Stairway to heaven?

Leave it out back
London, ON, May 2011

About this photo: Thematic is still singin' the blues, and you can, too, by following your mouse here.

As much as humans are social creatures, there's something to be said for getting away from it all - and from each other. When I need to be alone, I either take off on my bike, or I go for a long walk. When it's just you and your thoughts, the challenges of life seem a lot easier to bite off and chew. I don't do this enough, and that needs to change.

On this evening, downtown London was my playground. I had about an hour to kill - a rare treat in my scheduled-by-the-minute life - so I set the BlackBerry to silent and headed for the shadowy alleys that strangely never show up in tourist brochures. For some odd reason, I never seem to encounter actual people in these places (I know, probably a good thing) but as you can see from the shot above, there's always plenty of evidence that someone was here not too long ago.

There's a strange sense of order to these hidden-away places, and it's almost an invitation to spend more time here, to look at the side of the city most people never see. In getting away from it all, I seem to have stumbled on another way to remain connected. Odd, that.

Your turn: I think this picture tells a story. What is it?