poolesville's hidden treasures: a photographer's midnight wander

i've always been drawn to places where time forgets to move forward. tonight, i'm crawling through *poolesville's ghostly backstreets, lens in hand, chasing that unfiltered magic. 12.96 degrees out, feels like 12.58 under these 87% humidity clouds-sticky cold that seeps through your vest. i hate it. but hey, it's not raining... yet.

passing the abandoned mill near main street, my flash catches something weird in the window. maybe a squirrel? maybe a raccoon? the lens hood's too big to tell. later, snow will fall on those windows. snow? yeah, they said we might get a dusting tomorrow. hooray for surprises.

i duck into old town bakery for a coffee. the barista-a guy named greg with a beard like a raccoon that raided a compost bin-mumbles, "someone told me you pros hate flash in small towns," false! i just hate how it spooks folks. i catch volunteer fire department members ducking behind their trucks, mid-laugh. good shots, bad ethics.

pro tip: don't trust the local gas station sign. i parked in a no-parking zone to frame it at sunset, and yeah, got a ticket. but the photo? worth it. probably. maybe. i'll argue with the cop later. probably.

ate at ben's ice cream parlor by accident. it's actually great, supposedly, according to yelp. but last time, they gave me a cone with vanilla and said, "that's all, kid." stood by myself for 20 minutes. fine coffee, weird vibe. don't know where i got that link, but pray for them [youtube review link].

so’s here, rolling eyes at my dinner plate full of snapshots instead of food. \she said this’’

if you want more chaos, *frederick's just 20 miles down i-70. and don't listen to reviews about the local diner*, found a romance youtuber crying there yesterday. weird. balance your life, take deep breaths, hydrate. pressure's crushing today at 1014mb, so pack layers, ’k?

📍 📱📲📳

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