Do Not Enter / One Way - Commonwealth Ave and Hereford St / Back Bay (Fri 19 Aug 2011)

Do Not Enter / One Way - Commonwealth Ave and Hereford St / Back Bay (Fri 19 Aug 2011)
AMTRAK from New York Penn Station to Boston's South Station. After checking into the Boston Park, we wandered along Comm Ave up towards Mass Ave. A dinner stop at a Thai Restaurant and back along Boyleston after trying some frozen yogurt - some vague recollections of those big transition days where you have just become familiar with New York and then it is time to start all over again..

One year ago today.

Walking the Dog - Stuyvesant Square / Lower East Side / New York (Thu 18 Aug 2011)

Walking the Dog - Stuyvesant Square (*) / Lower East Side / New York (Thu 18 Aug 2011)
Walking the Dog - Stuyvesant Square (*) / Lower East Side / New York (Thu 18 Aug 2011)
A little exposure trick to make the dog glow - was reminded of a Trent Park photo (*), particularly when it is converted to black and white.

A beautiful small park just to the east of it's bigger and more well known neighbours - Washington Square and Union Square. Not many people here and the lady walking her dog was one of the few I saw. Definitley a park for the locals. I sat here for an hour or so in the shade of some trees. It was hot and I was sweating, and it was not long before I nodded off into a dreamy sleep. It hardly seems a year ago.

Untitled - New York (Thu 18 Aug 2011)

Untitled - New York (Thu 18 Aug 2011)
Happened to quick to get everything right. Love the shadows of the fire stairs. One year ago today.

Photography is a Game - Joerg Colberg (Fri 17 Aug 2012)

Shadows - Window and Guttering - Prague (Sep 2005)
Joerg Colberg writes (*)..

Photography is a game [..] where the rules aren't always that clear, which is, confusingly, part of what makes it so exciting. It's a game that often is little more than an invitation to come and play and try to figure out the rules as one goes.

Back on the road again.

Learning to be a little more Certain of the Uncertain - Well Maybe?

Detail - Loch Ness Locks / Fort Augustus / Scotland (Sat 04 Sep 2005)
I did not find the Loch Ness Monster,
but I did find this amazing piece of rusted iron.
I have a been a little stuck on this post. Whenever this happens I look to the Manual of the Warrior of Light (*) by Paulo Coelho (*) and found this ..

A warrior knows that the ends do not justify the means.

Because there are no ends, there are only means. Life carries him from unknown to unknown. Each moment is filled with this thrilling mystery: the warrior does not know where he came from or where is going.

But he is not here by chance. And he is overjoyed by surprises and excited by landscapes that he has never seen before. He often feels afraid, but that is normal in a warrior.

If he thinks only of the goal, he will not be able to pay attention to the signs along the way. If he concentrates only on one question, he will miss various answers that are there beside him. That is why the warrior submits.

This is my 1000th post. A milestone of sorts and something I would not have thought possible when I made my first post (*) here on Thu 26 Feb 2009.

I think the above passage from the Manual of the Warrior of Light (*) provides a useful metaphor for this blog and the 1000 posts that it now comprises.

It is a reflection of my life and who I am. I am never quite sure where it is going - I just try to make connections between what I read, what I see, what I photograph and what I feel.

A lot has happened and changed in the last three and half years since that first post. I have learnt a lot about myself and others. I have made plenty of mistakes, yet I think I have done a few things right. I have been defeated, yet I have have had a few wins, for which I am grateful. I have been sad and I have been happy. I have felt lost and without purpose yet in some ways I have found myself. I have looked to the past, present and future. I have had regrets [and learnt how to let them go]. I have given up and I have battled on. I have lost belief in myself, yet I have found ways to restore that belief. I have been hurt, upset and I have forgiven. I have cried and I have laughed. I have been directionless and without purpose, yet I have had goals. I have been inspired. I have tried hard, too hard sometimes. I tried to be something I am not, and I have learnt my limits and what I can be. I have watched and followed, and at times I have lead, mostly unknowingly I should think.

Somehow I am happy when some say I should be angry. I have suffered and have empathised with the suffering of others. I have been drawn into other people's battles and have known how to respond. I believe in luck (and fate) and know that it comes from being prepared and the willingness to take a risk.

I have changed but remained the same. I am older though I feel younger. I am experienced but still feel like a beginner. I am wiser but more naive. I found a voice (an awkward one at that) I did not know I had. You don't know how far you have been until you get back. I've been all over and it's been all over me . Therefore I am thankful for this blog and what I have learnt about myself and others.

Many times I have asked myself why? post what I have posted here and other times I have said to myself, well why not? (this post being an example). I am starting to forget things, so it is nice to make the effort to write what is important, so it can be recalled. I have memories and I am making memories.

Most importantly, I have Remembered Jenny (*) - how she lived and how she died. Jo and I are the bearers of her memory and she lives on in our hearts and in our minds until we lay to rest beside her.

I could go on, but I won't ().

It's all here in these 1000 posts which are just like snapshots of my life.

Like Paulo Coelho's good warrior, I am not really sure where I am going and what might be ahead. I have come to learn that this is what life is all about. Ultimately I think I have learnt to become a bit more certain of the uncertain. I have accepted this - well at least I think I have.

Hopefully, i will have the opportunity to post another 1000 posts. Let's see what happens.

[the warrior] is overjoyed by surprises and excited by landscapes that he has never seen before - Loch Ness / Scotland (Sat 03 Sep 2005)

Scotish Landscape - Spean Bridge / Scotland (Sat 05 Sep 2005)

Scotish Landscape - Spean Bridge / Scotland (Sat 05 Sep 2005)
The Canon Pro1 gave this an almost painterly quality. On the way to loch Ness from our base at Fort William.

The Eye Is a Door - Anne Whiston Spirn (Fri 29 Jun 2012)

The Eye Is a Door (*) - vimeo (*) - Anne Whiston Spirn (*) (Fri 29 Jun 2012)
Well worth watching. Look forward to the release of the book. I have a copy of her book Language of Landscape (*)

The Eye Is a Door: Photography and the Art of Visual Thinking is about seeing as a way of knowing and photography as a medium of thought and a mode of discovery. To photograph mindfully is to look and think, to open a door between what can be seen directly and what is hidden and can only be imagined.

I like her photographs.