We'll start with White Settlement... a township that is more or less considered part of Ft. Worth... I delivered there and I brought my brown bag lunch into this city park.
This isn't, by most peoples standards a great park... the only reason it exists is because there's nothing else that can be done with this land. Essentially, it's spillway... a low area with a creak running through it that allows water to drain away during our torrential summer rain storms. Since it's there, it's mowed, and they've put in a picnic table in concrete and call it a park.
They're a decent enough place to eat your lunch, and you're usually alone unless some of the local factory workers decide to join you... but this creek is why I liked it... (BTW - That's my white truck parked up there at the top left of the pic)
These creeks tend to cut through the topsoil and sedimentary rock, so you end up with this... (BTW... that's my red mini cooler with lunch in it at the top of the pic...)
And if you look close... you can find fossils. That gray round thing in the middle is the underside of a clam shell... I didn't bring this one home... they're dead common...
And that ridged thing in the middle of this pic is, I think, an oyster shell... I did bring this one home... after I clean it up, I'll take a pic for you... and the complete clam I found... Both halves, fused together, uncracked... not common to find at all!
This park also has some stands of native yuccas... but I got a sudden call and had to run. Next time I'm there, I'll try to get some shots... hopefully in the spring when they're blooming...Then I delivered to Grapevine... I've posted about Grapevine TX before. They have a pretty downtown, complete with an antique hearse on public display... But this time I visited their botanic garden. It's a small garden, But Grapevine is a small, albeit prosperous, township. This isn't the time of year to be visiting the garden though. What with bare trees and planting beds in winter mode, the only thing worth seeing is the water features, and even they are full of winter killed aquatic plants... I took a couple of shots of the koi though... just to take a pic of something...
I'm sure that come spring the bulbs will put on a show, and in summer and fall it would be wonderful... but right now... not so much... WARNING - HIGHLY SELF RIGHTOUS AND FOUL TEMPERED RANT STARTS HERE!!!
So, I walk out of the Botanic Garden Gate, past the playground, put the camera in my truck, then walk over to a lonely park bench at the end of the park where I can sit with my little notebook and maybe make some notes for a blog. (Yes, despite the quality of my posts, there's usually some planning that has gone into them. I really have to start working on my writing...)
Suddenly, there's a cop in front of me...
"Yes officer? Is there a problem ma'am?" I ask?
"Well, someone called and said there was a single man here with a camera... and they were concerned about sexual predators..."
Now, I'm not used to being accused of being a sexual predator. So I'm afraid that my first thought was something along the lines of "WHAT THE FUCK?" You will all be proud to know, that it didn't come out of my mouth. Actually, I'm glad that it didn't come out of my mouth, because it probably would have made any further communication with the police officer difficult...
After explaining that I was a delivery driver and was simply waiting here between deliveries, and that the only thing I took pics of were the goldfish, I went back to the truck and showed her the pics and then I showed her my ID... and she kept harping on about how I had to 'understand' that as a single male in the park I was suspicious...
Now, I have to point out that I don't like scentences that start out with telling me I have to understand. Primarily because I don't. Have to understand, that is... in this particular situation, I do not have to understand every paranoid delusion some nuerotic housewife with too much time on her hands comes up with.
As for being a single man in the park... well, it's a public park. I'm allowed to be there. And I've certainly, as a single man, been in and photographed hundreds of public parks, gardens and streets without ever being accused of perversion.
Now, I'd like to make a few points...
1) I used to work for a magazine. I am more than aware of the laws surrounding photographing people in public. If it is in public, it is public domain, and you can take pictures of it. Otherwise, every photo-journalist in the United States would be in prison. So taking pics of children in a public park is not illegal. And considering that Photography professors used to give out assignments for students where they were to photograph children at play, or illustrate the word "Happiness" it's not always even particularly creepy.
2) There is a sign at the entrance of the Garden that says "Photographers Welcome" although requiring Commercial photographers to get a permit. This is pretty much the case at most Botanical Gardens... if you're going to haul in a Wedding dress and light stands and such, you need a permit... OK. The sign does not say "Photographers Welcome... unless you're one of those icky MALES" Because that would be illegal.
3) The fact that I'm a male does not make me a pervert. I did some quick checking, and while the numbers of female child molestors were higher than I thought they'd be... it's flawed logic to say that since most child molestors are male, all males are child molestors. It's like saying most prostitutes are female, so every woman you see on the street is a whore. It's just not the case. And, as an aside, there are far more prostitutes in the world than child molestors. But, as crimes go, child molestation is far, far more heinous.
4) While I did show the cop my pics on my digital... I was technically not required to. Of course we all know that if I hadn't, I would have been hand-cuffed and detained... but not arrested... until they got a search warrant. That's because even though I'm innocent until proven guilty, I'm not, in the eyes of the police, innocent.
5) Usually I am, technically, required to show my ID when it's asked for. However, in this situation, where absolutely no crime has been committed, the cops don't really have a right to ask for it. I didn't worry about that, because quite frankly, I do government deliveries, My ID is checked all the time, and it's quite possible my security clearance is higher that the cop who was calling it in... but that doesn't really matter.
So that's how my day went... accused of perversion and still home in time to feed the cats... Oh I can't wait to see what happens tomorrow...
Now, I'm off to post those goldfish pictures on the "KOI PORN" site...
And... just for the record... the entire city of Grapevine can kiss my ass...
