Saturday, August 19, 2006

Noticing The Mess

I read about this new way to play with the camera and thought I’d try it since I just happened to have the right style of old Kodak box camera hanging around my house (kudos to my sister for snagging the camera for me at the resale shop she manages). It is one of those cameras that you hold down at your waist and there is a viewfinder on top that you look through. The image is mirror reversed so to get the shot composed you have to move backwards from what you usually do, like you are looking in a mirror. I am no good at that. But I am getting better.

Anyway, in effect, you use your digital camera to take a photo of the view in the lens of the box camera. Now I don’t know what the big thrill is about doing this, but it’s different and when I shared the quote above with a friend, I thought of this weird photo and put the two together.

If you click on the image to make it bigger, you can probably see the toilet plunger sitting in the middle of the picture, just as pretty as you please, like it supposed to be there. It wasn’t! How many times do I miss seeing things that are as plain as the nose on my face? Maybe it is some sort of message from the heavens for me. Who knows? Are there spiritual implications to a toilet plunger?


In other news, it’s been another rough week. He fell again. And now we are working on getting him up and on his feet, again. There are some things working that might be helpful. One never knows for sure. It’s kind of like looking in one of those old box cameras, you aren’t always sure about what you see, because the view is very fuzzy. Sometimes you have to experiment a little bit to get things framed up just right. And even then, you are never quite sure what results you will get. In photography, maybe that is exciting. In life, where my son's future hangs in the balance, it is nerve-wracking. But I can never give up hope that the Light will overcome the darkness. In so many ways, it already has.
And I am grateful.

15 comments:

  1. well the picture is too cool, and I wish I had my Mom's old Kodak like that.....and my Brownie Instamatic......good lesson, never throw anything away. I am, as always praying for you and your family.....

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  2. Ayekah, thank you. Now tell me the truth: Did you eyes really go straight to the plunger?

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  3. Still praying, Annie; as much for you as him. Good to at least hear news and know His strength is yet with you. Cameras, for whatever reason, have never been a hobby with me, pictures of my girls and my marriage en toto being merely a hit and miss collection as the years have passed. I once played Blackjack on board ship for nearly two hours to walk away with $150 and a brand new Poloroid model that was the latest novelty. The money was immediately lost in a crap game in the next compartment. I'm not sure whatever happened to the camera. Modern technology with digitals is nice; but I don't have the foggiest with computers. You sure have a way, though, with both the lens and the words to go with the finished product. Hang in there, my friend........

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  4. to the mirror, quilts, then plunger........all in one swoop.....I had to click on it to confirm what I was seeing.......:)

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  5. Jim thanks for the continued prayers and words of encouragement.

    I have to admit my own family photos are somewhat of a disorganized hodge-podge.

    As for your money and camera, I guess the theme would be "easy come, easy go!"

    I'm glad my playing around with words and images speaks to you.

    Ayekah Darn! You don't miss much, do you?

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  6. Plunger or no plunger, this is my favorite of your compositions so far. Gorgeous!

    I may be preaching to the choir, but... have y'all ever considered al-anon? Not all of the al-anon groups are helpful, but the good ones are wonderful.

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  7. My daddy had one of those cameras! I remember it so well! Thanks for the memories. I will be praying for you and your son... and thanks for all your prayers for me and mine as well.

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  8. It's good to see you back. I've been worried about you. I start back to school this Wednesday and may not be around much myself.

    I like the picture. Plunger or not. I love reading stuff like this that takes me back in time. My great grandmother had one of those old box cameras and a Brownie. I thought it was the coolest thing.

    Lastly, I want to propose something. Since when is falling bad? Falling is essential for getting up.It has a purpose. It ain't always bad. It can be bad, but sometimes it ain't. Always praying for you...

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  9. Rach I'm glad you liked it...want me to send you a copy?

    I agree, the good Al-anon groups are wonderful. Hubby attended for a while. I tried a couple of times but I happened to always arrive on "bad" nights, where they were reading straight from the book on how to hold meetings and such. Maybe it is time for me to try again.

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  10. Regina I know we probably had one of those cameras, but I don't remember it very well. What I do remember is the klutzy Polaroid that we had, and waiting for the pictures to develop before our eyes!

    Thanks for the prayers, will continue to remember you and your family.

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  11. Wading We must have cross posted! You are right about falling not always being bad. Sometimes it is a catalyst to change and growth. I think of how we treat our children when they are just learning to walk and they fall, of how gently we help them back to their feet, and I think of how our heavenly Father also wants to help us gently back to our feet after we fall. And I am grateful.

    Best wishes for getting back into the school routine, for you and for your family. I hope you are still able to write about your experiences.

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  12. It is a beautiful sentiment and picture but it is not near as breathtaking as the last paragraph of your post.

    I, too, am still praying for your son and for your family - that your way of life returns to the mundane monotony we think we hate until something like this shows us predictable can be a very good thing, indeed.

    Much love,

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  13. Thank you, Jules for the prayers. You are so right, predictable can be a very good thing!

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  14. Have I got a website for you!!
    http://www.toycamera.com/
    I really, really like this way of taking pictures.

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  15. Hey Steve! Thanks for the link. I enjoyed checking the photos out, which reminds me that I wanted to ask my sister to keep an eye out for one of those style cameras. I like that you don't ever really know what you are going to get till you upload the photo.

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