Saturday, January 08, 2011

What Catches Your Eye

It's interesting what catches your eye. Today as I stood at the garden door looking out toward the barn, I was struck by the intensity of the winter sky.  In my mind I tried to name the shade of blue in the sky, and the red of the cardinal eating seed from our banister.  The evening sun pouring through the garden door, warmed my face, and it felt good to be alive.
I stood there a long time mesmerized by all the activity. There were grey squirrels, and turtle doves fussing over some corn I scattered on the ground earlier in the day. Up in the sky, a jet headed westward toward the sun, laid a cotton trail on the cloudless blue sky.
Jilda called from another room to tell me we needed to start getting dressed for our gig at Berkeley Bob's Coffee House tonight, and her voice jolted me out of my bliss. When I turned, I noticed the sunlight falling on the table and our toothpick holder.
I'm not sure I realized it, but the little crystal holder belonged to Jilda's mother and it's very old.
Her mom grew up dirt poor and never had a great deal of money in her life, but she loved beautiful things. Before she passed away, she gave her children most of her stuff. She knew Jilda had a weakness fo beautiful things too, so she gave her the toothpick holder.
When I saw how the evening light played on the crystal, I pulled my iPhone from my pocket and snapped a picture. I then went to fetch my good camera to take a "good picture", but by the time I returned, the light had changed, the moment had slipped away. I read somewhere that the best camera in the world is the one you have with you. I must say that I totally agree.

10 comments:

  1. So true. With early and late day sunlight especially, there's rarely time to waste. I'm glad you got that photo - the colours are stunning. Colours sure do come alive with sunlight.

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  2. We are certainly glad you had your phone with you. That picture is one in a million. Thank you and the meaning behind the tooth pick holder hits home very deeply for me!! Nice.

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  3. We got one of those little crystal toothpick holders for a wedding gift! It was the first of many beautiful glass things in my collection.
    tm

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  4. What a beautifully written post! I love looking at clouds....

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  5. Is that the pic you got with your iphone? Well it's lovely and so are your words to capture this little beauty! Take care
    x

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  6. Thanks y'all. And yes, Ms. Kitty, the photo was taken with my iPhone.

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  7. At a recent lecture on art, we were told that Monet and others would return to a scene at the same time each day in order to capture the correct light. Sometimes they had only a few minutes to paint before the light was gone. You have captured the perfect light.

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  8. wow. your iphone captured those colors?! That's amazing. I love looking at things too.

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  9. That's an amazing picture! I love all the colors.

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  10. I'm so glad you snapped the picture right away - it's lovely :)

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