I wasn’t ready to go home after I visited the Veterans’ Cemetery, so I headed over to a park I don’t get to very often.
I thought maybe I’d wander the trails a bit and see what was there. But when I arrived I was drawn, as usual, to the pier that runs out into the small lake.
It was a cold day, still grey, but I was having fun using the wide angle lens, and that kept me from noticing the cold for awhile.
I took several wide shots of the scenery, but noticed a lot of smaller stuff I thought was interesting, so once I got the big picture out of the way I went back to the car to warm up and change the lens.
Mostly I was interested in the weed and grass reflections in the still, frozen water alongside the pier.
I particularly liked this clump of grass.
And these curves had me too.
I spent a long time out there on the pier, so I didn’t get to the trails. That’s my excuse anyway.
You see, Katie and I used to come here once in awhile and walk the trails…and as I looked toward the woods where we had explored I knew I wasn’t ready to go back without her.
She would have loved the cold, and would fit right in with all the reddish browns I saw that day.
Yesterday was foggy and damp, just like so many days we’ve had this year. Flat grey skies, a hint of snow in the air, it was a typical January day.
Sounds like a perfect day to grab the camera and head out looking for something inspirational. Right?
As I was driving I thought about the eagles that have been seen out at the Veterans’ Cemetery. There’s some huge, dead trees that make perfect eagle roosts. What are the odds those eagles were sitting out there in the fog waiting for me?
Since I didn’t have any other great ideas, I headed over there, knowing they wouldn’t be there, just like they haven’t been there on multiple trips where I’ve tried to get a glimpse of them before.
As I pulled into the cemetery I saw two bumps on the trees, way across a field. I got as close as I could,, pulled up, rolled down the window and got one shot off…
….before one of the eagles flew down into the swamp. My settings weren’t right but there was no time to experiment. The second eagle was looking around, seeming to be upset to be left behind. I knew he (or she) wouldn’t stay long.
And after a bit of looking around the second eagle lifted off…
…and followed it’s partner down to the swamp.
I didn’t get great shots of the eagles. But I can’t stop smiling.
I read the book in the summer of 2016. It remains one of my favorite books, though now in 2022 I remember the feelings I had reading it more than the details of the story itself.
Just this week, while noting the buzz about the new Tom Hanks movie, I learned there had been a movie made in Sweden based on the book, back in 2016, and that that version is available through Amazon Prime right now.
We have Amazon Prime.
But before I get ahead of myself, here’s the review I wrote after reading this lovely book six years ago:
“I loved it. Every bit of it, and especially the crotchety old man Ove. Little by little, baby step by baby step the author explains why Ove is as he is by revealing bits of his past. His relationship with his parents. His love for his wife. The bits of drama and tragedy that shaped him. He is sullen and moody and angry but all of that seems reasonable in an unreasonable sort of way.
I can’t tell you more or it would spoil it for you. Just know that under that gruff exterior is a gentle and loving man who just didn’t know what to do with himself until a crazy neighbor moved into his neighborhood.
The writing is gentle and profound and simple and true.
“And time is a curious thing. Most of us only live for the time that lies right ahead of us. A few days, weeks, years. One of the most painful moments in a person’s life probably comes with the insight that an age has been reached when there is more to look back on than ahead.”
“It is difficult to admit that one is wrong. Particularly when one has been wrong for a very long time.”
“But we are always optimists when it comes to time; we think there will be time to do things with other people. And time to say things to them.”
I didn’t want this one to end. But I knew it had to…everything does, and Ove had been trying to end things for a very long time. It’s just that the neighbors interfered with his plans, and in the process gave him a reason to postpone the inevitable.
Ove had a heart that was too large. You’d never know it when you first met him. But if you let him in you’d know that truth for sure.“
So anyway, with vague memories of a book I loved, my husband and I sat down last night to watch the original movie complete with English subtitles. Some small bits I didn’t remember, but the gist was all there. I remember sighing with tears in my eyes at the end of the book. The tears were running down my face at the end of the movie.
I knew it would be that way…but I was surprised about why my eyes filled with tears. It wasn’t the ending, which I knew, but the fact that I suddenly saw my own parents in Ove and his wife, and I truly, madly, hope that what I saw at the end of the movie is true.
But I can’t tell you what that is, because I don’t want to spoil it for you.
I’ll probably go see the Hanks version, set in the US instead of Sweden. No need for subtitles. I’ll probably enjoy it, maybe even love it. But I doubt it will pack the emotional punch I experienced last night.
Because when you’re expecting it, it’s just not the same.
I was out there to meet the Queen. I’d been trying to get an audience with her for several weeks. But she’s a Royal and follows her own rules. I’m used to that.
Anybody out there? Hey Mr. Downy, are you hungry?
You see, almost every day I’d see, on Facebook, a photographer who calls herself the “Hand of Snacks” feeding a female cardinal along the boardwalk at my favorite park.
Well, at least one bird wants a snack!
Lots of birds come down to any number of hands filled with snacks at this park, but cardinals are famously shy. Quite stand-offish. So to see this female sitting in a hand regularly intrigued me. And I drove the 30+ minutes every week or so, hoping to get to meet her Majesty for myself. Oh, I’d see her – sitting in the scrub along the boardwalk. I’d offer a treat. She’d watch me. But she never showed any interest in getting to know me better. Week after week I’d leave disappointed.
They almost always go for the peanuts first.
This Wednesday, there she was, sitting among the twigs of a dogwood bush with her partner, the bright red Mr. Cardinal. And that morning she seemed interested in me. She moved out to the end of the branch and eyed me up and down. I stood still, gifts offered. She flew to the railing, quite a far bit away from me and eyed me some more.
She’s not too sure about this.
Clearly I was not her Hand of Snacks. I was an imposter. But she was hungry. But I was an imposter. Could she trust me? Would she trust me? She hopped along the railing to get a closer look. She looked up at me and then down at the snacks in my hand. I stood still, barely breathing.
Come on sweetie, it will be OK.
And then she reached out, her feet still firmly planted on the railing, she wasn’t going to actually stand on my hand, and grabbed an oiler seed, moving rapidly away from me to eat it. I stood still.
You have options, pick your favorite!
She hopped over again and helped herself to another treat, not moving so far away this time…and then she grabbed a peanut and with a slight nod to me, she flew back into the bushes to share it with her partner.
You’re such a good Queen, taking your partner the best peanut.
And the politely waiting chickadee hopped up onto my hand to see what she had left behind.
She’s off to share. Mr. Chickadee is waiting in line.
Now I can say I’ve met the Queen. And it was everything I knew it would be.
Change Is Hard 