Super soakers of the sky

Anyone want a drink?
Minneapolis, MN, February 2011

About this photo: Thematic Photographic celebrates "well aged" this week. If you've got something old hanging around, please take a picture of it and head here. You'll be glad you did.

Water towers don't just keep water in reserve for communities that need it. They serve as beacons on the landscape, guiding us from town to town and reminding us just how soothing it can be to arrive in a place, any place, after wandering the hinterlands.

And we've been wandering our hinterlands for most of our married life. Ever since we moved nine hours west of where we grew up, we've become all too used to the seemingly endless drives along the 401, the busiest highway in Canada and, arguably, in North America, too. There's a rhythm to this roadway and the places it connects, oases of life in the rolling green that is Ontario, long stretches of sparseness punctuated by impossibly small, close-knit towns where complete strangers would be happy to have you stay with them if your car dies, the weather turns bad, or worse.

We've driven this road back and forth, in sickness and in health, good weather and bad, enough times that we've practically memorized every onramp and exit, every town, even every curve. And it's always the water towers that stand out, that tell us how many miles are left, and what's there for us along the way. They don't just hold water; they shrink the distance, and they bring me a tiny dose of comfort when I spot them in the distance.

Your turn: Touchstones far from home. Please discuss.

About this water tower: I haven't been able to shoot any of the water towers along the 401 because I'm usually driving at the time, and Officer Bob - and quite likely my wife, as well - would not approve of behind-the-wheel photography. So I'll share this one that occupies a prime piece of sky on the roof of a lovingly restored building in Minneapolis with a commanding view of Target Field. When the Minnesota Twins play, the owners use it as a giant projector screen for the fans. Neat.

Thematic Photographic 148 - Well Aged

All in all we're just another brick in the wall
London, ON, May 2011

Everything, and everyone, gets old eventually. We can soften the blow by shifting our language to more politically correct terminology - senior citizen, anyone? - but time doesn't care what we call it. Everything, and everyone, has its time, and it's up to us to make the best out of whatever we've been gifted.

Our mistake lies in assuming that beauty is strictly the domain of the young. There are compelling stories to be told in the things and in the people who've been around long enough to have a bit of experience. We just have to take the time to look for them. And to stretch our perceptions a little in the process.

Over the next week, I'm hoping this new Thematic theme will give us precisely that opportunity. "Well aged" can be a structure that's seen better days, a person who's got more years behind than ahead, anything that evokes thoughts of age and time. As always, it's up to you to decide how to interpret and reflect the theme. It's all up to you.

Your turn: If you're new to Thematic, click here. Otherwise, post a similarly-themed pic - or find something that's already been posted - and leave a comment here. Pop by other participants' sites to share the joy. Repeat if you wish...we encourage that sort of thing around here. The goal? To enjoy and learn.

Blue light special, aisle 4

Ready for launch
Minneapolis, MN, February 2011

About this photo: This picture closes out our "got the blues" theme, and we'll be launching a new one, "well aged", tonight at 7:00 Eastern. If you're feeling a little blue at the prospect, it's not too late to share your own. Just go here.

I found this blue light at the airport, and I instantly thought "K-Mart". Never mind that almost no one shops there - or admits to it - anymore, and that about six people on the planet still think it's funny when I say "blue light special" in the middle of a conversation. I guess I need a new source of retail-themed funniness.

On this day, though, I believe the sight of a guy pulling out a camera in the middle of the terminal gave more than a few of my fellow passengers pause. I know airports are particularly sensitive to the whole photography thing, and some even ban the practice outright (see here, here and here for unhappy precedents.) But I figure as long as I'm pointing my lens at light fixtures outside and not TSA security personnel, I'm probably safe.

And if I ever get busted, it'll make for a great blog entry or two.

Your turn: What does this light do? Any ideas?

On broken people

The brutal irony of this particular quote has never been lost on me. Hemingway was, and is, a huge influence on my writer's voice. That he led the life he did and ultimately ended it so violently has long made me wonder about the demons that tormented him - and adds a particularly poignant and ironic twist to his words here.

"The world breaks everyone and afterward many are stronger in the broken places."
Ernest Hemingway

Your turn: How are we strengthened by adversity?

