Light from below

Efficiently simple
Atlanta, Georgia, January 2008

Ordinary objects seen from extraordinary perspectives can often take us somewhere unexpected. The kids were excited about staying here because it was a real hotel, with bellhops , valets and old, cushy, ornate sofas in the lobby. They spun themselves on the office chairs in the business center and left their fingerprints all over the brass accents and mirrors that lined the halls and elevator. The novelty of a hotel where your car wasn't parked just outside the room was too compelling to ignore.

The room itself? Smallish, if I must be realistic. But none of this mattered to them. They buzzed around our little temporary home, discovering neat little things about it that separated it from a more ordinary place: a minibar (off limits, even the chocolate bars), the ornately presented soaps and shampoos, the neato laptop-friendly desk, the super comfy bed with a bedspread I secretly wanted to take home.

Indeed, this place was special. This experience was special, and we knew they'd remember this room far longer than any other hotel/motel where we'd overnighted on this trip. So when my daughter mentioned to me that she even liked how the lamps looked, I wanted to remember them somehow. The low angle seemed like the "Carmi" way to do it.

Your turn: Ordinary things seen from extraordinary perspectives. Please discuss.