So, we don’t have snow or cold here(Florida) – so how does one make it feel “Christmasy”? It’s not easy – it kinda sneaks up on you – but – BUT – many people in the area get creative with lights. You can see here that our neighbour has redefined the appearance of a Christmas tree.
Also, go to Facebook.com and add me as friend – you can see a bunch of pics of the kids.
The other day I overheard someone “bah-humbug” Christmas. It startled me really and got me to thinking – what does Christmas mean to me? I grew up a Christian – went to Church and all, plus I had more than a little exposure to Eastern philosophy and religion as my father was a follower of the Hindu religion. And now I’m a Scientologist.
Take away all the commercialism of Christmas – it is looked upon by many as a Christian holiday but – a celebration at this time of year is not new to Christianity. My understanding of Hinduism is that there are many ways to God – so generally they will honor or acknowledge religious celebrations of other faiths as well as their own.
My view of Christmas – it’s a celebration of the spirit of Man – a celebration of all that’s good in us. It’s a time I can read Dylan Thomas’s A Child’s Christmas In Wales to my friends; people greet each other more effusively; I can phone someone that I otherwise wouldn’t, just because it’s Christmas; if I smile at someone on the street anywhere in the world and tell them “Merry Christmas” it’s ok and they’ll smile back and wish me well.
That’s all very cool stuff.
So, have a great Christmas and give someone a smile and a hug.
love,
Martin
I‘ve been meaning to write a few words about my mum for a while. It hasn’t been easy to confront. She died in February and it took a while…
We had a reception at my brother’s place a few days after mum died in February and the four of us with much difficulty said a few words. I knew it would be very difficult for me to speak so I borrowed some words from a couple of different passages. The first was from the Bhagavad-gita. My father was a Hindu and mum kept a copy of this book. It is very lengthy and it is a beautiful work – I just stole a few lines:
Mum was always learning – taking courses – traveling – she lived life.
I couldn’t read the whole poem but read a few lines from Dylan
My sister said something about my mother that was quite profound, beautiful and a wonderful thing about her that we could all aspire to. Mum had amazing communication lines. I remember Niels telling me that mum would get several letters a day in the mail sometimes when she lived in
Watched a German film last evening called “In July” German with English subtitles. I’m not always thrilled with subtitles, though I generally prefer them to dubbing. I wasn’t long into the film when I failed to notice whether I was reading anything at all. Perhaps it’s all my years being around Dutch and German. Also, it is a very visual movie. Loosely based on Shakespeare’s comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the “lovers” wend their way through Europe from Germany to Turkey. Enjoy – two thumbs up!! I’ll try and set up a page of movies that I like – look for a link on the right. And send me yours.
Mom died at 2 am this morning (Tuesday the 20th of February). We we with her to the end. She went peacefully in her sleep. I’ll miss her like crazy. I’ll put some more info about her here over the next few days. I wrote an article on my other blog about things she taught me in photography.
Check that out at my Photo Article Blog
Martin
My mother was one of those people who took lots of pictures and cared about what she was shooting. She actually would submit her pictures to contests and win prizes. The first thing she said to me about taking pictures was “watch your background”. Told more than once, I daresay – like many other thing that were hounded into my thick skull. You might say, “Watch your background – Well of course!! Who wouldn’t?” Yeah, I know, but one needs to look further – see what resulted from that simple command.
When you are watching the background, hopefully you are really looking at the whole picture. That’s what this imperative got me to doing: looking. Instead of just pointing away willy nilly with the camera, even as a youngster I tended to slow down and look. This fared me well later in life when I was in India visiting my father. You can see photos of that trip here and I’ll tell you more about how and why on another page.
Even as a child the photos that had fewer and fewer clothlines and spires sticking out the tops of people heads. Not only that with the simple drill of looking the composition naturally became more attractive.
Nor did it hurt that my siblings and I had use of a camera that used 2 ¼ film. We really had no idea of how fortunate we were. I never really notice what others were using so didn’t know what was being generally used back then.
So the next time you pick up a camera and rush out to take pictures of the cousins from Nebraska , slow down a bit and look – tell me if you can see what the camera sees.
– Martin
