Every now and again, I'll see a scene which strikes my fancy. Without giving it too much thought, I'll pull out the cellular device and snap a photo.
Sometimes it's a bit blurry, sometimes the flash goes off and spoils the effect, spoils what I saw in my mind's eye which inspired me to snap a photo. Then I'll do it again, perhaps again, until I satisfy what I saw in my head.
The photo above happened just that way.
When I pulled it up on the computer to see what it looked like, to see if it captured what I wanted, I was a bit disappointed. It was blurry, the lights on the houses across the street were overexposed, then I saw the clouds...
They looked exactly as I'd seen them in my mind, my heart if you will. That was the thing which made me snap the picture in the first place. The broken cloud, the way the lights from the town below reflected off of them, the backdrop they provided for the dimly seen trees.
That will do nicely, I thought. It may or may not float your boat, but it floats mine, it works for me. I will be able to look at this picture years from now and I'll be reminded exactly of what I saw that night, what I was feeling.
It's a Saturday night as I write this. The Nuke is back home with her husband, a short visit but a great visit. It was good to see her if only for a few short hours. The house seems empty, as it always does after a visit is over.
But in truth, it's not empty, it's just a little quieter. The Missus Herself and I return to our routine while the feline staff naps quietly, now able to relax as it's "just us" again.
Christmas approaches, I am content, I am happy, even if the world seems to be going insane.
Prayers for those who are lost.
Prayers for Peace.
Times Like These
Chris Shiflett, Nate Mendel, Taylor Hawkins & Dave Grohl
(Source)
I, I'm a one way motorway
I'm the one that drives away, follows you back home
I, I'm a street light shining
I'm a white light blinding bright, burning off and on
It's times like these you learn to live again
It's times like these you give and give again
It's times like these you learn to love again
It's times like these time and time again
I, I'm a new day rising
I'm a brand new sky to hang the stars upon tonight
But I, I'm a little divided
Do I stay or run away and leave it all behind?
It's times like these you learn to live again
It's times like these you give and give again
It's times like these you learn to love again
It's times like these time and time again
It's times like these you learn to live again
It's times like these you give and give again
It's times like these you learn to love again
It's times like these time and time again
It's times like these you learn to live again
It's times like these you give and give again
It's times like these you learn to love again
It's times like these time and time again
It's times like these you learn to live again
It's times like these you give and give again
It's times like these you learn to love again
It's times like these time and time again
Your comment about getting the picture to see what you do struck a chord. I'm the same way when I write a comment. I over use the ellipsis because that's whats happening in my noggin... Thoughts trail off, and I explore where they go. For some reason, I love to tell and listen to stories. And there is always some trial and error to tell a story... A story that I have to get just right so you can stand in my memory with me, and see what I saw. I never ever understood why I do that, until you wrote this post. Clarity is something I value. Thank you for that.
ReplyDeleteClarity is good.
DeleteStorytelling is the way we used to pass down our history, our lore, our customs. Verbally, it's nearly a lost art. It takes a great deal of skill to tell a story, out loud. There are no editors, no re-writes.
Someday, you must tell us a story.
That's a good skill, to be able to look at what you have, what you can affect, what's truly important in your life, and turn down the noise of a world going insane.
ReplyDeleteI have learned to keep the noise and distractions corralled where I'm not bothered by them.
DeleteThough at times the madness does impinge, it doesn't overwhelm me.
Neat sky. And you could almost crop most of the annoying lights and houses out, to just show sky and roof and I think that you'd get a much more serene picture that would be really neat and less visually crowded and might be what you were looking for or not depending on what you were trying for.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting how comforting and safe the daily routine can be, once things settle down and return to normal. Especially after dogs or small children or both have temporarily invaded your quiet space. Mrs. Andrew and I have a friend who is sweet and radiates sunshine and happiness and is perky and when she leaves after a short (hour or so) visit both of us feel like we've been running a marathon and our ears are bleeding from happy, perky, chatty sunshinish conversation.
So, just a question. Would Nate's son use the Norse naming pattern if he becomes a song writer? That would be neat.
To me the lights of the houses were important, to me they told of the warmth and (hopefully) love inside each of those homes on a cold winter's night, but the sky dominated, as it should. The picture sings to me on a number of levels. Like I said, in years to come, I will see this picture, and remember.
DeleteIt's always a treasure and a joy to withdraw into one's own innermost sanctuary.
If Nate followed that pattern, his son would have a famous musical name wouldn't he?
