Photo Challenge

Danger!

Look out! This week’s challenge is about the unexpected thrill of danger.

I was taking a pleasant stroll along the San Francisco waterfront this past weekend when I was confronted with the alarming possibility of being crushed by mace-wielding trees.

Signage that I’d never noticed before warned me that the trees near Ghirardelli Square could drop seed pods the size of a small planet on me at any moment. Judging by the illustration, the pods were at least six to eight times as large as the human head and covered with vicious four-inch spikes. As a public service announcement to other strollers, I Instagrammed a photo:

Being the cautious person that I am, I then stood right under the tree and peered up, to catch a glimpse of the danger and/or make it easier for a Killer Pod to impale me directly in the eye. I was both relieved and a little disappointed to see normal, non-lethal-sized seed pods — not even the size of a ping-pong ball or an average-size strawberry.

I stared into the tree a moment longer, then went about my walk unmolested by the flora. Still, I admire the hyperbolic sign designer in the San Francisco Department of Public Works for injecting this unexpected frisson of Danger! into an otherwise uneventful afternoon.

This week, share a photo that says Danger! to you.* A view down the steep hill you’re about to bike, the last piece of cake that’s in danger of being eaten, signage in your town warning you about gigantic sword-toting shrubbery — there are lots of places you can take this, not all of them scary. I’m girding my loins!

* Yes, you need the italics and exclamation point. It makes things exciting!

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  6. What a hoot. We have spiky horse chestnuts here (in Toronto), but won’t have to exercise extreme caution for a few months, yet!

    I won’t likely blog about this (can’t locate the very old photo), but my most amusing memory of a “DANGER!” sign was one of those fill-in-the-blanks versions, on a construction site hoarding.

    Of course, the large plastic sign said, “DANGER! DUE TO _________.”
    And, of course, some smartass had filled in the blank with a messily scrawled “Greg.”
    Now, I know a Greg or two. Very un-dangerous.
    They must’ve meant that _other_ Greg! 😉

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    1. Welcome!

      FYI: that link goes to your dashboard, which is private, so people won’t be able to see your site. The simplest way to get the public link is to go to your blog’s public homepage and click on the post title for your photo challenge post. Then, copy the address you see in your browser’s address bar and use that.

      Here’s your homepage: https://ironicmuse.wordpress.com/

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