Author: brenda

lens artist photo challenge: favorite photos of 2020

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,

“it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,

“it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity,

“it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the winter of despair,

“we had everything before us, we had nothing before us,

“we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way

“– in short, the period was so far like the present period,

“that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received,

“for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.” ~Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities.

Quote from Charles Dickens’, A Tale of Two Cities, and images submitted in response to Travels and Trifles first photo challenge for 2021.

fan 

Glazed silk, newly cut, smooth, glittering, white,
As white, as clear, even as frost and snow.
Perfectly fashioned into a fan,
Round, round, like the brilliant moon,
Treasured in my Lord's sleeve, taken out, put in—
Wave it, shake it, and a little wind flies from it.
How often I fear the Autumn Season's coming
And the fierce, cold wind which scatters the blazing heat.
Discarded, passed by, laid in a box alone;
Such a little time, and the thing of love cast off.
~Pan Chieh-Yü*
fan…Nikon D750 f5.6 1.60s 300mm 100 ISO

*cited: Trans: Florence Ayscough & Any Lowell The Project Gutenberg EBook of Fir-Flower Tablets

double exposure

The images above were created through the use of multiple exposure, both within camera and through digital editing. This Double Exposure project was inspired by the belief that images give voice to the emotional pain of COVID across the globe. While this virus does not discriminate, the number of people who are most impacted during this time are those who live within impoverished communities—dense housing projects, reliance on public transportation, low income, limited access to medical care and sick leave, employment instability, and rates of non-communicable diseases and illness.  

The phoenix that may arise from the flames of inconsolable grief is an awareness of the inequality aggregation of these social and economic disparities exacerbates the adverse effects of all humanity.  

COVID-19 is not a pandemic. It is a syndemic.

each at its own hour 

The grass does not refuse
To flourish in the spring wind;
The leaves are not angry
At falling through the autumn sky.
Who with whip or spur
Can urge the feet of Time?
The things of the world flourish and decay,
Each at its own hour. ~LiPo

Trans: Arthur Waley, The Poet Li Po II. 26. The Sun Gutenberg.org

Nikon D750 f/5.6 1/80s 150mm 100 ISO

“The old man was thin and gaunt with deep wrinkles in the back of his neck. The brown blotches of the benevolent skin cancer the sun brings from its reflections on the tropic sea were on his cheeks. The blotches ran well down the sides of his face and his hands had the deep crease scars from handling heavy fish on the cords. But none of these scars were fresh. They were as old as erosions in a fishless desert.” ~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea

it feels as though…

I’ve been stuck in a family’s surgical waiting room since November 3, 2020. Today as I wait for the results of the Electoral College I fear that a widespread uncritical acceptance of questionable concepts is tearing our county apart.

I’ve also come to fear that the foundation of our democracy was built from a “gentlemen’s agreement” and not upon laws as this anxiety-filled waiting now extends to January 6th when the the vice president, as assigned by the Constitution, tallies the Electoral College results and declares a winner.

Putting aside uncritical acceptance, laws, and gentleman’s agreements would there be a coming together of beliefs so that we may begin to heal in unity if our leaders practiced the qualities listed below?

▪ Charity — Willingness to sacrifice one’s interest for the good of the people.

▪ Morality — Maintaining a high moral order in one’s personal conduct. 

▪ Altruism — Generosity toward people, avoiding selfishness.

▪ Honesty — Fulfilling one’s duties with loyalty and integrity. 

▪ Gentleness — Being kind and gentle, never arrogant. 

▪ Self-control — Performing one’s duties with dispassion. 

▪ Non-anger — Remaining calm in the midst of confusion. 

▪ Nonviolence — Being nonviolent, not persecuting the people

▪ Forbearance — Practicing patience in one’s duties. 

▪ Uprightness — Respecting public opinion, promoting harmony.

Just saying as I wait, wait, and wait ….

lens-artists photo challenge: precious moment

Opening a door of gratitude…

Reading an author’s words that have traveled through time and space. 

Regret that dropping sun’s dusk;
Love this cold stream’s clearness.
Western beams follow flowing water;
Stir a ripple in wandering person’s mind.
Idly sing, gazing at cloudy moon;
Song done—sound of tall pines. ~Li Po*

Camping with family in the Snowies

Watching clouds drift over Cameron Peak

Watching children explore life through play

Waking to the silence of an early Spring’s snowfall

Being grateful for photographers inviting me to see the beauty of the blue and yellowish-brown colors of early spring

Driving through Wyoming on clear roadways

Seeing the smile of togetherness

Opening myself to the wisdom of words spoke by those younger than I

Sharing precious love-filled moments

https://vimeo.com/489574547

This week Amy (The World is a Book) invited us to share precious moments we have had, before or during the pandemic.

*cited: Trans – Arthur Waley, The Poet Li Po Project Gutenberg ebook