Hanging on

Last of their kind
London, ON
November 2011

About this photo: Thematic. Flash of color. Here.

You've got to admire things with pluck, gumption and determination. They aren't always pretty, but they always manage to attract attention and make us think.

Like the homeless man who sells tattered newspapers by the bus stop, the off-tune accordion player who partially blocks pedestrian traffic on a busy downtown corner, or the abandoned building with particleboard for windows, they all manage to retain a certain sense of vibrancy and purpose even if we hold our noses a bit as we walk on by.

But that's the thing with life, is that despite all our attempts to drown it in perfume, cover it with makeup and otherwise smooth its rough edges with some sort of slick packaging, it somehow manages to remind us that things aren't always fully baked - or entirely fresh - under the surface. It is what it is, and it's up to us to either hold our noses and pretend we don't notice, or breathe it in a bit and realize that life, defiant, can be more fulfilling than life, blinkered.

On this blustery morning in the woods, I decided that this cluster of unspectacular, admittedly plain leaves was just plucky enough to merit some quiet thought. And a picture. Because I would have missed the moment had I held my nose and kept on walking.

Your turn: What kinds of things make you stop and think?