I’ve had the Leica M4 loaded up with a roll of Santacolor 100 film since I started my vacation but the weather has been nasty and cloudy for the most part. Today, however, the skies cleared, the sun rolled out, and I grabbed my bag and ran for the door. I had a two options for nearby towns that I thought would be good candidates for Christmas decorations and opted for one to the north.

It was an hour trip to get there but I lucked out and scored a spot not far from the Historic Downtown district. Unfortunately, I was surprised at the lack of decorations. It’s a very popular area, especially during the holidays, and I was expecting a lot more. I wandered about 10 blocks or so before turning around and heading back down the other way. It wasn’t all for naught, however. I met a cool, older gentleman with three adorable dachsunds. It was a mother, father, and their daughter. Apparently they’re a very rare type of dapple dachsund and the male is the only AKC registered one in the US. They were very cute and the daughter was more than happy to hop up on you for some loving.

As I made my way down the other side of the street, I found a cool chair outside a shop and stopped to take a picture. Before I could, I was interrupted as a man and two women came out of the store. As I stood there with the M4 across my chest, one of the women says, “Wow! People still shoot film these days?” I was excited at her reaction and explained that I’d recently started shooting it again. That’s when her sister (the other woman) points at her husband and said, “Well, he used to work for Leica.”

This was a blown-head moment. I couldn’t believe my luck that of all the people to bump into on the street, I bumped into someone who actually worked for them in the 60s and 70s. We ended up talking for 30-45 minutes about Leica and he shared a couple of interesting tidbits. We exchanged numbers and I’m going to head back in a couple of weeks to pick his brain. He was also a photographer and had his own darkroom. I really hope to get some tips there.

Ok, so now for a little sad. There is a small lot between buildings where the town has put some park benches. It’s a nice area for people to enjoy their coffee or ice cream that they’ve picked up. Today, there was a large Christmas tree that had been decorated with wishes from local children.

Most of the wishes were for toys or puppies. This one hurt.

I guess it’s a difficult reminder that the holidays aren’t always a happy time for people. There’s no telling who wrote this, or how old they are. i just hope they got their wish.

All in all, it turned out to be a pretty good day even though I didn’t get many pictures I’d hoped to. Oh, and I forgot to take a picture of the chair. 😀