On deserving respect

"Show respect even to people that don’t deserve it; not as a reflection of their character, but as a reflection of yours.”

Dave Willis

 

Just green leaves

The original sawtooth
London, ON
May 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

These are "just" leaves.

Green like everything else around them.

Boring in their commonness.

Not worth a second look.

But here's the thing: who gets to decide when something is "just" anything?

Who's to say a different angle or slightly more or less light or shadow wouldn't somehow render these "just" leaves somehow more worthy of our attention?

Why wouldn't we make the effort to find that different angle, or light, or shadow?

Maybe these aren't remotely "just" at all.

And maybe this isn't just about a bunch of leaves floating softly in the sun.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medway #valley #forest #tree #trees #green #leaf #leaves #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #Nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Tiny plane in a big sky

The view above
London, ON
June 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The only thing better than a regular photobomb is an aviation-themed photobomb.

Somewhat uncharacteristically, I resisted the urge to open up the flight finder app on my smartphone to figure out where this (tiny) plane was headed.

Because while we may live in an information-drenched era, sometimes a little timeless mystery is called for.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #stjosephs #hospital #lhsc #architecture #design #architecturephotography #building #street #streetphotography #aviation #photobomb #photography #blue #sky #weather #wx #Nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Related:

Return to St. Joe's, June 2021

Out way past my bedtime, March 2021

Middle-of-the-night MRI run, February 2021

Staring into the telescreen, October 2020

Busted finger. Same old perspective. October 2020

29 years...

So much ahead of us...
July 1992
Laval, QC
This photo originally shared on Instagram

This is what Debbie and I looked like the day we got married, 29 years ago today.

Time has been kind to her. And while I wear my years a little more obviously, they’ve been good to me, as well. Because the kid I was on July 5, 1992 couldn’t have fully appreciated just how lucky he was, and would be.

As is often the case when you’re young, newlywed-me didn't fully appreciate how time worked. How it would move so quickly, yet never feel like it. How it could give and take away, often at the same time. How no matter what we went through, we would always find some way to figure it out together - whatever “it” ultimately turned out to be.

I've clearly had a few years to learn the lessons I needed to learn, yet it still feels like I blinked. And no matter how quickly the universe got us from there to here, I'm thankful that she still puts up with my decidedly weird way of experiencing life. That she still looks at me the same way I look at her. Still finishes my sentences. Still has that uncanny ability to know me better than I know myself.

I’m under no illusions: none of this is magic or automatic. We work at it, every day, whether it’s a milestone or not. And it’s in the everyday - the dog-walks, the planning-the-day-that-will-be and dissecting-the-day-that-was conversations, the FaceTime cooking sessions with the kids, the cleanup ballets in a busy kitchen, the quick texts from wherever we may be - that lives like ours grow the kind of roots that make our family whole. And so deliciously unique.

I like to listen to her voice. How she’s so fiercely, always, “there” for our kids. How she leans in when she speaks to you. How she makes even the worst days better because she’s in them. How she is the gravity that keeps us all grounded and focused.

Looking back, I’d change nothing. Well, maybe I would have met and married her sooner. But timing aside, this is more than the life I could have dreamed of, and I'm a better human being because she chose me.

And while I can’t create time, she has indeed taught me to make the best use of what we have. I’m thankful to have had 29 years with her to figure it all out. 29 action-packed, sometimes messy, deliriously happy, occasionally sad, intermittently challenging, ever rewarding, always together, limitlessly charmed years.

Thank you will never be enough, but for now it'll have to do. I love you, sweets.

#LiveLaughLevy #wedding #anniversary #her #family #everything

Related:

28 years... July 2020

27 years... July 2019

Sing it like the Flintstones (v26.0), July 2018

22 years... July 2014

21 years on... July 2013

20 years on... July 2012

Another year I clearly don't deserve, July 2011

Once in a lifetime, July 2010

Sweet 16, July 2008

How many years? July 2007

Save the last dance, July 2006

Drinking coffee on Tim's patio

Solitude
London, ON
June 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I had to admire this man's determination to enjoy his coffee in the seating area just outside the Tim Hortons coffee shop.

The rains had let up not long before he got here, and the water was still dripping off the edge of the table. Yet here he sat, coffee and smartphone in hand.

I shot quietly, and allowed the long lens to reach in and record the scene without interfering in his solitude.

