Is beauty in the eye of the beholder?  One is tempted to answer “yes” or answer “no.”  Then to follow up with a discussion on the latest findings on brain research. Alternatively there is the description of objectively measurable parameters of proportion, of design technique.  To take either side is an interesting game.  I’ve enjoyed reading philosophical essays on the subject of beauty, or aesthetics, as a philosopher would say.  Does it help to be better informed, more deeply educated on the back stage workings of “the beautiful?”  Or does that just get in the way?  Do I not over-think –when I should just enjoy?

I know what is beautiful when I see it, when I hear it, when I taste it, when I touch it.  This is a judgment call, an appraisal.  Others could disagree with me with good grounds for a different assessment.  Yet, when I experience beauty with others who also are enraptured by the encounter–there is a bond between us that soon will not be forgotten by either of us.  If our paths should meet in the future, we will  almost certainly say, “Do you remember when…?”  Then we will both call to mind that moment of great pleasure.  Deep meaning of a time and a place is shared.

These photographs were taken yesterday.  It is springtime, a time of awakening on many accounts.  Flowering trees, every growing plant responds to the lengthening days, to a warmer sun.  Commercial activity increases due to easier mobility, and positive anticipation of summer activities.  Life!

Half of my photos are of a Macintosh apple tree in the backyard.  The tree was planted in memory of Laura’s mom who passed a few years ago.  It is a perennial, ever returning spectacle of delicate white blossoms.  If you look carefully you will see the edges of the white petals are tinged with a shade of rose.  The rose hue is a clue to the apple which potentially will grow to succeed the blossom.  The blossoms are beautiful in their plentitude, and in the delicacy of the detail of each.  For me they evoke a complex sensation.  I remember a woman of short stature, dressed neatly, in lacy apparel.  Josephene knew the importance of earning respect by the fit and finish of one’s appearance.  The tree in bloom honors her memory.

The hot rod photo’s were taken at the Roadster Shop.  I am in awe of the craftsmanship that is practiced every day by the men and women who work there.  From time to time I am graciously permitted to spend time on their showroom floor with my camera.  The fit and finish of the mechanical design, construction of engine and drive train, the perfection of the paint, all conspire to reveal a nostalgia street rod of awe inspiring beauty.  The photographs of the red car are of a mustang.  The supercharged overhead cam motor fits neatly under the hood.  This is poetry.  The counter point photos are of a Chevelle Malibu, with a big block 454 cubic inch motor under the hood.  Not as exotic as the Ford, this one just screams “muscle.”  These automotive works of art, are statements, exquisite emblems of a time past, of the 1960’s when I was a young man.  The memories come back in a flood when I contemplate these cars.

May I suggest that the most interesting of this collection of photos is of the white headed robin.  I understand that these are rare birds.  This one has returned to our yard for the past two years.

And more INXS.  Enjoy.