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From the category archives:
February
Sometimes the contrast between the enormity of this universe, and our lives here on earth, can seem so overwhelming that I have to throttle it back, and consider it only in dribs and drabs.
Around our house, we have an expression for these moments: “…this world…”. It’s a simple phrase but one usually articulated with a depth of feeling from places not normally accessed, expressing anything from deep disgust and despair to the warmest empathy and compassion, to wonder and gratitude.
Sometimes the tone is accusatory (HOW CAN/DOES THIS EXIST!!), sometimes prayerful (how can/does this exist, and, well, thank you !!), and sometimes just a witnessing.
Anne Lamott’s fine book, “Help, Thanks, Wow” explores these notions further, and, if you were to read only one book on prayer, it’s the one I would recommend.
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By way of comparison (and to illustrate how good smartphone cameras are), this was taken at about the same time as the previous shot, but on a Samsung Galaxy S4, which by no means has a top of the line camera. But the shot holds its own with the previous one, taken with a good Canon camera and a very good Canon lens (except perhaps in making a large print).
I like how this photo gives you more ready access to the buildings, even though I didn’t think I stepped in closer than on the other shot. Could just be that the Samsung has a 31mm lens, which brings you closer than the Canon lens, which was set at 26mm.
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Jeff Cox builds his wonderful 1985 book, Seasonal Celebrations, around the Chinese lunar-solar calendar, which divides the year into twenty four distinct periods. They begin with the Winter Solstice, and are then demarcated by the new or full moon, (or the equinoxes and remaining solstice). The names given to the periods are pure poetry; right now we are probably in The Period of Awakening of Creatures (Ching Che), which in 1986 ran from the full moon on Feb. 24 to the new moon on March 10.
I think of that book now, because it’s where I first found a reference to “the most delicate pastel pinks and blues” in the skies at dawn and dusk in the heart of winter. Skies like I had a couple of days ago when I took this photograph. He writes about it under The Period of the Greater Cold, (Ta Han), beginning on the new moon on January 10 to the full moon on January 26 (1986).
I’ve seen those pastels mostly in early March, maybe because I’m out more at that time of the year, the weather being warmer. As it was on this day, about 55 degrees when I took the picture.
Tomorrow, for comparison, I’ll be posting a smartphone picture of this same scene, taken at the same time of day.
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Two months out from the Solstice, and nudged along by a couple of sunny days in the 60’s, winter was bound to recede, even with the two feet of new snow recently. And the sap, right on cue, just started running a couple days ago. Can’t help but feel a little giddy, and reassured, watching Spring unfold.
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A few months after I bought my first digital camera – a Canon 20D more than a decade ago – I took it out for a spin at dusk, with a tripod, to see what it could do.
There were/are many reasons to embrace digital, but initially, the biggest one for me was in the instant feedback via the LCD screen, a whole new technology for cameras. Thus I could shoot to my heart’s content (no film, very cheap, another reason), and rework my compositions till I found some keepers.
My old friend Dennis Stock, who was about 80 years old at the time, initially turned me on to digital; he let me borrow a consumer digital that someone had let him use. Early digital had its limitations though, so I didn’t jump in till a year later, when the technology and the price became incredibly attractive.
Haven’t looked back.
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This is the place where Calvin Coolidge, the 30th US president, was born and raised. It was also where he was sworn in as President in August of 1923, following the death of President Warren Harding. The village is an historic site and remains virtually unchanged since the early 20th century, a good example of a classic Vermont hill town from that era. That’s Okemo Mountain off in the distance.
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One antidote for the cabin fever that settles in after the holidays is to get away for a bit; in this case out to the ice and into your little fishing shack, away from everything (but yourself), if just for while. And – the best part – you can just pretend you’re out there to fish.
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