Rainy Night - water and light in the city

One of the themes of this year-long project that I was most excited by at the outset was creativity - how we can create and build and make in our everyday lives. I could blame it on the holiday season, or on any other number of things, but the reality is that I haven't explored this idea too deeply yet, so I was excited to feel the inspiration come over me Friday night on my walk home from work.

It has been so cold this week, that the high of 39 degrees we had yesterday felt outright balmy and I thought it would be nice to walk instead of taking the bus. When I left work, it was drizzling slightly and I was fumbling around trying to adjust my headphones/hood/gloves/umbrella etc when I noticed sparks flying from the upper levels of a building that is currently under construction.

I was so struck by the brightness and the movement of the sparks that I stopped on the sidewalk and started taking pictures on my phone.

I am so glad that I noticed the sparks falling from that building, because by stopping to capture that small moment, I found that I was able to slow down and notice how beautiful the city was in its foggy, rainy state. The sidewalks and streets became bright and the faces of people walking by were lit from below from the reflection of headlights. The foggy air softened the neon lights and made the night seem cozy instead of harsh. I had a delightful time jaywalking to snap a few shots of a something I had walked past many times before but was seeing in a new way on this particular (and admittedly manic) trip home.

Below are a handful of photos I thought came out the best.