Day Three Hundred and Thirty-Five: Stick–to–it·ive·ness

Main Entry: stick–to–it·ive·ness Pronunciation: \stik-ˈtü-ə-tiv-nəs\Function: noun Etymology: from the phrase stick to it Date: 1867 : dogged perseverance : tenacity

Sticktoitiveness. If you asked me, I'd say these beaded water droplets falling from a steam vent outside of Watson library on the KU campus are demonstrating that property, sticking together as long as possible before falling to a small puddle on the ground as steam escapes all around them.

And maybe yours truly also displayed a little sticktoitiveness in capturing this timely picture that is becoming one of my favorites in this year's project.

The timing itself was a bit lucky. My intent was to focus my picture on the steam coming out of the ventilation pipe on this freezing cold December day in Lawrence. As I saw water beading up around the pipe's edge I snapped a series of shots.

This particular frame, 1/1250th of a second in time, captured the cohesive nature of water in action.

I won't tell you how many pictures of this steam vent I shot before taking this picture (my memory card was nearing its capacity), but I just couldn't find the right angle, perspective, or framing for the shot I thought I wanted.

Then I got my lucky break!

Thanks to sticktoitiveness.