This week, Patti is leading the challenge, and she has not done so straightforwardly. She chose the theme “Zigzag” to send us off on several tangents. She writes, “Zigzags are wonderfully unexpected and fun to discover. Are you ready to join my hunt this week? You might find them on a winding road, in a mountain range, in architectural designs, on fabrics, …or even in the sky in those whispy vapor trails (contrails).”

As someone who enjoys hiking, I’ve noticed many zigzags on trails. They are more commonly referred to as switchbacks. At first glance, they seem to be there just to make a short hike longer, but they save effort as they give a much more gradual slope than having the trail go directly from the bottom to the top in a straight line.

As we climbed over a ridge on our hike, we saw the climb we would make in a few minutes and the sharp “Z” that would make our climb easier. I thought to myself, “It’s the mark of Zorro!”

A pedestrian bridge crosses the Red River in a neighborhood park a short distance from our home. The bridge railings are attached by a zigzag pattern of supports. In the winter, the bridge rises to the top of those towers at each end to protect the bridge from damage by increasing water levels in the spring.

At Winslow, Arizona, the railroad tracks that stop at the Amtrak Depot have a noticeable “zigzag.” I suspect this is designed to make it shorter to walk from the depot to the train.

As we walked along a sidewalk in downtown Fargo, this construction zigzag impeded our path. On the opposite side, the sidewalk was torn up and being worked on. The zigzag made it easy for pedestrians to get past the construction safely.

Isotta Fraschini is an iconic Italian luxury car manufacturer with a rich history dating back to 1900. Founded in Milan by Cesare Isotta and the Fraschini brothers, the company initially gained fame for its racing prowess but later transitioned into producing luxury automobiles. The unique zigzag grill emblem on this beautiful example fits Patti’s challenge.

The team is back from our summer break, and we are grateful to the guest hosts who provided the challenge themes in July. Thanks to Patti for this week’s theme. The images in this week’s submissions will have plenty of leading lines for us to follow in a zigzag pattern. On Saturday, Ann-Christine will host. If you’d like to join in with a challenge-response, you can find the details here.

John Steiner