GCF Walk: Blues Brothers & Little Gems

He looked at my camera, shrugged his shoulders, and said with a note of amazement: "This is the first time I am seeing these paintings." Zoran, my market guy, was really surprised to find out that they were only a small block away from his store in an alley off of a main street he drives every day to go to work.

Truth-be-told, I've walked and driven by that alley hundreds of times, knew the "Blues Brothers" caricatures were there, but never really paid attention to them. How easily we miss the little gems right in front of us because we're so quick to get from point A to point B!

As I've mentioned before, this GCF Walking has been good for me in that I've been more observant of the things around me. One of the things I've noticed a lot of is graffiti and random pieces of artwork. So, in preparation for my next tally I thought the "Blues Brothers" caricatures would be good ones as they were cool-looking and fit with my graffiti theme for my tally updates...

Imagine my astonishment to enter the alley and to find these gems of art right next to them! How did I miss them all these years?? There was a sign for "Blues Brothers" next to a door and I wondered if this was in fact a blues cafe or something. That brings us back to showing the pictures to my market guy, Zoran. He wasn't even aware of these paintings' existence nor that of the club. Needless-to-say he's intrigued and says he's going to investigate and get back to me about what he finds. What fun if it turns out to be a blues/jazz music club.

Again, like myself, Zoran has passed by this alley for years and never noticed these little gems that have been there all along. As I think of my life lately, how busy I've been in the office, how many late nights and how many rushed transits to work, I wonder how many gems I may have passed by in regards to people, relationships, etc? Just a little food for thought.

On another note, though, I have to say that I'm really thankful for locals like Zoran and his wife who teach me so many things about the language and culture as we interact every day. Would you join me in praying for them? Thanks.

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These past two weeks I've only been able to walk minimally due to heat, work responsibility, etc. I was able to drive a good bit, but now that the city's filling back up and parking spaces are once again non-existent at my apartment, my driving days are once again on hiatus. :(

All that said, here's the tally:

8.5 miles walking, 12 driving, Week's savings: $14.98
Sub-total for August: $23.43 and counting

Thanks for walking this walk with me.