Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged colors, family, flowers, garden, Inspiration, morning glory, musings, nature, Photography on August 26, 2012| 4 Comments »
I’ve been admiring the morning glories in my landlord’s garden for a while now. Amazing how those vines progress across the yard and how the colors of the flowers morph over time.
Not sure why but today I felt compelled to slip into the garden with a pair of scissors.
Stealthy though I felt, the landlord doesn’t mind anyone cutting a bloom or two.
I may have cut a few more than that.
Handling the blooms, photographing them … it was a nice way to start the day. Hope you have a good day too. 😉
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged colors, Inspiration, musings, nature, Photography, stone on August 20, 2012| 1 Comment »
I don’t think that I would describe myself as a collector but in the past year or two, I do seem to have … collected … quite a few stones. Each has a different shape or thread of color. I can’t remember where I picked them up. I don’t expect to keep them forever. I like to give such things to little friends of the four to five-year old variety. Maybe one day they too will photograph their stony treasures.
Posted in Inspiration, tagged blue, colors, Inspiration, musings, Photography on August 12, 2012| 4 Comments »
I once wrote a short story that had so many different shades of blue sprinkled throughout that an editor wrote to ask, “Cynthia, do you think you can insert one more shade of blue?”
Now, she may have been kidding, but I can be slow about things like that. So I went online to a site (probably Pantone) and after careful consideration decided that the sea in my story would be cerulean. She accepted it.
Growing up in the foothills of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains, it is hard not to love blue. Plenty of blues in New England of course but …
… I look forward to visiting the mountains of my childhood, and seeing if I can capture with my camera the beauty I remember in my dreams. You know I’ll be sure to share. 😉
Posted in Inspiration, tagged immigration, Martin Luther King Jr, musings, Photography on July 11, 2012| 2 Comments »
I received an unexpected gift today. A package from a family member who has been dealing with great tragedy. Yet she’d taken the time to send me something out of the blue. On the back of the package she had written that she had found the enclosed item in her father’s effects and thought that I might like it. I opened the package to discover a magazine celebrating African American history. The words quoted on the cover struck me, and made me want to share (and pair) with an image I took of a dusty toy. Old words but still quite fitting in these times. Have a good day, folks.
“We may have all come in different ships but we’re in the same boat now.” Martin Luther King, Jr.
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged beauty, family, Inspiration, leaves, musings, nature, Photography, poetry on July 10, 2012| 4 Comments »
I photograph a lot of leaves. Today I have decided I will one day write an essay about these things. I may reference the sensuous as an ode to Georgia O’Keeffe.
Or I may give a nod to Walt Whitman who described a leaf (or at least a leaf of grass) as the journey work of stars.
I can write of spidery patterns and blood-filled veins.
Of jagged ridges and rolling hills.
Of silhouettes in blue and green.
Of people protected and hidden half-seen.
Of autumn’s first leaves submerged and later frozen …
… and then go on to describe the new growth that emerges each spring.
And what sparked this thought of writing about leaves? A note from my brother who wrote, until he paused in his day and sat outside with his 2-year old son, he never really noticed the simple beauty of leaves blowing in the breeze.
Posted in Inspiration, Music, tagged Inspiration, movie soundtracks, music, musings, Photography, relationships, storytelling on July 3, 2012| 1 Comment »
Recently I had a conversation with that fellow in my life about how we have used music to better understand each other. Where words have failed, sometimes our different reactions to music have revealed something important about the other. The most humorous moments have occurred when he has tried to share classics with me like Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana and in my head pop images of King Arthur racing across a moonlit field to battle (i.e. the movie Excalibur by John Boorman), or as he talks about Wagner’s The Ride of the Valkyries and I suddenly hear “Kill Da Rabbit” … or the whir of helicopters blades in Apocalypse Now. He quickly learned that I have been well schooled in music … through the movies. Since he’s more into books than cinema, I compiled a CD of mostly movie-related music — pieces that move me, that I feel sweep the listener along on a journey, that make a body pause and feel.
“I was born by the river in a little tent
Oh and just like the river I’ve been running ever since …“
I now realize that I lost the CD and made no backup. I didn’t even write down the playlist. But below are some of the more dramatic pieces that come to mind this bright day. Warning, there is a certain sorrow to some of the songs, but there is uplift as well. See what you think when you have a few moments to procrastinate. FYI, in the spirit of pairing words/images/music, these are all links to YouTube renditions but these videos are just a tease. I highly recommend viewing the entire movie to see the scenes and/or hear the music in context.