(Don McCollor) There is another memory of lights in homes (from "Looking for Candles in the Window" Douglas Ramsey and Larry Skroh of the March 15, 1941 killer blizzard in the Red River Valley of ND)… "pioneers placed candles and kerosene lanterns in every window during a winter storm...true to the training of the early pioneers, lights burned from every window and every home the country over, trusting that the service might be of value to unfortunate ones. Many people spent Saturday night looking for candles in a window"
DeleteI had not heard that tale, folks looking out for each other. We could sure use more of that these days.
Delete(Don McCollor)...go out driving in bad weather and you can still die out here...
DeleteToo true.
DeleteJust for Beans. Is that Lodge brand? It sounds like Lodge.
ReplyDeletehttp://knuckledraggin.com/2019/12/sunday-video-7-14/
Ah, die Deutschen und ihre Küchengeräte.
DeleteNah, that's one of those cheapy Euro-trash brands. Looks like it's even being wielded by some effete Frog Prince.
DeleteIf it was good old 'Murican Lodge, the target woulda been laid flat from the first hit, or maybe the second.
And, really, the guy being hit by that pan should have smashed the haft of his axe through pan-holder's face, rotating out to range, then whacked pan-man so hard he'd have to change his name to 'Peter' because he'd be flying to the ground.
Poleaxes are like bayonet-equipped old-school military rifles. Use the butt to smash, the length of the weapon like a short staff to pummel, twist, shove, and the business end for serious killing.
Me? If I was axe-man, I would have whacked pan-boy on his right hip, then repeated into his right arm-pit, then follow up with a whack at the right neck, then back with the back of the axe to the left side of his head. Simple 1-2-3-4 motion, then dance back and whack again, then use the beard of the axe to yank him down and whack again. And if he's still standing, well, there's this pole maneuver against the body where you step forward with your right leg and put it inside his leading leg, and use the pole/rifle/axe/whatever to trip the jerk and make him fall backwards, and whack him on the way down when he opens up his defense as he falls. It's not a nice move, but it's better than getting yourself whacked.
Well, that's my opinion.
Ouch!
DeleteWhat? You wanted chivalry? On the battlefield it's a no-holds-barred scrum-fest.
DeleteAt least in the SCA, there's no purposely targeting the hands, gonads or 2" above the knee or below. Because, well, that's how you really can hurt someone.
It was a praising "ouch," as in "good job, that had to hurt." 😁
DeletePictures, sounds, and aromas all have a way of recording to our memories, and then triggering them years or decades later.
ReplyDeleteI've had it happen many times.....
Same here drjim. There's a certain aroma in the air in summer in Little Rhody which takes me right back to Fort Collins in the summer. It's rare but it happens. I miss that place, the kids were young, heck, I was young. Good times.
DeleteAfter our first winter here, when it melted and turned to spring, I began to notice aromas from my youth, like the smell of real DIRT, not that fake movie-prop stuff they had in Kali!
DeleteAnd the fresh smell and big temperature drop from a thunderstorm coming in was another.
Of course there are other "aromas" out here that will make your eyes water, but that goes with living in an agricultural / ranching area.....
That's a big one, that fresh smell after a summer afternoon thunderstorm!
DeleteI always liked driving through towns while on patrol, and seeing the lights on in houses, with people living their lives with their families, hopefully in a situation like i grew up in, filled with love. i loved being on patrol out in the country, seeing the farm yard lights, and knowing that there were families there, spots of warmth and light in the darkness. But one of the things I loved most, was patrolling in the middle of nowhere, the night after a snowfall, when the skies had been cleared of dust by the falling snow, and they were full of stars, like Carl Sagan used to say, dozens and dozens of them.
ReplyDeleteOccasionally, on my own time, I would find myself going to Madison, at this time of year, and the roads and malls were packed with people, and i even enjoyed that, because the people were out buying things,...for other people! To show that they loved them!
It can be a nice thing, to be a Creature of the Night!
It certainly can be. I am much like that myself.
DeleteI really dig the Light Angel dancing at the front of the house to starboard. Very Christmassy.
ReplyDeleteAnd the Foo Fighters. What's more Christmassy then the Foo Fighters? Okay, bad example. But you get my drift. And if you get a chance could you send it back to me? Because I've seriously lost the bubble here...
I just noticed that, it's pretty cool and it wouldn't be there if I hadn't nudged the camera a wee bit.
DeleteFoo Fighters are (to me at any rate) any time of the year music. Not so much Christmassy is that song as expressing (to me) to appreciate the times you're living. But I'm guessing you knew that.
Found your drift and corrected it, portside helmsman was asleep and not correcting for the current...
😉