Blanche is, as I suspected, dull, lifeless and inhibited. That is what happens when I read too many guidelines and how-to books.
Since writing it, I have decided that there is only one rule I will write by: put myself in the place where I want to be. If I rewrite the story by that rule I think it will be much better.
Today I walked through River Legacy park and took many pictures. There were some interesting materials for my consideration: tires, a rusted and dissembled washer and dryer, and a metal barrel. I loved to see the rusted metal in the woods: it made a pleasing picture.
Everything was dry and brown, so that my pictures were momochrome and unpleasant-looking, but this was part of my plan. Tomorrow I am going to convert the images to black and white, hopefully re-learning whatever technique enabled me to convert the Colorado River panorama, which is very impressive-looking. I think some of these will be similarly pleasing.