The young writer, Shoshauna, Study #4; a shot of Tequila on a cold day; Mary in the Grotto - five studies; he walks his pet scorpion
Thursday, December 23, 2010 at 11:56AM ;)
The young writer, Shoshauna, Study #4: On this day, I had to buy my own coffee. That's okay - everybody should buy their own coffee now and then. I would have bought a cinnamon roll, too, but other customers had already eaten the entire day's supply.
I did not want any of the other available pastries, so Shoshauna retrieved a basket full of biscotti and then sorted through them, telling me what kinds they were. I settled on cranberry with a white chocolate frost.
I think that I enjoyed it as much as if it had been a cinnamon roll.
Sometimes, one's day gets out of order. I actually encountered this dog earlier, before I drove up to the Metro Window. It is Tequilla, and she is trying to frighten me, even though she knows I know her better than that.
As this was the first picture that I took of the day, I was going to put it at the top of the post, but then I decided that I would rather have the image of Shoshauna greet my readers than this one of Tequila.
After I left Shoshauna and Metro behind, I drove off sipping the coffee and crunching the biscotti and soon found myself passing by Grotto Iona. It had been a long time since I had actually stopped and gone into the grotto, but on this day I felt that I should stop and go inside. So I did.
There was very little daylight left. I pushed my ISO to 6400 and then underexposed by at least a full stop and then lightened it up a bit in Lightroom/Photoshop.
Thus we have:
Mary in the Grotto - Study # 1
Mary in the Grotto - Study # 2
Mary in the Grotto - Study # 3
Mary in the Grotto - Study # 4
Mary in the Grotto - Study # 5
And this one from India:
;)
One day, while walking through an ancient site the name of which slips me at the moment, Melanie, Vasanthi, Murthy, Buddy and I came upon this fellow who was out on a morning walk with his pet scorpion.
As this is the first time that I have ever pulled it out of my India take, I never showed this picture to Sandy or told her of it, so I cannot say for certain how she would have reacted, but I think I know.
As far as I could tell, Sandy loved all creatures. She found cobras to be cute, she gently held praying mantises in her hand and would bring her blurry little camera close to even bugs of a sort that many might find horrid and repulsive and would take the sweetest, most heart-felt photo imaginable.
I believe that if I could show her this picture, she would adore the scorpion. "Chooo'weet!" she would say - "chooo'weet" being a word that she also used many times to decribe puppies and kittens and Kalib and Jobe, who she never met but loved through my photographs. If anything about this picture bothered her at all it would have been the way that the string had been tied to the scorpion's stinger.
Now, when I made it a project to drop in random shots from India on a somewhat regular basis, I stated that I would do so without direct reference to Sandy, but that the photos themselves would be silent evidence that I was thinking of her.
And now I find I keep dropping the pictures in and writing about her, anyway.
After this one, though, I am going to try to go back to my original plan. I will let future photos stand in silent memorial.
Reader Comments (7)
If I am allowed a vote I would like to vote you continue w/ the comments re: Sandy and India.
Your words giving the pictures much more meaning.
Oh no Bill. What you write makes it a better tribute to Sandy, and enlightens your readers to more about her. We want to hear more, a lot more. She was beautiful.
It seems you have a need to write about her. Let your heart lead wherever it's going to go. Did you consciously stop to see Mother Mary, or were you just led there? Lovely photos today. Scorpion walking, Ick.
Bill, I sincerely hope you continue to narrate your photos with Sandy in mind. We learn so much more about her each time you do, and it is a necessary thing for your heart and soul.
Am sure Soundarya (Sandy) would have said " Chooo 'weet" and if she were to see this she would have ensured the arthropod was set free. She was the most compassionate person.
BTB that ancient site is Hampi.
aging in america is a tough challenge since we're such a youth-oriented society. i'll look f/w to your writing and photog'g about it. congrats about your blog award. i'd be interested to see some of the other blogs that competed. your blog is the only one i read. most of them are uncannily boring. i liked the scorpion foto. i myself am partial to the praying mantis. just love those little walking sticks who are so darn clever and mean!
Dusty, Michelle, Mocha and Heidi - thanks for your thoughts. I still think that I will basically go back to my plan, but if I feel a pressing need then I may retreat back a bit, just as I did here
...and Mocha... I was going to keep this between Suji and I, but since you asked I will tell you. Just the night before, Suji mentioned to me how she and Sandy would sometimes visit a church, and it would feel peaceful in there. So, instead of just driving by as usual, I thought ot this and stopped and went inside the grotto to recreate a similar environment.
The difference, I suppose, is that it was -9 degrees F at the Grotto (-23 C) at the grotto and I wore only a light jacket so my time to seek peace there was limited.
cawitha - Thank you. I feel certain that she would have demanded that the scorpion be set free. And so that people who might not come here and read the comments will know, I have included your basic message on today's post as well.
Ruth - I will give it a shot.