Portrait challenge: Thurmond

I took my portrait challenge one notch higher today, and, as a result, I met Thurmond. The first person I asked for a photo opp was walking his dog, a black and white springer spaniel. Our dog Gulliver is a liver and white springer, so I thought I would chat a bit with this man and his dog Scooter. At my request, he posed Scooter for a picture, while answering a few questions about his age, breed, and such. I asked if I could take a picture of him with Scooter, and got a negative response. I think I am going to have to work on my photo opp request technique. Maybe I need to be more persistent.

However, I am not easily daunted and things were soon looking up. Figuring "nothing ventured, nothing gained," I approached another dog walker, who, I learned, was walking her granddog because she hates to see him crated all day while her son is at work. So I had a portrait for my challenge, but a little distance down the trail, I met up with a stranger who was not walking a dog. Now here was a real test for my portrait challenge. My new "victim" was a stranger to me and he was dog-less. I find it pretty easy to chat up people who are walking dogs, but this man wasn't, so requesting a photo opp from him would be taking my challenge up a notch.

Was I up to it? Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained! That attitude worked once, so maybe it would work again. And it did! I didn't get a five star portrait, not even a four star one, but I met a very interesting man, and he is no longer a stranger to me. Thurmond is a retiree, living on a fixed income, who had built his own home. When his new home needed some landscaping and outdoor work, he realized that his income wouldn't stretch far enough, so he took on a job: driving the Amish. There are many Amish living in our neighboring counties who need drivers to take them to and from their jobs, and that is how Thurmond is putting aside the money he needs for landscaping his new home. He was walking in my neighborhood park today because he had picked up some Amish in Geauga County and dropped them off at their job site in our area. To fill his time while they work, he explores area metroparks. Although the Amish don't drive, they do carry cell phones, so if they need to make a trip to Lowes' Hardware or some other store to get supplies for their job, they call Thurmond and wait for him to drive back and take them to the store. Thurmond says, "At my age, there isn't much else I can do....When I make enough money, maybe I'll retire again."

Good for you, Thurmond, and thanks for brightening my day.