Plague Journal, Truth, Love & Beauty
The weeks have been long. There is a exhaustion felt due to quarantine, mandated isolation from communal activities, and then the spate of murders of innocent black men, in Georgia and then in Minnesota. The riots over the past few nights in our cities are a natural release of rage, of exasperation over the long standing treatment of people of color. My imagination strains to understand the terror of having any casual contact with police, — if I were a Black person. I cannot and will never really understand what that is like.
A friend sent me three extraordinary photos which he captured. One was of a pelican in flight. The other two were of architectural features. I was reminded that a feature of success in photography is patience. How challenging to capture a fine closeup image of a pelican in flight! Another feature is to have a good eye for what makes an interesting subject for capture with the camera.
To recognize that there is always beauty and love as well as terror, injustice, and uncertainty in life, today I wanted to post a few photos that I have taken within the last several days. We are blessed with blossoms of the Peony which the previous homeowner planted in our yard. They are extraordinary as you can see. Also, while biking along the Fox River I admired some yellow iris growing at the edge of the water. I know this iris is considered invasive, but I like it nonetheless. The last photo is of our grand daughter posing in a typical expression for her. Laughter is her characteristic response to life.
May we not all again, touch that part of us, before we mastered and were mastered by language, — that laughed in delight at life.
