Photographs by Ed Hamlin at Believe Fotografie

From the Blog

May
07

What do you miss about life?

Posted by Ed Hamlin on May 7th, 2010 at 1:14 am

The beginning of the week started out well. The fence in my back yard that had been blown down by 50 or 60 mph winds several months ago was finally replaced. I was motivated to get the yard work done since it had been a couple of weeks. Wasp nests washed down and some of the intrusive spring weeds knocked down, grass cut. It was a good feeling when I finished.

I had a few more errands and was on the way home when the beginning of the week changed. Bumpers collided and I was not a happy camper. Needless to say, the remainder of the day was lost to more necessity. It continued through the next day as I decided to do the bumper cover and bumper replacement myself. The deductable I have made it a necessity. The minor repair list grew and necessity continued another day.

I sat in my dimly lit living room late in the evening feeling a bit lost. I read a few articles at some of the blogs I frequent. There wasn’t any direction, or inspiration found anywhere. The gorilla was still riding on my back. He’s the list of projects that I have scheduled on my outlook calendar. None of them got done that were scheduled for the late afternoon, Monday, or yesterday and today they have given way to picking up parts and putting the car back together. That 600-pound gorilla was banging on my mind like it was a bongo drum. He’s really annoying!

 Then I got the urge for a fudgesicle. We keep a supply of low calorie pops in the house.  So I grabbed one, actually a pair of them, and a root beer. None other than A&W, there isn’t one that compares unless you are having the original in a bottle.  I started thinking as I was munching away and have a swallow of soda with each bite. I started thinking about the things I missed that you really don’t see much of these days. Do they still make Yoo-hoo chocolate sodas? My list started to build quickly.

I miss the days of when I use to hang out at the lake near where I grew up. Folsom Lake; I water skied, snorkeled in coves looking at carp bigger than me. I fished for trout, pike, and some bluegill. I watched my brother try out to be a junior lifeguard. I was too cool to do it. I probably walked past my wife who knows how many times.  Found over a hundred dollars in a cover near a popular spot to park your ski-boat. I thought I was rich and for being the middle 70’s it was an awesome find.

I began to think about photography, and I miss Plus-x pan and the Tri-X films and Kodachrome a bit, 64 was my fav speed. I like working to figure the right exposure.  I liked the long walks, air races, bike rides in the rain. I miss flying in small planes there was a freedom for the busyness of the day. I remember circling a cloud one day and it grew fast that we could climb.

I miss the days of family barbeques and the relaxed atmosphere the just lingered throughout the day and into the night. The root beer floats and water melon. I miss the simpler times in life. I remember the solitude of a ten mile run or a sixty mile ride by myself , the pace set by the music in my head. The time I would spend swimming for an hour. The sound of the water as I mixed in with it becoming a part of it speeding though it like it wasn’t there. I think I was at home the most in the water when I was racing in triathlons. There was solitude to compete against the clock and not the others in front of behind.

Then there were the mountains. I missed the mountains, I was away from them too long. You can climb and look down and see the majesty of creation and how it fits. The quiet, the squirrels, deer, streams flowing to unseen destinations. The meadows filled with masses of flowers, bluebonnets, deer clover, and poppies.  I miss the simple things of life, not having to worry about locking the doors, whether someone will take the big-screen or camera gear or for that matter the other ugly things that happen now days.

I miss the times I had fun blowing up model airplanes with firecrackers. I miss spending the time with my friends just hanging out not having to say anything at times. Silence would communicate to us about life. I need to finish my root beer float with chocolate ice cream. It’s really good. I think life has become too complicated, technology doesn’t have to rule our lives and yet when you turn the TV on you see adds for all the new inventions, and stuff, do we really need it or have people really lost the values of what life is really about.

I think the greats in photography got life and knew how to really express it with their work, personal or what they were hired to do. Now days I see bits and pieces of it. I miss experiencing life every day. I know that is why I enjoy sunsets. Oops the float…..

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