very unusual sticker on its rear window. I’ve seen many like it in the past, but with either the letters “LNX” or “OBX”, short for “Linux” and “Outer Banks”, respectively. One has to wonder if those three letters are referring to the same three in recent news… Anyway, I thought it was quite odd.

Hopefully this upcoming Saturday morning will lend a bit more hospitible weather for photography. *smile*