Two for Tuesday: Sharing the Road

On this balmy, weirdly, delightfully warm Tuesday in November, I took a long walk with a friend I hadn't seen in quite a while. We caught up, exercised, and took a short detour to stand under the Ginko tree on Runnymeade Road, which exploded with yellow leaves about three days ago. When you look up at that masterpiece of a tree, you see its intricate geometry, the patterning of its branches. It's a little Asian art in North Carolina.

But what am I going on about that for? It's Two for Tuesday. 

I suppose it was walking with a friend that made me select this image today. I spotted these boys, about fifteen or sixteen years old, as they strolled at a leisurely pace at a national park this summer, not a car in sight.  I walked a few paces behind.

My guess -- this twosome was probably unaware that they are wearing a uniform of friendship -- red tee shirt, black athletic shorts, flip flops.

Almost a Nun

Except for one big thing, I could have been a nun in this outfit. The white pastoral collar, Sister Peter Pan.  

Thanks to the game and playful Jamie L. She's just too good sitting in her perch at the top of the yellow slide, anticipating, about to begin down a chute leading to the world of children.

The world of children.

So happy that I slipped into that world.

Cinema

What can I say other than this: I feel a French film coming on.

Two for Tuesday: Looking Together

Like this twosome, I found the graphic sculpture to be a piece of art both absorbing and beautiful. The bubbly glass, the spinning circles, that delicious yellowy copper nucleus with the face inside. There was a lot to see. But then, after a spell, I found this silhouetted couple looking at the art just as intriguing as the work itself.

Several photographers, including North Carolinian John Rosenthal, have created series based on people looking at art in museums. I suppose all art is predicated on the third dimension - the viewer - and to see the art interacting with that force brings it to life in a new way.

Deep in the Woods

Went to the bamboo fields this rainy Friday afternoon to conclude part two of my happy collaboration with Mizz L S maybe A for Ava.

Love this place, always have. Bamboo is a delicate beast, hollow and lean, the material used in making scaffolds, which, if you think about it a second, is a piece of equipment with no room for error.

Anyway, there's a lot to say about this shot, but for now just two things: it's always great to end work on a high note. There's a reason writers are advised to stop their day at the desk in the middle of a strong paragraph.

And, two, when we started photographing, I considered the fallen shoots something to avoid. I thought they made the forest less inviting since they crossed a bit chaotically. But the diagonal cut of this jungle is what invites us directly into the journey.

Okay, I lied.  I have one more thing to say: the dress is a kiss blown into the air.

Plus/Minus

The plus is that I met and married Mark, a man I loved then and love even more richly and completely today.
The minus is that the wedding dress I borrowed from my mother became a veil of conflict draped over me. It took me my surprise then. It still does.

I read in Twyla Tharp's fantastic manual for being an artist, The Creative Habit, the following thought that made me feel a little less nuts for diving so deeply into my past.   "...the real secret of creativity is to go back and remember."

Many thanks to the divine Ms. L. and the subtle and fine R.W.  

Two for Tuesday: Supplies

This pair of mugs stuffed full of paint brushes looks like an inviting twosome. Together they seem to be happy dancers waiting for the music to start. I also like how the windowpane reflects the bristles and how those bristles blend in with the trees in the background.

When no one is looking, I've been known to run an unused paintbrush along my face. This may sound a tad strange to a guy, but for us ladies, it's not unlike applying a little blush along the cheekbones. I don't know about you, but adding that "touch" of color always feels good to me.