Two Volkers
This has long been my favourite photograph of Volker and our kids; now, it seems, it is a favourite of our grandchildren too.
I took it after Peter and Laura Burkard’s wedding – Trina had been their flowergirl – one year before Volker’s death.
Since moving into their new home Trina and Gary have had family photos sitting on the floor of the stair landing. Little Volker has just learned to climb those stairs. This is what happened:
Trina says he has very little interest in any of the other pictures, just the ones with Grampa in them.
Mina recently was “missing Grampa Volker,” so that photo is now hanging in the children’s bedroom.
May 4 ~ 28 years
Emily Dickinson said, “‘hope’ is the thing with feathers – that perches in the soul -…”. What then is grief?
“Grief” is the thing of stone
That perches in the soul –
And presses hard without a sound –
And never stops – at all – (BB)
Volker died 28 years ago. Incredible. Can it really be? Time is such a peculiar thing.
This is one day of the year I “take off” — I take off from work, from socialization. I spend it mostly alone with my dog. Once again this year I headed to Goderich, to the water, to a leash-free dog park.
I think what I like most about my day off is that both grief and hope reside without conflict in my soul.
A new Camera —
— new to me, that is. I bought a used Fuji Finepix HS10 on-line from Henry’s. [As a side note, I agreed to an online price, but when Henry’s had a sale that I didn’t know about they refunded $50!]
The camera I’ve been using for the last several years, an Olympus SP-570UZ had too many trips in my carry-on luggage, I think: the auto focus mostly didn’t work, and much of the time I couldn’t put it to manual focus either. I do use my iPhone to take pictures and video clips and I bought a little Fuji XP60 when I was in California in March but neither of these two can take the kind of pictures I want to take. I didn’t want to spend $500 or more so I shopped used from a reputable dealer. (I wasn’t ready to buy used on Kijiji or eBay.)
I am happy with my purchase. First 2 pictures out of the box taken from the same vantage point:
Yesterday morning, just before I was leaving for work, I heard a commotion on my balcony. I looked out to see Mr & Mrs House-Finch. She was busy stealing fibres from my planter. He was preening and standing guard:
(Because of re-sizing these pictures aren’t as crisp as the originals.)
I am quite pleased with my new toy!