I hope he found whatever he was looking for.

I hope he continues to have opportunities to put the world on hold for a bit.

I hope we all do.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #walkabout #urban #highbury #avenue #street #photography #streetphotography #zoom #covid19 #coronavirus #canon #canon_photography #canonphotography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Sidewalk confidential

Life returns to the city
London, ON
June 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I'm back to pointing long lenses down even longer city sidewalks.

There's no real point to the exercise beyond the simple fact that scenes like this bring me a certain sense of joy.

Because when the rules of optics allow you to cram this much everyday life into a single rectangular scene, you can't help but smile that you get to witness it.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #walkabout #urban #highbury #avenue #street #photography #streetphotography #road #traffic #zoom #covid19 #coronavirus #canon #canon_photography #canonphotography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Related:

Signs on Highbury, May 2021

Scene from a busy sidewalk, May 2021

When stores die on Yonge Street, April 2019

Different cows in a different place

Welcome to our pasture
Nairn, ON
July 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I’ve been slowly expanding my cycling envelope, wandering further from home as the rides add up, exploring places I’ve never been. Just because.

Today I ended up in Nairn, a postcard-perfect community northwest of London. And just on the outskirts of this tiny oasis in the middle of seemingly endless farmland, I ran into this wonderfully diverse herd of moo-moos and just couldn’t miss out on an opportunity to say hi.

As you can see, the big beige sweetie was particularly curious. So we spent some quality time eyeing each other from either side of the fence. The flies were an added bonus.

Some folks might say it’s mighty odd to take a break from cycling to admire a herd of cows.

I’m rather fine with the odd part, and don’t want to imagine days where taking time out to do something that makes your soul smile isn’t an option.

#ldnont #london #nairn #ontario #canada #cow #cows #moo #farming #cycling #cyclist #cycle #bicycle #bike #cyclinglife #bikelife #instabike #road #roadside #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:

When cows become cyclists. Next Geraldo. June 2021

Hanging out with the cows, June 2021

The cow whisperer, May 2016

Almost home, September 2005

Found the cows, November 2004

An idyllic peek, October 2004

The burger aesthetic

Just the right toppings
London, ON
May 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

If the photography masters taught us to shoot what we know, then it's easy to understand why food - which if we're lucky we consume multiple times per day - shows up in our photo feeds as often as it does.

Food is familiar. It's frequent. It's part of who we are. So it merits not just one photo, but a constant stream of them. If we are what we eat, then it makes sense for it to become an integral part of our story, as well.

Which brings us to this burger. It was Saturday night, which made it our order-in-from-a-local-resto night. We dispensed with the usual formality of the kitchen table and were instead spread out in the living room - coffee table, end tables, floor, wherever there was space - just as the hockey game got underway.

The light coming through the window was just right - golden hour mixed in with a healthy dose of gauzy family togetherness. I smiled at the back-and-forth banter, and felt like I almost had to take the picture before the moment passed into history.

It isn't a major moment by any means; just a simple slice of time in the life of our family, and just a visual representation of the simple things we do to make ordinary evenings like this a little more special amid a world that seems to not care one way or the other.

I'm glad I shot this. Of all the meals we've had lately, I'm glad it was this one that seems to have stuck in my mind the most.

So much for this being just another burger.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #dinner #supper #spontaneous #stillllife #burger #food #foodporn #foodphotography #instafood #foodstagram #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Shoot the moon

The wonder over our heads
Montreal, QC
June 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Shoot the moon, they say.

So I did.

Am I the only one jazzed by the fact that we may soon be returning to this hallowed place?

#montreal #quebec #canada #moon #lunar #landscape #landscapephotography #nature #naturephotography #canon #canonphotography #canon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Related:

Godspeed, Michael Collins, April 2021

Moon crashes into CN Tower, August 2020

Neil Armstrong was here, August 2013

Moon over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, April 2007

Storms building to the east

Angry skies
London, ON
June 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I get these creative visions on occasion, like lightning bolts of inspiration that pop into my head and refuse to let go.

While walking the dog the other evening, I noticed a massive thunderstorm boiling up in the skies to our east. It was oppressively hot and humid, just the kind of conditions for dangerous pop-up thunderstorms.

That's when that vision thing hit me, and I thought to myself, "Myself, I should take a photo of these wicked clouds."

