In Bloom
I like to open the front door and walk out. I take my phone, and if I remember, my point ‘n’ shoot camera that takes better close-up pictures than my phone camera does. I go out to get fresh air, exercise, respite from the news, and always with the hope of finding something beautiful or unusual to take a picture of. I do this pretty much every day.
Yesterday was no different except I had nothing to do afterwards. I was free to wander for as long as I wanted. I ended up being outside for three hours.
Over by the library on the northern edge of Central Park, there’s a Dogwood Tree. When I passed it early on my walk, most of its blossoms were like pinwheels waiting for a breath. I’d never seen anything like it. I circled back at the end of my walk knowing it was only a matter of time before the blooms would become something else. It reminded me of a paragraph I’d read earlier in the day quoting from Freud’s essay, “On Transience,” which argues that the inevitability of change doesn’t make life less beautiful, but more:
A flower that blossoms only for a single night does not seem to us on that account less lovely.
Freud’s “On Transience” quote taken from Brad Stulberg’s book, Master of Change.
I am late to read this post but feel stunned by the glory captured in the photographs. And yes, all the more beautiful because already that stunning moment is gone, leaving its mark in shaping anyone who had the wisdom to witness what it briefly offered.
YES! I must replace my good camera. Any day now. Soon... Soon a family story based on my grandson who was late to potty trained. Every time he looked at his potty chair and we asked, "When will you use the potty?" He would wink (just how he could wink and not yet use the potty?) and say "Soon." Years have passed. Gus is off to college next September, but his wink and reply is a refrain that everyone in the family uses and reuses when asked a question. As for your piece, I love "pinwheels waiting for a breath," and your comment on Freud's "On Transience." Transience does make life more beautiful.