A Scenic World

Ben Gibbard - Brand New Colony

I get inspiration from what I read, what I hear, what I see, what I think.

Yesterday, inspiration abounded.

First, I read Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut. Hidden within it are snippets from the revered Book of Bokonon, like this one:

Someday, someday, this crazy world will have to end,
And our God will take things back that He to us did lend.
And if, on that sad day, you want to scold our God,
Why go right ahead and scold Him. He’ll just smile and nod.

The I ran across this website (via yewknee) called “Before I Die, I Want to…” The idea was simple; photograph people and let them write what they want to do before they die on the bottom of the photo. Some of them were downright haunting…

Heady stuff, to say the least.

Then I read another book (I’m still in the “recovery” stage of my recent surgery). My book-swap friend had recommended The Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst, and as he has nearly impeccable taste in literature, I dove right in and read the entire thing last night.

It was haunting and sad and deep and sad. It was the story of a man, a linguist, and his attempt to understand his beautiful, passionate, troubled wife. She was a maker of masks, and the idea that we never really know what’s behind a person’s mask - the face they present to the outside world, even to the people they love - ran through the novel, right up to its crushingly bittersweet end.

And so I gathered my inspiration up today, and I made this:

M. Ward - Let’s Dance

For three straight days, the rain has fallen. When I wake in the mornings, the soft pitter-pat has reminded me that me and my camera would be staying inside. I sat by my open window and watched the rain fall, waiting for the moment I could go outside.

Today, the moment finally presented itself. The last drops fell just as the sun broke through the clouds. I threw together my kit - my K200D, the D-FA 100mm Macro, and the FA 31mm in case a self-portrait opportunity should present itself.

I made my way to the duck pond, a place that has become as familiar to me as my own backyard. Almost as soon as I got there, I was faced with all that the rain had wrought: while the grass was greener and the weeds flourished, the flowers had all been pummeled to the ground.

I picked up one purple blossom and twirled it in my fingers. The sun played off the still glistening raindrops. I knew I had my self-portrait for the day.

I continued down to the place where the dragonflies play. I sat for a moment, just breathing in the life around me: damselflies darting from stalk to stalk, lizards scurrying in the bushes, butterflies flitting by. Then I saw a shot. I laid my bag on the grass above me and made my way carefully over the slick rocks to take this:

Almost immediately after I snapped the shutter, a huge snowy white bird soundlessly flew from the bushes to my right, its wings spread so majestically that they seemed to go on forever. It flew directly over me, blacking out the sun for a moment. It could not have been more than two feet above me.

I didn’t breathe.

I watched it soar to the other end of the duck pond and knew I had just had a moment I would never forget.

But there was more to come. I walked to the other side of the stream and found either the most beautiful moth I’d ever seen or the smallest butterfly I’d ever seen. I got down on my knees, my bag jostling against me, to photograph him. He was shy at first, flying nervously about, but he finally saw fit to pose for me.

I decided to make one more pass around the pond. I settled back into the place where I’d taken the first photo and waited to see what I’d see. While I got a secure grip on the rocks, I heard the velcro of my bag. It wasn’t closed properly. I looked inside.

The 31mm lens wasn’t there.

My heart stopped. This is the most expensive lens I’ve ever bought. It’s among my most prized possessions.

My bag had been lain all over the duck pond during the course of the day. The lens could be anywhere. I quickly searched the area where I sat - hard rocks covered with weeds with the stream only inches below me. It occurred to me that the lens could have rolled out and soundlessly made its way into the water.

I walked as quickly as I could around the pond, stopping everywhere I’d stopped on the way, trying hard not to go so fast I wasn’t looking carefully.

Finally, I came to the place where I’d seen the yellow moth/butterfly. And there was the lens.

So many things lost today, and so many found.

Cloud Cult - No One Said It Would Be Easy

Every summer in Florida, it rains. And I don’t mean a few days, or some days, or most days.

It rains every day.

I keep wanting to invent words for all the different kinds of rain we get, like all the words the Eskimos have for the different types of snow. I remember last year, I wanted so badly to translate through photography that beautiful, sparkling, dreary rain, and I didn’t know how without getting my camera wet.

Enter the K200D. With the DA* lenses (I own the 16-50/2.8, the 50-135/2.8, and the 200/2.8 - and no, the 300/4 isn’t on the horizon for me, thanks), my kit is “weatherproof,” whatever that means. I’ve decided to interpret that as “rain-approved.”

I had an early meeting at work today, so I got home around 5:30 in the afternoon. It was raining when I got home, of course, but the sun was breaking through the clouds and it was just MAGIC. I ran inside so quickly I didn’t even close my car door properly, ripped off my work clothes, threw on the nearest dress, and grabbed my camera, tripod, and remote. I set up my tripod on my porch and aimed at the very narrow opening between my neighbor’s tree on one side and the other neighbor’s bush on the other. I went and stood in the rain and had enough time to get off about ten shots before the sun went behind a cloud. It never came out again, but I got what I wanted:

RENT was one of those musicals that changed my life. I first heard about it in the spring of my senior year of high school - around April 1997. One of the news shows was covering the macabre story of its conception, how the young playwright, Jonathan Larson died the night of the dress rehearsal; he never lived to see his play open on Broadway. At the time, my friend Sharlie was planning to be in the pageant of our high school and was looking for a song she could sing. On the news broadcast, they played a snippet of “One Song Glory.” I found it so hauntingly beautiful that I went out and bought the soundtrack. I played the song for Sharlie and begged her to perform it; she declined, but I had the soundtrack now and was hooked.

I’d gotten the internet earlier that  year and did some research on the musical. It was playing at the Nederlander Theatre in New York City. NYC was exotica in the extreme for this little South Carolina girl who had never really been to a big city. And “Nederlander Theatre!” It sounded like another world. I printed the information and took it with me to school to next day.

As luck would have it, I was early - extremely early. It gave me time to work up the nerve to call the theatre to find out how much the tickets were. To me, Broadway was something only rich people did; I expected the tickets to be $500, maybe even $1000. When they told me they had tickets for $75, I nearly laughed. I could afford that! So I bought four, even though I hadn’t discussed my plans with anyone.

I ended up with a rag-tag crew to accompany me. Lee went because he had an online girlfriend in New Jersey he was frantic to meet. Paul went because he loved the music as much as I did and wanted to see NYC. Amanda - I don’t know why she went. Honestly, I think she had some idea of staying, of running away from home, but luckily she came back with us.

It was my first trip without my parents. It was my first time to the magical city that I’ve grown to love and visit numerous times since. And when I watched RENT performed - all those songs I knew by heart, that story that pits art against money, survival against death, good against evil - it all came to life right in front of me.

I’ll miss you, RENT.

I happened to still have the original rose I used for my first day of the 365 project, and somehow it came to mind for today’s shot ;)

The Zombies - I Remember When I Loved Her

I love me some Zombies! Via “The Rise and Fall of a Summer Romance” mix from The Summer Mix Series