Survival

One dies. One thrives. There’s a lesson in that somewhere.

There’s another lesson in this picture. One that I’ve preached for years. Here it comes.

Again.

Pictures are everywhere. Either slow down and take a look around, or, change your thinking about what a picture is or isn’t.

The first thought is obvious. If I’m trying to photograph I would rather take a car than a plane, but I would rather walk than drive. That’s simple enough, right?

The next one isn’t so simple.

I have a couple of friends that do not photograph near home even though they both live in interesting places. One has a pretty good imagination but he only uses it when he travels. Unfortunately, he makes photography too precious.

The other takes cruise ships to go places. He takes pictures when the boat docks. He sees all the tourist hot spots and never gets to the heart of the city.

He can’t or won’t make pictures near his home except one time to shoot a sunset at a pier. His city is very interesting to me. I could spend days there and never get close to finishing photographing the entire city.

Here’s the funny thing.

They’ve both been taking pictures for many years, maybe around forty. You’d think with that kind of interest they’d keep some kind of camera with them every minute of every day.

No. Not them.

They do have a simple reason for not doing it. Their wives. The women won’t let them do this or that. Or, they have a list of honey dos. They are both retired. They have nothing but time. Use it productively. Scrub the toilet then go outside. I’m pretty sure their wives will thank them for the time alone.

Me?

My wife throws me out the door with a camera if I get grumpy or show the slightest sign of malaise. She knows and understands what will fix me even now when I earn our daily bread in a very different way.

That’s it.

I’m done teaching. (For today.)