In the wait

I had about 30 minutes while waiting for my daughter, second time in one week, so I parked my car and stepped out to enjoy the changing light and clouds. Across the street was a baptist church with two crucifixes. One set high and the other lower in the parking lot. The power line silhouette looked like a third cross, and I was taken by how the three looked against the sky. A large military plane flew in the distance roaring with the hum of the traffic of nearby Interstate 10.

     

As I was taking this last shot, a woman driving an old white van with square windows running down both sides pulled to my side of the street, which was against the traffic for her. She rolled down her window and asked, "What do you see there?" For whatever reason I felt unsettled about her approach, but still answered her briefly. She maneuvered the vehicle as to park and then asked, "You a member of this church?" I quickly replied no and walked behind her van to cross the street to my car. She didn't get out, waited a moment, then pulled away. The whole interaction had an "X-File" feel to it because she seemed peculiar in her mannerisms. Of course I would have been grateful for Mulder and Scully to have stepped out from the church parking lot at that moment and show me their ID, but that didn't happen. I'll always wonder about that interaction, and would like to return to the location to shake it off a bit with another '30 minute shoot'.

#30minuteshoot #sunset #clouds #batonrouge

We can't go back, sweet girl

Sparkle walked me to what was the field tonight. I think it had been some time, and I do know each visit breaks my heart in different ways. This session left me feeling a distance to what once was. I suppose that's because there is less familiar to appreciate. Even my 'redefine your space' meditation brought me only inches closer to a feeling of security.

A larger pile of debris and building materials welcomed our entry into the grassy entrance. With further passage in, the old gate opening, which used to stand there on its own without surrounding fences, is now gone. The new street and stop signs were up, their vertical presence in the place of the old, tall trees.

We went across the dried and cracked soil spilled into the streets over the concrete curbs, and sat down in a spot looking back at the sunset. The tree I thought they were to remove stood there as a silhouette while a new resident of the development, actually a neighbor we know, rode her back by us for a few rounds of late day exercise.

I had held onto the comfort and quiet of the pasture for the handful of years Sparkle and I walked it together. Here I was tonight knowing it was really gone. How long does it take to say goodbye and how long can you hold it in your heart.

"We can't go back, sweet girl," I told her.

I wonder if in her dog ways she somehow remembers the green, too.

The Revivalists at the Varsity Theatre - March 11, 2017

           

Last Sunday night at this time I was exiting The Revivalists show at Baton Rouge's Varsity Theatre feeling content and psyched that I finally saw them again. My heart still races a bit and I'm smilin' big as I review the photos.

My spot at the right corner of the stage under Ed Williams and his pedal steel guitar makes it look like I was sitting on stage with them.

It was THE spot for David Shaw planting it right in front of me for Fade Away. Melt. 

I love how he connects with the crowd throughout. I'm always taken in good ways by the energy wave moving through us. So taken, that I lost sense of his location on stage while panning the crowd during Bulletproof. Where's David Shaw? Yup, behind me. I gotta giggle. 

(Note that his appearances stage right were reason for high fives with one of the guys next to me who had never seen them before. I had clued him in before the set that he'd be happy with the location.)

               

The band and crowd were so psyched that Maggie Koerner, who opened the night, returned for the encore. 

I'll always remember this show as the one that got me back out on my own to live music since my good friend, Skip, passed away this past August. He's the one who introduced me to this band, and I first saw them live with him and his brother in October 2014. I missed him in the midst very much, and immersing in these sounds and vibes was both tender and healing for the soul. 

Thank you, Revivalists.

#therevivalists #livemusic #batonrouge #varsitytheatre #nolalove #iPhone6s #lightforafriend