Katy, Texas
I
There's been an uptick in visitors from around the globe. Georgia (Tbilisi). The Netherlands. Japan. Vietnam. Poland. Greece. Germany. The UK. Katy, Texas. That last one’s got me not wanting to look it up. I want to picture some place out in the middle of nowhere, a cattle ranch with wooden posts and barbed wire, rusted old tractors, bales of hay. A solitary tree with a crow in it. A scruffy old dog barking in the distance. Golden hour. I'm sure it's hotter than hell, but just try and pry me away. I'll be rocking on the porch, old and scraggly, Penny right beside me wondering how the hell she let me talk her into this.
Katy, Texas. As opposed to Monrovia, California. Where I'm out back being mocked by mosquitoes. I bet they call em skeeters in Katy, Texas. I wonder if Skeeter Davis is from Katy, Texas. She's a singer. Sings The End of the World. I don't expect you know her. I only know her by accident.
Why did Gd create mosquitos, anyway?
I guess if Gd didn't create mosquitoes, we'd have come up with some other blood sucking pest to annoy us. Like vampires. Or politicians.
I've got nothing against politicians, as long as they don't bother me. Do I trust them? Hell no. Why do you think they call them politicians?
II
I fell hard for that M Monochrom. I'm what Hugh Brownstone refers to as “for whom the M tolls.” When he's not referring to me as “incorrigible,” or a maniac. I'm high maintenance, sometimes. I get wild ideas. I act on them. That M dropped out of the sky with my name on it. But I sent it back. It's a dream camera, and I don't live in a dream. That simple. I'm a photographer, not a collector.
I ordered a Q2 Monochrom, instead, the camera I owned before the recently sold Nikons. I'd forgotten what a reporter’s joy that Q2M was. It was my go-to for over a year, the one I launched The Courage Run with. I unboxed it slowly, methodically, dragging out the moment.
The battery took a couple of hours to charge. Then I went out to chase some light in the dark.
Katy, Texas, is a 20 hour, 44 minute drive from here. Right off the 10, almost to Houston. There's an excessive heat warning along the route. No reason to go there, this time of year. But if you happen to already be in Katy, Texas, or somewhere else, reading this, won’t you send me a postcard? Send it to:
Louie the Lens
710 S Myrtle Av #514
Monrovia, CA 91016
I’d love to hear from you.
