Dials

A gorgeous day here in Jacksonville, the sun shone from a cloudless azure sky and the temperature reached 83 degrees F. It is at this time of the year I appreciate living here, despite all the shortcomings I have mentioned on previous occasions.

I had no ideas for today's photograph when I stepped outside the house. The only conscious decision was to head toward the railway and McDuff Avenue. I snapped away as I went on my merry way, a measure of the profound relief I felt at getting the Internet back yesterday and not being faced by the prospect of being without it for 10 days or so.

As a child, I used to sulk when the TV set was broken and waiting repair. These days I couldn't care less if TV ceased to exist. But deprive me of access to the Internet and my mood suddenly takes a distinct downturn.

At one point during my walk, which took in the usual shots of power poles, street furniture and, today, a BP filling station out of commission with the pumps wrapped in green cellophane -- in this day and age it just had to be green, didn't it? -- I passed by Fire Station 10 on McDuff. The doors were open and I took a shot inside of the firemens' gear next to the Coca-Cola machine and then moved on to one of the engines and shot the dials of the pumping equipment.

Out of the variety of shots presented to my wife for her editorial decision, it was the one of the dials that met with the most enthusiastic response. And so dials it is -- and in colour, too!

Have a good weekend, y'all.