That first time he pulled me over after the library alarm had sounded, I actually put my hands on my hips and said, “Come on! You’ve got to be kidding. I’ve been coming to this library for years. Do you really think I’d steal a book?” All he said was, “This way, ma’am.” Together we walked over to the machine. He had me empty my pack of all books and together we discovered which one I’d improperly demagnetized while doing self checkout. During the whole procedure his face never changed. Aside from the initial pull over, and then a statement about “it’s the rules,” his lips never moved. He could have been a Nubian statue. I became determined to make him smile. Years later, I’ve yet to succeed. Our relationship has progressed. Now when I race by to drop off and pick up books, I make eye contact, smile and wave. He blinks once or twice and then nods in acknowledgement. Sometimes there’s a subtle bow. One day, I’m tempted to dance a jig just to see what he does. Bet he has a great laugh. Meanwhile, my interactions with this guard and others this summer have had me musing about both silence and the human voice. Not sure what will become of such thoughts but they have led me to the following lovely little video. It’s less than 3min long, but if you’d prefer to simply listen to the original recording, click here. Hope you find time to view and/or to listen. Have a good weekend.
Posted in Inspiration | Tagged human voice, Inspiration, musings, oral history, silence, StoryCorps, storytelling, Studs Terkel | 2 Comments »
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes | Tagged abstract, colors, Inspiration, landscape, Middlesex Fells Reservation, nature, nature photography, outdoors, Photography, trees | 4 Comments »
Neither of us remembers purchasing it or even receiving it as a gift. So if you did give it to one of us, we both apologize for not remembering. The wind chimes are quite beautiful and the craftsmanship superb.
It surfaced this weekend, found in a bag of “stuff for review,” a bag which then got buried by other bags and dust and such. Someone had carefully wrapped the chimes in a Boston Globe newspaper dated 2008.
It now hangs at the kitchen window. On the inside, not the outside. Just enough wind comes through so that there is the occasional gentle tinkle.
I am tempted to hang it outside on the oak tree. I wonder what the red bird would think? 😉
Posted in Inspiration, Music | Tagged arts, crafts, found objects, glass, Inspiration, mysteries, nature, Photography, wind chimes | 6 Comments »
Steve has a ritual. When he buys chicken or steak at the grocery store, he returns home to immediately separate the meat into smaller portions, prepares a marinade of red wine, soy sauce, garlic and black pepper that he then pours over the meat which he then freezes. And that’s what happened yesterday. After a short hike in the Middlesex Fells Reservation, we stopped by the grocery store on the way home. As he was about to prepare the meat, he shouted, “Wait! I have to wash the frog off my hands first.” Why would he shout such a thing? Well, because he was helping me corral frogs in the Fells. Not to keep for cooking or anything, just to photograph for Melissa.
Melissa loves frogs. For years, I’ve sent her all things frog related. Stickers, stamps, charms, etc. Rarely photographs. Though I’m glad frogs are in the world, normally I don’t feel a need to get close to them and rarely have I had an opportunity to photograph them like this weekend. They were popping up everywhere! As Steve and I chased the little critters around the woods, I kept telling him, “I’m doing this for Melissa. Only for Melissa would I be getting this close to this creature.” But when I spoke with Melissa this morning she reminded me that I apparently sparked her interest in frogs in college over twenty years ago.
“It’s true,” she said. “We were walking from Central Campus to the Quad, cutting through Duke Gardens. It was summertime and I remarked about the sound of the loudest crickets I’d ever heard in my life. You told me those weren’t crickets but frogs singing. Then you pointed them out to me, sitting by the edge of the pond. And then you went off on this lovely discourse about frogs, why they’re important in the world and how through song they were trying to … you know … get together and make babies. I’ve loved frogs ever since.”
Steve did manage to pick up this fellow and hold him in the palm of his hands, and thus the need to wash the frog off his hands. I don’t know if there will be anymore impromptu frog photography shoots, but I will try to remember to step more carefully through the Fells and I will treasure a lost memory regained.
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes | Tagged amphibians, Duke Gardens, friendship, frogs, hiking, Inspiration, memories, Middlesex Fells Reservation, nature, nature photography, Photography, storytelling | 3 Comments »
in the garden below
chamomile grows
white petals bright
in the light of the setting sun
spreading profusely
wonderfully
wildly
soon to be cut I’m sure
but not yet
not yet
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes | Tagged chamomile, gardens, Inspiration, light, musings, nature, plants, poetry, prose, sunset | 4 Comments »
Posted in Inspiration | Tagged bee, flower, insects, Inspiration, nature, Photography, pollen, purple | 6 Comments »
As soon as my brother uttered the words, I smiled and shook my head. Once again I was proven right. I may feel compelled to put my words out into the world, but it is my brothers who are the poets in my family. In this case, my youngest brother was simply sharing his growing understanding of what it means to be a father — the ups and downs and everything in between. And with this understanding he was able to look into the past from a different perspective. “I remember,” he said, “walking towards Pop. He was sitting in that chair, lost in thought, tilted over, looking like a dandelion without light. I don’t know which of us he was worried about that day or if he was sitting there wishing he’d done some things differently in life or maybe he was just missing Ma. But then he saw me and he straightened up and he smiled. It was like the sun had come out. I was his light. That is what my son is like for me.”
Posted in Inspiration | Tagged family, fathers and sons, Inspiration, love, Photography, relationships, siblings, storytelling, words | 4 Comments »
That has been my refrain of late when friends ask what they can bring me back from their travels. Since many of the locales included beaches, I figured it would be okay to ask for shells. Just reach down and stick a shell in your pocket. I am quite honored that my friend D. engaged friends and family in the task. After she showed me pictures of the black beaches of Puerto Rico, I thought it would be fun to photograph some of her shells against fields of black.
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes | Tagged friendship, gifts, Inspiration, landscape, nature, ocean, Photography, Puerto Rico, shells, travels, Vieques | 11 Comments »
In the end, neither could I, but that is what I was searching for amidst the oak tree leaves. I’d watched it dance along the branches all morning. But as soon as I raised the camera … poof! It was gone. Not even one red feather. Just an empty hole.
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes | Tagged colors, Inspiration, nature, oak tree, Photography, red bird, trees | 7 Comments »
a photo taken in the midst of summer
yet the colors seem a harbinger of autumn
I would not mind if time slowed just a bit 😉
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes | Tagged abstract, beauty, Boston, colors, Copley Square, fountain, Inspiration, leaf, nature, Photography, water | 3 Comments »
Words + Images 