Colorful girl

From my daughter's mind
London, ON, February 2009
[Click here for more blue-themed Thematic]

My artistic abilities rank somewhere between none and stick figures. There's a reason I use word processing software and cameras to create stuff: I'm patently incapable of doing it solo.

My wife and daughter? Quite the opposite. They draw, they paint, they create loveliness with their bare hands. I don't know how they do it, but I'm glad they do, because our house is filled with artistic surprises almost wherever you look.

Which reminds me, I need to get cracking hanging more of it on our walls. I'm being gently reminded that I've fallen well behind in this area. Where's my hammer?

Your turn: Do you hang your own art in your house? Do tell! (Bonus points if you've got a picture of it...)

One more thing: This a canvas my daughter painted a couple of years ago. If you follow me on Twitter (@carmilevy), it may look familiar as it serves as my homepage backdrop.

On home

"Home. The word circled comfortably in my mouth like bubble gum, swished around sweetly soft and satisfying. Home. Try saying it aloud to yourself. Home. Isn’t it like taking a bite of something lovely? If only we could eat words."
Sol Luckman

Your turn: How do you define "home"?

Stairway to heaven?

Leave it out back
London, ON, May 2011

About this photo: Thematic is still singin' the blues, and you can, too, by following your mouse here.

As much as humans are social creatures, there's something to be said for getting away from it all - and from each other. When I need to be alone, I either take off on my bike, or I go for a long walk. When it's just you and your thoughts, the challenges of life seem a lot easier to bite off and chew. I don't do this enough, and that needs to change.

On this evening, downtown London was my playground. I had about an hour to kill - a rare treat in my scheduled-by-the-minute life - so I set the BlackBerry to silent and headed for the shadowy alleys that strangely never show up in tourist brochures. For some odd reason, I never seem to encounter actual people in these places (I know, probably a good thing) but as you can see from the shot above, there's always plenty of evidence that someone was here not too long ago.

There's a strange sense of order to these hidden-away places, and it's almost an invitation to spend more time here, to look at the side of the city most people never see. In getting away from it all, I seem to have stumbled on another way to remain connected. Odd, that.

Your turn: I think this picture tells a story. What is it?

On the power of small

When I was a kid, I remember absorbing a an endless wave of advice from adults. Mostly from my parents, of course, but also from teachers, family, community members, friends, the guy who camped out at the entrance to the Metro station with a harmonica...you name it and they were only too happy to guide me.

"Don't sweat the small stuff" was a common snippet, and it was also the one that never quite sat right with me. If anything, the small stuff was the stuff I could wrap my little hands around. It was the stuff I could see from end to end. It was the stuff I could control.

I eventually learned to disobey my elders. Now that I'm all grown up, I'm going to look for the guy at the Metro station and let him know that the small stuff is really where it's at. I may yet share this quote with him:

"Faith in small things has repercussions that ripple all the way out. In a huge dark room a little match can light up the place."
Joni Eareckson Tada

Your turn: Do you sweat the small stuff? How?

One more thing: I sometimes include links to the authors of the quotes I share here. This one is particularly inspirational, and I hope you follow it home.

8 ball, corner pocket

Cued up
London, ON, April 2011
[Click photo to enlarge. Click here for more Thematic blue]

At first glance, this may seem like a green picture. It is, of course, but our discussion this morning isn't about first glances. It's about what we see when we linger a little longer, when we take the time to look a little more deeply, to read the story behind the story.

In this case, that meta-story is the chalky blue dot at the tip of the pool cue. Well, to me, anyway. Because green is the easy color when thinking about pool (okay, my British friends, billiards.) Blue? Not so much. And I've always been about rooting for the underdog.

Maybe I'm overthinking this. Maybe I just like the depth of field in this shot. Or the shadows on the tip of the cue. Or the sense of peace I feel when I see this pic. Not everything needs to be dissected, after all. Sometimes, it's enough to just enjoy the sight.

Your turn: Three words to describe this photo. Go...

On strength

"Real strength is not just a condition of one's muscle, but a tenderness in one's spirit."
McCallister Dodds

Your turn: How do you exhibit tenderness in your own spirit?

Old. Not obsolete.

