Ah, the rail road tracks. God help me, I love this refuge from Charlotte with all her progress, traffic, neighborhood associations and outdoor advertising; strips of peaceful refuge for miles on end where time stands still.
Cloudy days like this one a few days ago are my favorite. The camera just loves those overcast skies.
The November colors are some of my favorite. I love the changes in seasons. Is anything more exciting than watching the world change before your very eyes?
Just look at the miles of gorgeous scenery I try to take in while keeping my feet going where they should each step. Did I make that sound too hard? It's hard because A) the ties are spaced unevenly and cause me to lengthen my stride about fifty percent longer than natural, and B) the scenery and compelling vibe of the CSX right of way is hard for me to tear my eyes from, thus causing me trouble with "A".
This tracks runs east and west but it bends north and south a little over its course. The sun is at my 1 o'clock on my way east and about my 7 o'clock on my way west, back home.
I like taking shots from my hiking viewpoint, even though shooting into the sun isn't photographically ideal. For me, this is what meditation looks like.

CSX has put down a few yards of thick black felt over about 20 feet of tracks, I don't know why. There's some conduit running right beneath, so that's probably why. If I were rich, I'd buy me some miles of tracks and make them carpet it like this, so I could walk & run and not be as concerned about the likelihood of busting my ass...again! Wouldn't that be fancy?
My Mother is perpetually concerned about me falling down, getting knocked unconscious and being run over by the next train. I tried to stay away. I did. But my quality of life suffered greatly without this particular vice. And a girl's got to have her priorities straight.
Sorry Mom;)