Dream – Snow – Puzzle

Against my new year resolution ‘simplicity’, somehow I have already created a list of tasks and events to do for 2014. I certainly don’t live like a retiree. I feel no constraint because I do not need to go outside the house to work every day. But days are so short that I am constantly playing catch-up. I think I have finally come to a conclusion, that it is my nature that I am fighting against, nothing else.   I cannot sit in front of the TV without doing the second or the third thing. I either do the ironing, fold the clothes or cooking. If nothing else, I would try to organize something in my sitting area… endless.  I know the solution is to get out of the house.

Do one thing at a time.  This idea has not come across my mind much and has certainly never been embossed on me. Or if it did, it would vanish in 5 minutes. I have three photo books that I planned to finish by end of this month.  I thought I have one month, but due to an unexpected trip coming up towards the end of the month, I have to hustle them up now.  I am simply not used to procrastination. I would rather accomplish my goal earlier, not later.  So I spent new year’s weekend plowing through thousands of photos till past midnight, and, the pressure slipped into my dream…..

There was the checkerboard. Some of them are more visible than others. My eyes did not see straight across, I viewed them from a diagonal angle. It is easier to take shortcuts and straight paths, but I tend to choose winding roads. I seemed to have a plan and have all checkers placed, but my destination is cluttered and blurry. My goal post is far away and undefined.  My brain is stuffed, I cannot sort it out and I wandered into never-never land…. I actually woke up with a headache and the whole room was spinning in front of me. I could not stand up. I had to lie down to balance myself. Exchange for a few late nights, I think.

I have little pressure wanting to keep up with my project, but it is not substantial enough to put me down. It is this drastic cold weather that kept me inside the house. I have only out walking twice this week. The temperature is low and it is foggy most of the time.  When the road is icy early in the morning, I was afraid to drive down the hill to hit a couple of spots that I had in mind for foggy shots. Then a couple of hours later, the road is drier and so the fog gets thinner and soon disappeared. Here goes the ambiance. My neighborhood is hilly, but it does not have the layers of the timberlines, more like this one that I took last year. Fog is beautiful among green trees and it is even more amazing when it dwelled among white snow.  Honestly, as cold as I have experienced this year, I don’t mind seeing more snow.  We don’t need a lower temperature to have snow, what we need is more moisture to generate snow and make all skiers happy and so am I.

Just before the last snow hit, we purposely filled up all the feeders. I was so happy to see many birds come around, not for my photography, but for them to have enough food in winter while the ground was covered with snow. All the birds are literally homeless though they are provided for and fed by nature.  Looking at this lonely one, I feel he was asking me, “can I take a shelter at your house, even just overnight”?  I would love to host another bird overnight as we did for Baby Jay (B.J. Story) whom we missed so much.

This last snow sticks to the ground for about a week. Not getting around by car, I took a walk nearby and ran into this ‘phenomenon’. There was some kind of light beaming from the horizon (jet streams?), there was loose cloud and floating fog, and there was sun reflection on my camera lens. Other than that, I cannot explain anything. I left the picture as is, no touch-up and hopefully, someone can give me some education on this.

Note:I really had a messy dream that resembles what I described.  But the image was taken during my recent walk at the park prior when I was testing a new lens that I got for Christmas.  For some reason, I was much attracted to the image and have looked at it repeatedly. Later when I had that dream, I finally got my answer.

Life is good and life is full of surprises. Photography has become an indispensable part of my life and through it, so my discovery journey continues.