Posted in Contributing Writer, Inspiration, Publication Updates, tagged Contributing Writer, family, Inspiration, memoir, musings, Photography, reflections on June 18, 2012| 2 Comments »
Okay, yes, that’s me in my mother’s arms a few days out of the hospital. I won’t tell you how long ago. But I will share this essay, just published in Talking Writing Magazine. People sometimes ask why do I write about a leaf blowing in the wind or photograph a sliver of light. This essay helps to explain the why of it all. Enjoy.
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, Nature Notes, tagged abstract, beauty, colors, food, garden, Inspiration, musings, nature, Photography on June 12, 2012| 4 Comments »
Last night I stood in the kitchen, trimming the sage, snipping dead thyme and bundling dry lavender branches. It kept my hands busy as I talked with a friend. In the end I tossed the litter haphazard on a white piece of paper that just happened to be on the table. In the morning I rose, drank my coffee and prepared to sketch out my day. And then of course I glanced at the paper, at the textures and colors, the shadows in transit… what could I do but run to get my camera? A few more leaves crushed, petals pulled from various nooks, colored paper unfolded, an old bird’s nest found … and somehow my morning became special.
Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, tagged beauty, colors, food, fruit, Inspiration, musings, Photography, red on May 30, 2012| 1 Comment »
When I looked outside my ktichen window this morning I saw a blanket of clouds covering the sky. Every color was muted. People moved by at a meandering pace with umbrellas tucked beneath their arms. No one seemed particularly sad or depressed by the weather, just lost in thought, as if walking in a waking dream. Dreams … that’s what I thought of as I snapped these photos of raspberries from this morning’s breakfast.
Posted in Inspiration, tagged community, Contributing Writer, G. K. Chesterston, Inspiration, Kierkegaard, musings, philosophy, Photography, storytelling on May 10, 2012| 3 Comments »
Recently, on a warm day in the city of Boston, I raced through one of its many squares toward my favorite hot dog vendor. I’d already spent most of my half-hour break running errands and knew that I was going to be late returning to work, but darnit, I needed to eat and wanted a good hot dog. As I made my way through the square, an elderly man stepped into my path. He said, “Can you spare a quarter?” I gazed into his watery blue eyes and said, “No, but would you like a hot dog?” I don’t know why I said what I said that day, and he certainly wasn’t expecting me to say what I said. He frowned and blinked a few times and then said, “You don’t have a quarter?” I didn’t quite put my hands on my hips in exasperation, but I did raise an eyebrow as I repeated, “Do you want a hot dog?” He shrugged. “Okay.”
He walked with me to the hot dog vendor. We stood in line together, a small brown woman and a tall older white man. He told me about his son who was going to give him money later in the week. He asked me questions about myself including where I went to school. I gave him mostly vague responses, not wanting to share too much, but I did admit that I’d studied history at one phase. He nodded, and then said with great pride, “At university I studied philosophy.” He then proceeded to tell me about Kierkegaard.
As we moved to the front of the line, the hot dog vendor said, “Hey, dear. Your usual?” I nodded and then added, “And this gentleman has an order too.” The man cleared his throat and then ordered a small dog. “What about a drink?” I asked. Like a child, he thought a moment and then said, “Oh, yes.” He looked over the line of drinks displayed on the cart and picked an orange soda. The hot dog vendor kept looking at me, a quizzical expression on his face. I just smiled. The vendor shrugged and began to fill our orders.
“Where do you work?” the man asked as we waited. I paused, and said, “Many places, but part-time in that church over there. That’s where I’m coming from today.” He nodded, his face taking on a sage expression. “G.K. Chesterston,” he said. “He wrote a book called Orthodoxy.” I took my hot dog from the vendor. “I’ll check it out,” I said and then walked away.
Though I have been in the square many times since, I have yet to see this man again. Other people, men and women, come up to me and ask for money. I say no. I have not been compelled to offer up anymore hot dogs. Perhaps that moment will come again. Meanwhile, each week, there is a gentleman I see in a wheelchair with his sign and his cup. I do not give him money either, but I do smile and nod in greeting as I walk by. He smiles and nods back, and that seems to be enough.
Words + Images 