Whenever we go exploring, I can be sure that if I look away for thirty seconds, Neil suddenly stands on top of a boulder with a huge smile. I think it’s his favorite thing to see how quickly he can disappear and pop up somewhere else.
The first thing I do whenever I move to (or visit) a new place is to find a library and bookstore. They feel like home wherever I go – the rows of colourful spines on shelves are comforting. Readers there – librarians, clerks and fellow patrons – tend to be just as happy in silence as I am. If we do end up in conversation it feels genuine, peaceful. You exchange snippets of novels you recently loved and little things about life. Maybe you find out about an unusual place to explore or where to get the best cappuccino in the area.
So when we moved to this small desert town where everything is unfamiliar, I went to the library and got my card – making me feel more at home already.
Unpacking. We started eagerly and got the important stuff out but motivation is dwindling and I’m sure we’ll be living around those boxes for a while. Finley has already found her favorite things to do: chatter at the hummingbird feeder by the living room window, sleep under winter coats in the closet and zoom down the hallway, barely making the kitchen corner.
It's 5:45 – I’m wide awake. Through the bedroom window I see the porch lamp but nothing else. Fog season is here. I slip into fleece, pants, boots. The camera clicks in place on the tripod. I open the front door. Our bare elm looks like the branches might reach down and grab me. I hear a steady trickle of drops falling from the tree onto concrete. The fog hides the houses at the end of the street – all I see are glowing circles of light floating in the distance.
I don’t always make photos of the things I feel drawn to. It’s cosier in pyjamas. By the fire. With my coffee and cat. Some days the smallest hurdles can be enough to steer me away from my camera. But not today. Today I’m glad I went out and got the picture.
Cats are little weirdos right?
At day asleep, awake at night,
Running over pillows when
All we want is sleep but then