The problem: all I had was my iPhone. So I skittered back to the house, unhooked the puppy, grabbed a camera with a more appropriate lens, and headed back out.

Weather radar showed the formation moving away from us, so the clock was ticking. Unfortunately, hot, humid air hitting the glass surface of a lens that's been sitting in dehumidified air conditioning makes for a foggy, soupy mess.

I may as well have been holding a hunk of ice, as there was no way this thing was going to warm up anytime soon. So I gently cleaned the lens, then shot quickly before the fog inevitably clouded the lens once more.

It became a fun little game. Clean. ShootShootShoot. Clean. ShootShootShoot. Kick yourself for allowing the camera to sit in the basement office where temperatures approach near-absolute-zero.

In the end, the photo here more or less matches the vision I had when I first spotted the cloud. I didn't count on battling a foggy lens, but the experience teaches me the hurdles we jump through to get the final result are often more significant than the final result itself.

Now please don't mind me while I look for some better insulated storage options for my equipment.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #weather #wx #clouds #blue #sky #abstract #landscape #photography #landscapephotography #nature #naturephotography #canon #canonphotography #canon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

On the myth of multitasking

"To do two things at once is to do neither."

Publilius Syrus

#IfYouReadOneThingToday - On losing a brother

You may recognize Ken Leung, as he's a rather famous actor you've probably come across in the movies or on TV.

What you may not know is that Ken had a younger brother who died half a world away.

I share this here because as someone who lost a sibling and struggles to this day to make sense of unfathomable loss, I often feel like I'm doomed to spend the rest of my life stumbling into stories I hope offer some form of guidance.

And when I come across a particularly significant or otherwise poignant example, I feel compelled to post it here.

The Water in May

By Ken Leung

GQ

June 17, 2021

Finding purple amid the grey

Life everywhere
Odessa, ON
June 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

In the middle of a long drive no one ever wants to take, we stop to refuel the car and ourselves.

It is literally the middle of nowhere, hours from where we started and hours from our destination. And like all highway rest stops, this particular one, known as an ONroute because Canadians feel the need to come up with geographically ironic branding for everything, is more functional than luxurious.

Which is fine, because the mission isn’t to coddle as much as it is to get you back on your way with a minimum of fuss.

Yet as I watch other families walk their dogs in the scrubby grass between the parking lot and the off-ramp, I pick up glints of purple in the distance and ask myself if I’ve misjudged this place. Perhaps I should slow my brain down just enough to appreciate a tiny bit of beauty in a spot where few might feel the need to look for it.

I settle on the purple wildflowers and ask my wife if she minds humoring me before we set off. It’s our code phrase, and she always knows when my photographic wheels start to turn.

I wander off and capture two frames, the dry grass feeling prickly on my sandal-clad feet as I kneel down to get the shot.

Who knew a place like this, designed to speed us on our way, could also help us slow us down and smell the flowers for a bit?

Who knew seemingly meaningless moments like this one mattered as much as they do?

#odessa #ontario #canada #onroute #random #urban #street #photography #purple #landscape #landscapephotography #parking #lot #highway #road #trip #travel #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

The day we brought her home

Did you forget my treat?
London, ON
April 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Four years ago today, this little one became the canine pillar of our little family.

On the one hand, it feels like yesterday that we brought her home. On the other, I can’t remember what life was ever like without her. She makes our home louder, she cuts into our sleep, and she’s singularly responsible for the traumatized bunnies who roam the neighborhood.

But convenience be damned, because she’s endlessly entertaining, she makes us better people, and I can never wipe the smile from my face whenever she’s around. And even when she isn’t. Which, for a Schnauzer can be worrisome, because silence is usually a sign she’s up to something.

In other words, she’s a Levy. One of us. And we’d change nothing about our decision to bring her home.

Now, about those slippers.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #calli #callitheschnauzer #dog #dogs #schnauzerpuppy #schnauzersofinstagram #schnauzergram #schnauzers #dogsofinstagram #instapuppy #photography #apple #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Pencil on a classroom floor

Lost...
London, ON
June 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

My wife wraps up the school year today - a year unlike any other, and a year I’m pretty sure no teacher, student, or parent wishes to see again.

I’ve had a front-row seat to her entire journey since the first stay-at-home orders forced schools everywhere to hastily shift to online delivery. If Zoom, Team, Hangouts and other collaborative tools proved challenging to knowledge workers trying to do their jobs from home, they were infinitely less appropriate for teachers.

