Day 16

Day 16
It’s been an odd day, even odder when I think in terms of photography. I started off with a stunning sunrise, marbled sunrise, jumped out of bed….. got stuff ready, packed the car, did food shopping so I could feed my Mother and niece lunch when I got there, filled the car up, checked the oil and off I went…. Smooth sailing all the way through Springfield, and whammmmmmmmmmmm took me 2 hours to go three miles. I don’t own a cell phone…. There I sat….. 11 am on a cloudless day, the sun shining directly down on cars, cars, trucks, and more cars. I tried taking pictures, really I did, but the sun was too bright for any of them to look like anything and the hawk that flew close was just slightly too far away, and the vultures that were circling above where the Ct. crosses under the highway were just a little too far away. And the little dog who was trying to stand on the window’s ledge was completely washed out by the sun, so there was something missing from my knowledge bank and a lot missing from my daily luck…… and by the time I got to Mom’s I was 2 hours late and they were hungry and my niece had to run…….



Then Mom and I go and get ice cream and go down to the beach to watch the sunset, an osprey is fishing in front of us and the colors are perfect, I mean perfect, it all looked like porceline glazes to me, like a subtle white wash on a very gentle sound and birds, quietly catching their dinner. And yes, I had left my camera at Mom’s; oh what a fool.
To top it all off I can’t get onto my sister’s wireless, it’s not letting me on the internet so I can’t even upload any of this tonight, I can’t look at what my fellow shutter sisters have done today. My evening routine is unattainable.
OK, so I saw a hawk, several vultures, an osprey, ducks, and gulls today. That’s good. I ate Heath Bar Crunch ice cream, that’s good. I ate more Thai food and did a little shopping for Mom, that’s all good. I also sat in a traffic jam for 2 hours, not so good. These are the edges once again.
As long as I can still laugh with my mother, it is alright. We can still laugh over some pretty silly shared experiences. In 1991 Mom and I flew to Tokyo to visit my nephew Jason at his home in Shizukuishi, Japan. In Jace’s tiny apartment all he had was a few futon’s for us to sleep on, so he made arrangements with the local Inn for Mom to have a room. Well this local inn was where Japanese business men stayed on overnight trips. They stacked 5 futons on top of each other for Mom and left her Japanese porno next to her bed. The bathrooms were shared. She was the only female staying there. So here was my then 72 year old Mom alone on top of this stack of futons separated by sliding doors in a tiny Inn. Jason’s home-stay mother was so embarrassed the next day and immediately canceled Mom’s room and set a room up for her in their house. She scolded Jace. He had tried to do it on his own and not bother other people, be independent and put together a perfect trip for his Gramma. He did too. We had a great trip, a really fun one, but that first night in the Inn still makes my Mom break down in hysterics, almost 20 years later…. And we can eat ice cream and watch the sun go down over the Sound.


Mom has 2 cats, Earl and Dori. They are wonderful cats. Ever since I got here Earl has been sitting on top of my computer case. He’s very tuned into the opera. He’s washing himself, but as the volume and tempo rise, both cats are searching for something. They are regal, they are princes among cats. Earl just stretched and then put himself back into his perch on my computer case. He is on for the night.