What do you see
Your first impression
When you compare

First fleeting impressions hit the eye immediately.

How plain
How happy
How tall she walks
How sad they look
How harried they appear
How naughty that child

Wow, beautiful or handsome
Wish I had some of that

But that is only an impression
Not the true picture

Yet rarely do we say anything of people’s character
That they have a generous spirit
Are kind or thoughtful
You child are trying so very hard

These thoughts arose after looking through some photos I took recently of what at first may appear as junk, old, obsolete or old-fashioned….

“A gift to myself”
A visit to the country
Spending time to wander round
In quietness observe with a different eye
Sights and impressions not noticed in an everyday rush

The very first morning I hurried outside to make the most of beautiful weather not knowing what the morrow would bring.
I needed to savour these delights.

As the days continued I found more treasures to lift my soul.
Sights unseen on the ordinary day

Colours, combinations, textures, shapes, shades, forms, sharp, soft, lofty or insignificant.

Images of time
Of labour
Of life
Past

Yet in essence they were rusted drums, old tanks, fencing wire, peeling paint, weary old stone cottage with its silent walls and long gone school children and families.

It presented me with beauty, character and charm in a palette of rich colours.

Then as I attempted to choose which photos to use I observed another layer of impressions.

How many lessons taught to bring education to children in this cottage school house

How many throats cooled and thirsts quenched from the now empty and old, rusted rain water tanks.

How many Kilo-meters or miles of fencing put up over the years and repaired again and again

Those drums asked how many machines were serviced to provide food and sustenance for this and other households over the decades

How many litres or gallons of diesel used over the decades to to run a farm

These shutters spoke of shelter from the rain or cooling relief from breezes.

Old door
Battered door knob,
Big key hole for long shafted key
Sturdy lock standing the test of time

How many bodies have brushed through this door
Slowly and carefully carrying a heavy load
Or rushing headlong as children do with much banging
How much joy or sadness entered these doors
Now stealthily visited by critters

How many different views through this now empty window

If walls could talk

Look around you, what do you see. More than skin deep. See depth. A multi layered depth.

What story do you see around you, yesterday, today, tomorrow.

Till later

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