On this Day...October 23
following the flow of time...inching toward 60
On October 23, 2024 I went for a walk in the woods near our new home in Vermont;
17 years ago, on this day in 2008, we were building a terrace…a garden…and a life, getting help where needed, using the tools at hand.
On this day in 2010 and in 2022 I explored paths and vanishing points. It’s a wonder how consistent I am with how I frame a shot…But maybe that’s just the nature of vanishing points.
On October 23, 2011 I went to my daughter’s soccer game and hung out with this dog; Two years later I went for a walk to a stately sculpture in the Vermont woods.
And who knew that carrot tops from a soup in 2012 would play so well with these blooms in Chicago in 2014? On this day…
On this day in 2015, I hung out with an almost barren tree at the top of Balch Hill, just across from our house. For years, walking to it, like my compost project, was a daily ritual, offering stability and companionship.
A kaleidoscope emerges, where once there was grass.
On October 23, 2018 this large bird sat on the crabapple just outside the kitchen. Could it be we’d created a safe habitat for creatures large and small?
Themes evolve, over time - - a propensity to document vanishing points or a particular tree as well as a habit of exploring color, texture and the framing of an image right in our back yard.
Then there was the great disruption of the pandemic and ailing and dying mothers. Feeling dislocated in 2020 and 2021, I experimented taking objects for walks and dressed in my mother-in-law’s Talbot’s suit on the day of her memorial service, which I could not attend.1
On the day before this day in 2022, we explored the western coast of Denmark with our daughter. On October 23, 2022 we flew home.2
On this day in 2023 the kaleidoscopes continued at home. A few weeks earlier we’d closed on our new place over in Vermont. We weren’t quite sure when we’d put our property on the market, but change was in the air, and it wasn’t just the leaves and the cooling temperatures.
A bittersweet moment, for sure.
Also on this day in 2023 I witnessed one of our glorious pink Annabelle Hydrangeas silhouetted against our solar panels. I call this type of scene a “Solar Gardenscape.”3
And just this morning I walked the final yards of the C & O Canal Trail, finding myself at the convergence of the North Branch of the Potomac River and Willis Creek.4 If you look closely, you can see windmills on the ridge behind. So cool.
It’s the season of water and I think like a river, letting the images and memories flow, knowing that each time I experience this day, it and I will be changed.
And how could I not, when just a few days ago I witnessed a sunrise water ceremony in the morning and marched with others farther down the Connecticut River at a No Kings Rally.5
So much to process. Like compost, these experiences will re-compose and become something even more beautiful.
This week marked the one year anniversary of Calvin’s death. So in honor of our beloved Boykin Spaniel, and all the companionship he offered us and miss Lilly, I share this diptych, created on this day in 2021. Lilly was just a year; Calvin was 12.
With cheers and gratitude for you being you,
Lyn
My mother-in-law died in July 2021. Although the entire family and many friends gathered to celebrate her life in CT on October 23, 2021, I stayed home with a frightening cough that, even with vaccines, would have made me a pariah! My mother broke her neck in 2020 and had emergency surgery for a rare and invasive form of appendix cancer in 2021. On this day she was leaning into palliative care.
Our daughter had an incredible Fall studying psychology at the Danish Institute for Study Abroad (DIS). We loved visiting her and exploring this clean, safe and contented place.
As next week’s post will describe, I plan on spending the first year of my 60’s looking back, reviewing the hundreds of thousands of images in my two photo libraries, and editing…a lot. One body of work, my “Solar Gardenscapes” have not seen the light of day. Will I keep them private or create a zine or newspaper about them? I am going to let the images tell me what to do…
And the big question: Could I reduce my collection from more than two hundred thousand images in Lightroom and on Photos to, say, 10,000 images? Is that realistic? How will I approach this challenge? So many questions and so much opportunity for exploring my work from multiple vantage points. Stay tuned…It’s going to be a grand adventure.
It is such a privilege to be here, staying in the new Kinship photography residency and retreat space. Can’t wait to come back and be in collaboration with others and this community.
On Saturday morning, October 18, I witnessed the sunrise portion of We Are Water : A Northeast Celebration with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and Jeremy Dutcher, Mali Obomsawin, Chris Newell and Andri Snaer Magnasun with special guests Ida Mae Specker, Lauren Stevens and Roger Paul.
In the afternoon, I joined thousands of others in White River Junction, VT, joining hands across the Connecticut River with others from West Lebanon, NH. And so the rivers flow.
Lyn, these are such a moving set of images, memories, and reflections. Thank you for letting the world take a quiet peek into your glory, your colors, your skies. It's pure pleasure!