Because this remote thing is hard enough for adults to figure out. Kids? Don’t even get me started.

My wife teaches first- and second-graders. Keeping them engaged in a conventional class setting is akin to herding cats. Or juggling panda bears. Or cooking Michelin-starred dinners with an Easy Bake oven. Or maybe all three.

So asking her to continue to hit curriculum goals through a barely-stable video connection is essentially asking her to perform miracles. Which she did. Day after day.

Which, from where I sit, is as awe-inspiring as it sounds.

I took this photo in her classroom a few weeks ago. She had gone in to collect each child’s materials, clean up their desks, and prepare their year-end packages for later pickup. I did my best to help, but as usual she was a few miles ahead of me.

I accidentally bumped a pencil as I walked past one of the desks, and this resulting scene struck me as a bit of a signature for the chapter she was now in the process of closing off.

We may not know exactly how that next chapter will play out. But after countless months where pencils like this one gathered dust in empty classrooms, the universal hope is these special rooms will once again be filled, and these pencils will be used once more.

If you know a teacher, please say thank you.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #random #school #class #classroom #teach #education #teachers #heroes #stilllife #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Red sidewalk savior

Rescue me
Montreal, QC
June 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

A splash of red paint makes everything better, doesn’t it?

I found this particular example beside a busy street in midtown Montreal. Years of massive construction here had transformed this once-downtrodden neighborhood into a showpiece of urban infill, a place where life had returned.

The red fire hydrant struck me as a worthy signpost, a shot of lifesaving color at the edge of a neighborhood whose life had quite literally just been saved.

#montreal #quebec #canada #landscape #landscapephotography #red #fire #hydrant #shadow #stilllife #decarie #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #health #everything

Follow the tracks home - part 2

This is how I got here
London, ON
June 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

This photo may seem familiar.

There's a reason for that. (In case you're just joining us, check out my previous entry for additional context. I'll hit the pause button.)

...Aaaand we're back...

See, I often like to shoot the same scene through a different lens, or from a slightly different perspective.

I think it’s my way of reminding myself that the world is an incomprehensibly complex place, and it’s the height of arrogance for us to assume that one frozen moment in time is enough for us to figure it all out.

In this particular case, I wanted to tell the meta story behind the first shot of the tracks from the bridge.

Of how I got to be so far from home on a hot and hazy day.

Of how a simple ride on an orange bicycle turned into an adventure that opened my eyes to a part of the city I’d never experienced previously.

Of the little twinges of imagination that start small - "where do you want to go today?" - and end up hours later as larger experiences we won’t soon forget.

Of a moment I didn’t just see. I felt it, too.

Part of me is slowly realizing I’m not just talking about photos taken from a bridge over railway tracks. Perhaps there’s a broader lesson here. Maybe a return trip to the bridge is called for.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #random #rail #train #tvp #landscape #landscapephotography #stilllife #photography #orange #devinci #hatchet #bike #bicycle #cycling #life #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Follow the tracks home

We're all on some kind of journey
London, ON
June 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The not-so-big city looms on a murky horizon at the end of an endless set of tracks.

Countless stories beg to be told in the grey haze in the distance, and maybe someday we’ll get to hear them.

But for now, it’s more than enough to stand quietly atop this bridge on a muggy afternoon for a little while before the real world calls me back.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #random #rail #train #tvp #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Leftovers from last night's storm

Right under her nose
London, ON
June 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I stared at the ceiling for much of the night listening to apocalyptic rains pound the house. I figured if we were about to float away, I should at least be awake for it.

By morning the storms had largely passed us by, leaving behind tiny droplet-painted surprises like this one as the dog stepped gingerly out onto the front porch and took in the scene.

In fact, Calli the Wonderschnauzer was the one who sniffed this particular one out with her superpowered nose. If not for her, we would have missed it entirely.

In the end it isn’t much, a leaf covered with water that probably evaporated faster than it took to write about this encounter. A trivially ephemeral moment on a planet seemingly overflowing with countless more like it.

But if we fail to take the time to appreciate seemingly inconsequential snippets like this, what else are we missing along the way?

And who gets to define what’s worth being remembered, anyway?

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #green #leaf #leaves #abstract #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #texture #water #stilllife #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

On changing our world view

"A man sees in the world what he carries in his heart."

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe