With a pen and camera
Je sais que le printemps est là quand l’arbre Redbud est en fleurs. Et quand la lumière du matin est bonne, la journée vous accueille avec des sentiments positifs.
Quand le soleil brise l’horizon, les couleurs changent, mais les sentiments positifs demeurent. Si je ressens une journée difficile, je me souviens de cet arbre en fleurs.
Il a été planté il y a des années après la mort de ma mère. C’est elle arbre et c’est magnifique.
Pour ceux qui sont fatigués de l’hiver, laissez-moi partager avec vous un aperçu du printemps.
Chaque printemps, Smith College ouvre la porte de leurs maisons vertes. Pour un petit don, vous pouvez vous perdre dans la chaleur, la couleur et la promesse de la météo à venir.
La patience est nécessaire car les week-ends sont toujours occupés avec les visiteurs, proches et lointains.
In less than a week, the northeast USA got hit with another storm. While many are so tired of winter, many more are really done with snow and the cold and wanting spring to arrive. Now.
With close to 10 inches [25 cm] of wet, heavy, snow falling overnight, the next morning did not disappoint for people like me.
With nothing but stillness and silence all around me this morning, I thought of Dan Gurney, an incredible achiever by any standard, who said something to the effect of, “If you see something and can make it beautiful, but choose not to, what does that say about you?”
I have been to this place many times before, but not in winter. It’s called Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. To walk the grounds void of flora, visitors and the orchestral sounds of a storied symphony is not only cathartic, but prone to nostalgia.
When you’ve visited a place numerous times, memories can fill many empty spaces. On a summer Sunday afternoon during the season, it’s not an uncommon quest to find a suitable open space on the lawns. But, you do find a spot, spread out your blanket, set-up your food and beverages and soak up the sun and air, all while music literally spans the grounds.
In winter, afternoon light can be very strong, very intense. From 13:00 to 15:30, I chase light and though I love winter, there are just some days when I sense a foolhardy notion to get outside. However, on those days, the sensible part of me says to chase the light indoors.
It’s not difficult to dislike the brutal cold [7F with -10 windchill]. In spite of that, I find a quality that transcends visual beauty.
The cold makes things hold fast. It’s a natural form of “stop-motion” for inanimate objects. And a few animated ones as well vis-a-vis, birds stoically perched in a tangle of shrubs enduring both the cold and the wind.
For a brief instance—and I mean brief—I’m part of the landscape with camera in hand. The cold forces me to hunker down, to pull tighter the collar of my jacket, the hat on my head, the gloves that now feel powerless to the temperature as my fingers start to numb.
Winter is a beautiful time of year for me.
“Unable to perceive the shape of You,
I find You all around me.
It humbles my heart,
For You are everywhere.”
Excerpt from Guillermo del Toro’s film, The Shape of Water.
It hasn’t been a banner year for New England foliage this Autumn. Still, there are places, however few, where Mother Nature offers a splash of color. Just be in the moment and patiently see…not just look.
I‘m an old-school kind of person. I think there are many ways to express personal opinions, dissent, etc., but not during the playing of our national anthem and the presence of the stars ‘n stripes…Here’s one [legal] reason to consider. Click here. [U.S. Code › Title 36 › Subtitle I › Part A › Chapter 3 › § 301]
Road photography. Funny, in many ways when I look at things, this is how I “see” the detail or details I’m drawn to. It could be a color, a line, a shadow, a shape, a motion of some kind. Perhaps even combinations thereof…
Carlo Centeno 