Photo-Exploration No. 1

Yesterday, I went on a walk.

I took a route that was slightly problematic.


However, fall had begun, and the foliage was fantastic. I had my camera, and I had been down Stonebridge before.


It was a very pretty street, and it ended with a lake.


Much to my surprise, when I turned to go home, I discovered a staircase I had never seen before.






















It was a well-made staircase, but it wasn't obvious where it led.










And I wasn't dressed for such an adventure.


Would you take it?

I did.

The stairs curled down to the left. A new path wove below them. It was made out of brick - a red brick road.









The path ended with a potted plant that doesn't look like it was native to these shores.






Luckily, a bridge waited nearby.


It crossed a muddy creek. Downstream, there was another bridge, not as nice as the one I was on.


A gravel path took me through the trees.


And this is where it led.


My best guesses on the clearing at the end of the red brick road:

1. It was a fairy glade, and I arrived way too early (three o'clock in the afternoon) to join the party. To support this theory, I found clovers but no mushroom rings.
   
   
2. Some land developers had a cleared a space for a new house, which they haven't started building yet. To support this theory, I found a driveway.
   

The mystery endures....

Truth

I had to change the name of this blog. It used to be "Tales: The Adventures of Shelby R. Bach." I added "Life and" today.

I like the word "Life." I say, "How's life?" when other people say, "How are you?" I've done that since high school, and I might have even done it earlier. "Life" is kind of all-encompassing. There's not much it doesn't include.

The word "Adventures" had a specific purpose. I was scared. Many changes were in the air. I was trying to view them in a certain light. I'm still trying, but it has gotten easier with time.

The problem was that I didn't post anything.

"Adventures" is a big word to live up to. I'm not sure if I have had any real adventures.

I got lost in my own hometown, between my parents' house and a park less than two miles away. My little brother (adorable, a freshman at college) was quarantined with the swine flu. I bought health insurance. I borrowed 71 books from my local library (actual reading rate: roughly 80% - but I didn't finish them all). I recovered from a sinus infection. I visited Charleston and learned how to make shrimp & grits. Later that day, I found a graveyard (see right). I also found a dress for the debutante ball of my little sister (senior at the same college, tough and awesome). I attended a beautiful wedding in Virginia, but my camera's battery ran down and left me without pictures. :-( I booked flights to Montana, to DC, and to New York. I started a part-time job at a general contracting company. I wrote 70 pages of a children's novel, read fairy tale anthologies, and structured a story arc for a five-book series.

I'm a writer. I quit my job in New York in order to pursue my dream. (And also, to keep sane. New York is a difficult place to stay sane.)

Truth: That's the real adventure. Risk and dreams and faith.

The posts should be more frequent from here on out.

(P.S. Truth number 2 - I'm still not unpacked.)