Posts Tagged ‘flowers’
A Time-Traveling Lupin
I have always believed that when you’ve nothing to say, you’re best served by saying nothing. That has been the case here for some time. When I began this blog I knew that there would be times when I would have nothing to write or even to photograph. There is no shortage of internet writing or photography to fill the void. Thanks for your patience and for taking a look today. -Bill
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I’ve been a fan of television’s Lost since its first season. The sideways story line’s time-bending element featured so much this season appealed to the abstract part of my psyche.
The photo below represents for me a similar time warp. The lupin photographed today began its life 28 years ago and 1,200 miles from where it was photographed.
When we lived on the Maine coast, our family came to love the lupins in our flower beds. In 1982 when we were about to move to Illinois I saved a film-cartridge full of their seeds so we could bring a bit of Maine to our new home. The seeds were put in the freezer which we also moved.
As a photographer I have always kept my film in a freezer as recommended by the manufacturer to maintain its “speed” and color. The seeds and their container became lost among similar-looking but film-containing cartridges. Months became years and years became nearly three decades.
Last year I discovered my lupin seeds and wondered what might happen if I planted them. Looking as dead as so many Lost characters, the seeds had a surprise for me as you can see in the photo.
lupin
No Progress on the Greenhouse
Clematis on greenhouse
So far our plans to turn the greenhouse into something other than an overgrown home for wild animals and rusty tools have been put on hold.
Instead, I have taken the easy way out and continue to do with it what I can. I photograph it.
I enjoy photographing the building season to season and year after year. Because we have lived with it for so long there is a Dorian Gray-quality to the experience. (Of course it is the greenhouse that ages and not us.)
As its architectural elements continue to fade away, the focal point each summer has become the clematis we planted against the south side when we moved here. A climbing rose planted years ago also helps to soften the deterioration.
If the flowers give the greenhouse meaning that may be enough for me to keep it the way it is for another year.