Water, Water, Everywhere....

...and digital cameras, too. Which is why this shot won't be in Friday's Albuquerque Journal. Partly because it occurred to me too late to call the city desk, but mostly because everyone and his brother has a digital camera.

We were on 4th Street in Bernalillo, coming back from Santa Fe this afternoon, when traffic started backing up. Took us about ten minutes to get to the intersection causing the problem, which you can clearly see above. The police had blocked the cross traffic, and after we got through I pulled over and went back to the scene. Some roadwork was being done, and apparently a backhoe hit a high-pressure water main, causing this beautiful geyser.

I got a couple of shots, and as I was leaving, suggested to one of the cops that, rather than keeping the traffic back, they should just let them through, and charge them two bucks a head for a car wash. (It reminded me of my days driving around the Bronx, and how nice it was to find an open hydrant where I could get a one-sided car wash for free.)

Alas, I called the paper too late: as the city editor explained, they had some shots from the cops, the construction crew, and one of their own photographers got there as well. "But, hey, if you ever see anything else good, give us a call."

Damned digital cameras. Everybody thinks they're news photographers.

(Coda: The next day's paper not only had no pictures, there wasn't even a mention of the event.)