Wednesday, April 08, 2020

Electric trees in a changed neighborhood

After the storm
London, ON
April 2020
This photo originally shared on Instagram
The neighborhood looks, feels, and even sounds different now.

With barely any traffic on the streets, you can hear things you previously couldn't, like birds singing to each other, squirrels diving into bushes, dogs' paws scraping against the sidewalk as they tug against their leashes (wait, that last one's mine.)

But there's more to it, and I don't think I have the words to describe it. I get tingly whenever history is made - think Desert Storm, 9/11, Indian Ocean & Japanese quake/tsunami, etc. - and I often feel a sort of electricity in the air when I first realize things are about to change. When your world is rocked, you seem to sense it in ways that defy description.

The streets feel that way now. And as I walk them, I feel like I want to capture that.

I'm going to guess that silhouette-like trees captured soon after an apocalyptic rain and hail storm rolled through seem like a reasonable place to start. I keep staring at them, wondering what's changed, wondering why I never noticed them In This Way before. Maybe I need to pay more attention.

Of course, no photo or video can faithfully - or even unfaithfully - record something as ephemeral as a feeling. But maybe it'll trigger a memory, a reflection years from now when I look back at what our chaotic world looked and felt like.

And that'll have to be enough.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #forest #trees #tree #dark #night #sky #random #urban #suburban #street #photography #socialdistancing #covid19 #coronavirus #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

1 comment:

Shammickite said...

Yes I have noticed things are changed too. I was out for a walk a few days ago... and a plane flew over. A really big one. Carrying lots of people. WOW! I hadn't seen that for ages. Happy Passover to you and your family.