Windows and light
London, ON, May 2011
[Click here for more Thematic blue]

I'm lucky enough to live in a burg where the century-old architecture has largely not fallen victim to the wrecker's ball. It's a place that, if it doesn't rise to the occasion every time an opportunity to save a treasure comes up, well, it doesn't deliberately pave it all over, either.

Which leaves an ample number of discoveries like this one, visual snippets that remind you to make more time for exploration, reflection and thought. Pieces of history that quietly shape the way we lead our day-to-day lives. And small businesses - City Lights is quite possibly the region's top independent bookstore, a virtual hub of social media and community-building goodness.

As I stood in the late-afternoon greyness and wondered what kinds of scenes these buildings, and the people who lived and worked in them so long ago, must have witnessed, I wondered if they'd be here another hundred years, and who would be standing in this spot in the future, wondering much the same thing.

It wasn't a major deal to stand there and stare at a line of building frontage. But in its smallness and ordinariness, I found a strange sense of peace.

And all because I wanted to take a few pictures that day. Neat.

Your turn: So what did these buildings witness? Make something up, k?

On leading, not following

"No nation which expects to be the leader of other nations can expect to stay behind in this race for space."
John F. Kennedy

Your turn: 50 years ago today, JFK laid down his challenge for the moon. Barely 6 weeks from now, the U.S. walks away from its ability to independently put humans into orbit. Returning to the moon? Not even on the radar. Am I the only one who finds this somewhat sad?

My little pony

Shelby would be proud
London, ON, May 2011

About this photo: We're celebrating Thematic's "Got the blues" week all week long, and you're invited, too. Just click here and all will be explained.

I dig cars. I spend my days in the automotive software biz. I drive a couple of vehicles that I genuinely like. My head turns almost automatically when a particularly neat vehicle cruises on past. I spend way too much time excitedly discussing automotive lore with our kids. As much as I whine about how much of our urban landscape has been built to serve the car, I recognize the deep influence it has on our day-to-day lives.

So it's easy to see why a certain percentage of my lens time is spent exploring the world of vehicles. And when this Shelby Mustang convertible showed up in, of all places, the community centre's parking lot, I had to sneak a quick pic before the owner returned and wondered why the strange dude in cargo shorts was shooting his (her?) car.

Nah, had to be a him. This is totally a middle-age crisis-mobile. But I digress.

The neat thing about this supposedly blue vehicle: It's black. Light does funny things when it's bounced off of reflective surfaces. I so rushed the shoot - one shot is all I got before I chickened out - that I didn't notice the color shift until after I got home.

Your turn: Your favorite color for a car is...? Because?

On the preciousness of time

'How you spend your time is more important than how you spend your money. Money mistakes can be corrected, but time is gone forever.'
David B. Norris

Thematic Photographic 147 - Got the blues

Scene from a diner
London, ON, May 2011

If you've got the blues, then I'm hoping you'll have at least one picture - and hopefully more - to share with us over the course of the next week. "The blues" can mean anything: The color blue, a feeling or tone that suggests subdued sadness, or whatever else you want it to mean. How you interpret the theme is entirely up to you, as there are no rights or wrongs when it comes to Thematic.

This scene is a perfect case in point. Yes, it's got lots of blue in it. But the downtown street corner scene - a gritty, colorful place that almost forces passers-by to become reflective - is what really sets the tone for me. I was in the area for the night-before-election-night rehearsal (see here and here for more on that grand television adventure), and as I had arrived a bit early, I decided to wander the neighborhood with my camera. The light was dim a grey - not ideal for any kind of shooting - but the more I shot, the more I realized how closely the results mimicked my mood: quiet, reflective, thoughtful.

It's what the blues are all about. And now we've got a week to explore them. Enjoy.

Your turn: Please share a blue-themed picture - new or already-posted - on your blog. Then post a comment here. Then visit other participants to share the photographic joy. Repeat as often as you wish throughout the week. If you're new to the Thematic thing, click here. Oh, and have fun. Because that's why we do this.

On bitterness

I'm learning to stop questioning why things happen. Because the why is irrelevant. We can't stop life from playing out its inevitable path. We can, however, choose how we navigate the landscape that results.

In the wake of Joplin, Slave Lake, Sendai and any number of places on the planet currently enduring their own unique challenges from above and beyond, I thought this quote was especially appropriate:

"When life is sweet, say thank you and celebrate. And when life is bitter, say thank you and grow."
Shauna Niequist

Your turn: Thoughts?

