Memories

Last week I spent some time looking back at my early photographs. It was like taking a walk down memory lane. My favorite photos reminded me of stories and

Memories

of connections and meaning making.

So today I’m sharing just a few of those images along with their stories.

My first story is about what I call the Loving Kindness Barn. This barn was located in northwestern Plymouth across the road from the dog park. We happened upon it one day when we were out for a drive. And I stopped and photographed it then and another time just because I loved it so much. I especially loved the phrase mounted in ceramic letters on the barn. There were also sculptures and statues scattered in the yard in front of the barn. And I could tell that an artist must live there.

At the time I made this photograph I sold photo prints from an Etsy shop online. One of my customers, a former native of Minnesota bought a print of a fisherman at the edge of Lake Superior in late fall as a Christmas gift for her sister. This customer later contacted me when she noticed a photo of the Loving Kindness Barn for sale in my Etsy shop. It turns out that the barn, house and small acreage around the barn belonged to her great uncle, who was an artist.  Fast forward 2 years and my customer’s great uncle and aunt had decided to retire and sell the acreage and move to a nearby small town. The mother of my former customer contacted me wanting to buy a print of the barn to give her uncle. Because I loved that barn so much I made a large print of the barn and gave it to her to give to her uncle. She later reported that they had it framed and it was hanging in their living room.

I smile every time I think of my photo bringing joy to the artist who first brought me joy through his work. The barn is no longer there. Houses fill the area and I can hardly imagine it ever looking like my photograph. I’m so glad that I was able to discover and photograph a little piece of the history of this area. And I still love the sentiment… “May happiness and well-being arise in all sentient beings, equal to the sky.”

Hawaii

In March 2011 I went on a photography workshop to the Big Island of Hawaii. And there I met Akiko, owner and creator of Akiko’s Buddhist Bed and Breakfast. I was still working as a software engineer when I attended this workshop. During the workshop several of us gathered around Akiko’s kitchen table talking about what we wanted to do in our lives. Akiko pointed out that life was too short to not do what you dreamed of doing. “How much do you really need?” she challenged us.

I had fallen in love with photography. Though I wasn’t very good at it, I loved it. And I came home to tell my husband Jon that I wanted to figure out a way to leave my work as a software engineer and do photography full time.

A month later in one of the largest layoffs I had seen at Medtronic (where I worked) I was laid off from my job. My pride was hurt and I felt pretty beat up. But even the first day, before the shock had worn off, I told a mentor, “I’m not going to look for another software engineering job. I’m going to make photographs.”

Me in Hawaii

And I did and here I am still making photographs. I was very fortunate to be able to do that. In late 2012 I returned to Akiko’s Buddhist Bed and Breakfast and spent almost 3 months on the Big Island exploring and making photographs, and sitting zazen regularly with Akiko.

Akiko’s Kitchen

I learned so much from her. And I still keep in touch with her occasionally. She continues to be a force for good, now in her early 80’s.

Birds

Since becoming a photographer I’ve discovered a great love for birds. I’m not the life list kind of birder. Instead I’m the filled with awe, wonder, and delight kind of birder, loving to watch birds winging high overhead, watching the ordinary lives of birds in and around the pond behind our house. Because of my love of birds I’ve placed bird feeders in front of our house, just outside my office window. And I delight in watching my feathered friends anywhere I go.

Mysteries, Yes

Truly, we live with mysteries too marvelous
to be understood.

How grass can be nourishing in the
mouths of the lambs.
How rivers and stones are forever
in allegiance with gravity
while we ourselves dream of rising.
How two hands touch and the bonds will
never be broken.
How people come, from delight or the
scars of damage,
to the comfort of a poem.

Let me keep my distance, always, from those
who think they have the answers.

Let me keep company always with those who say
“Look!” and laugh in astonishment,
and bow their heads.

   — Mary Oliver

Every time I see a large bird take wing, I feel as if my heart takes wing with it. Trumpeter swans and sandhill cranes especially fill me with joy. I love their grace and beauty. And I also love the cacophony of a bunch of them calling to one another.

What memories bring you joy?

May you walk in beauty.