because a Reverend can't be wrong.
He carefully slid his arm out from under her neck, sliding just a bit more to his side of the long, worn bench seat of his pickup truck. As the last rays of sun were burning up over the mountain top, he stared at her, watching her chest rise and fall with each sleeping breath. He held her hand in his and counting each delicate bone one by one.
Delicate // OneWord
The trip to Vermont went well. Two stops for feedings (one which included ice cream for Jess and I), and we still made it in about 5 hours.
There was lots of family waiting for us when we got there. Had a great dinner and good times. Then settled in at my brother’s place, made a late night trip to the Laundromat, and then called it a night.
This morning, I’m up for coffee and photo editing in downtown Burlington. Later today we’ll all go out exploring.
Even though they didn’t say it out loud, their faces spoke loudly enough. They didn’t approve and they didn’t think she should go through with this. But it was far too late now. Her eyes were wide, her hair wet with sweat, and she was all alone in this room. She was having Holiday. She would be a good mother. And she was never speaking to her family again.
– OneWord // HOLIDAY
Every day goes pretty much like this for me, it’s just the details that are different.
I went to bed last night with the goal of getting up this morning, publishing a photograph or two, and writing something interesting, at least to me. I probably should have forced myself to do it last night, but the long day I had was wearing me thin and I was already starting to fall asleep. So I just went to bed.
I was wide awake at 3:30am. But, forced myself back to sleep knowing I have an even longer day in front of me. My alarm went off at 4:45am, just like I asked it to. I hit snooze. I thought I hit snooze. At 6:30am I get out of bed.
Knowing that I’ve lost two hours of my morning I can choose between A) being to work much later than I’d intended, B) not publishing anything, or C) just being a little later than planned and publishing something quick and easy. I go for option C. As I start to search for a photo I realize I haven’t done a quick cleanup operation in my photo catalog in quite a while so I kick it off. Of course it gives me trouble. It should take 5 minutes. It’s been running for over 20. And then, the software crashes and the clean up is lost. Of course.
So now I haven’t written anything (except for this). I managed to get the software back up and pulled a photo out of it. Of course, I had to edit it even quicker than usual, which means I’ll probably end up redoing it. If I wait much longer, I’ll be stuck in traffic and end up at work a lot later than I want to be.
Welcome to my life — every day.
Send love, encouragement, excitement, distractions, and anything else you can muster. I’m going to need it today.
As she looked upon him seated on the other side of the table wearing a suit that looked so expensive she couldn’t even imagine the cost, her eyes filled with tears and panic. She knew what was coming next.
“So, Sarah, in return, I have only one favor to ask of you.”
– OneWord // FAVOR
This time of year, days are about an hour longer here in Providence than they are at home in Dallas. The light knocking at my window just after five o’clock this morning startled me awake — panicked that I’d had missed my alarm. Another insignificant item in a long list of things to get used to.
Despite the heat wave and high humidity here I think I’ll walk to work. It’s only a few blocks and it makes a lot more sense than pulling the car out of valet just to find another garage to park it in a few blocks down the road. I look forward to going out for a ride tonight, though. An old coastal town like this has a lot to offer a photographer like me. I’ve got a new camera to try out in accordance with my “a simple life is a better life” mantra I’ve been chanting lately.
I know many incredible people who are content to live lives that don’t center around creating something. They live what seem to be happy, full lives filled with challenge and interest centered entirely on their experience and the happiness afforded them by friendship and the consumption of those things created by others. But, no matter how hard I try, living life that way simply does not fulfill me. I need to create. I need to produce. I need to build. I need to change.
It’s been too long since I’ve shared a photograph. It’s been even longer since I made a photograph that really challenged me or moved me. This needs to change.
It isn’t much, but it’s a start. I’m going to attempt to write here every morning with no regard for how bad, or trivial, or short, or uninteresting these words might be. My hope is that the forced creativity and attempts at accountability will renew the ambition and drive that comes along with that need.
Lighter than air, her mind burned with possibilities. She loved him. She wanted him. Yet, in the end, he had no substance. This high school dropout wouldn’t be approved by her peers.
– OneWord // Substance