One more thing: The new Thematic theme will be "Got the blues," and it launches later tonight. Hope you'll watch for it!

The lay of the land

Texture
Near Waterloo, ON, March 2011
[Click photo to enlarge]

About this photo: We're drawing the Thematic aerial theme to a close with this one last look at the earth from on high. If you'd like to share one last view of your own, please click here. Otherwise, tune in tonight at 7 p.m. Eastern for the new theme.

Sometimes, you need to get above it all to understand what it all means. Normally, when I'm cruising the countryside on my bike, I'm busy enough trying to stay upright as cars blast past me at triple-digit speeds, and I just can't afford to take the time to focus on the subtle variations in the adjacent land. It's survival or enjoyment. Not both.

But when someone else is doing the driving - or flying - you have a little more time to take in the view. And on this flight, I saw something I'd never seen before. And for the first time in ages I had no words. There was something delightfully humbling about seeing the gentle rolls in the farmland that were completely invisible from the ground.

I imagined giant sheets of ice receding countless years ago. I imagined forces of creation far more powerful than anything I could ever conjure up. I imagined a planet we're only beginning to understand, a planet that's trying to tell us her stories, one at a time.

If only we'd take the time to listen.

Your turn: What three words come to mind as you first see this shot?

Urban sprawl

A city reaches for the sky
Toronto, ON, March 2011
Please click here for more aerial Thematic goodness

I don't often shoot panoramas, largely because they're the kind of scenes that lie toward the extreme end of the photographic subject bell curve.

That and I have memories of those old, throwaway panorama film cameras that were all the rage when I was, oh, 11 years-old. The pictures that resulted were little more than badly cropped, horridly blown up, optically ridiculous compositions that really could have been shot with a conventional camera. But because they were "panoramas", I was forced to sit politely while my hosts insisted I ooh and ahh over how wonderful the wide-view of Aunt Martha's garden was.

Truth of the matter, Aunt Martha wasn't a great gardener. And anything with "Aunt Martha" and "wide-view" in the same thought-space was really best left to the imagination. Or nothing at all. Because not everything should be recorded on film. Or memory card.

I'm kinda thinking Toronto by air is the exception. It's the biggest city we've got in this country, and it sprawls not-quite-randomly back and out from its lakeside downtown core, just the kind of progression best seen from the sky. As a continuation of this scene, I think it tells another chapter of the story I got to read from above on that late afternoon.

Your turn: Do you do the panorama thing? Why/why not?

On self confidence

"Many great ideas have been lost because the people who had them could not stand being laughed at."
Source unknown

Your turn: Do you ever keep things to yourself out of fear of ridicule? What things?

Touch the planet once more

Final approach
Toronto, ON, March 2011

About this photo: Thematic continues to explore aerial-themed photography, and you're invited along for the ride. Just click here to share your own. We'll be doing this through the weekend, with a new theme launching Monday.

Inevitably, every flight comes back down to Earth. If luck is on your side, it does so in a controlled, gentle manner. The routine nature of modern aviation makes this a virtual certainty whenever you board a plane, of course, but that doesn't stop me from musing about the magic that makes the entire process possible. It'll never get old for me.

The particular plane I had boarded this day was - and presumably still is - a Dash-8. This twin-engine turboprop-powered commuter aircraft was originally designed by deHavilland before that company was bought by Montreal-based Bombardier (they make Ski-Doos, Sea-Doos and the Challenger business jet, among others.) Now known as the Q-Series, this plane has a longstanding reputation as a robust, efficient example of Canadian aviation ingenuity.

One of the neat things about this design is the landing gear. The entire assembly folds out of a position under the wing-mounted engine. Unlike a regular jetliner, where the gear comes out from under the fuselage, this allows passengers to see the machinery at work. Most folks are usually too busy surreptitiously e-mailing their buddies on their iPhones and BlackBerrys to notice, but that doesn't make it any less neat.

It was neat on this day, too, as I held my breath in the final seconds before this magnificent flying machine returned to earth once more. Routine, I know, but still...

Your turn: Something seemingly mundane...that isn't. Please discuss.