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  • Welcome to the new site. Here's a thread about the update where you can post your feedback, ask questions or spot those nasty bugs!

Finding life again.

Tom dinning

Registrant*
_DSC7762

by thedingo0099, on Flickr​

Recovering from a complete breakdown of all systems requires therapy and time, as my fine and handsome adversary, Fahim, well knows and understands. To ensure the process goes according to plan, we must let go as well as take on. New forms emerge from the quagmire of the past. We see things more clearly, hear with astuteness, feel more tenderly, take a gentle tough and take time to smell the roses. Life is replenished, bonds are strengthened, relationships secured, a calmness prevails. Contentment is a clear and welcoming light.

If only it were true!
 

Tom dinning

Registrant*


_DSC7756 by thedingo0099, on Flickr​

A small offering and a conversation is all that is needed. Spirits are raised, good will becomes the healer, the Samaritan is redeemed and the traveller is rested and fed. What can it take but an offering of humanity in passing to make a difference?

What difference? In the very next frame the moment has gone and all returns to what it always would be. Indifference is equally at hand.
 

Tom dinning

Registrant*


_DSC8216 by thedingo0099, on Flickr​

Recovery required human companionship and comfort. Words of wisdom and well wishes warm the heart and heal the soul. A shared moment, thoughtful and loving. Some physical contact where the pressure of life are lessened by the pressures of another skin. eyes meet eyes, close enough to see the colour and feel the breath of another human.

Instead we are left with a mobile phone, a smattering of gibberish on the screen and faceless forms circling us like vulture, waiting to fill the space.
 

Tom dinning

Registrant*


_DSC8213 by thedingo0099, on Flickr​

A small gathering pays homage to their maker. The circle is tight and secure. Each brings tokens of appreciation for the life give. The commonality of life brings each closer to unity. The energy is healing. All is well.

Unfortunately, life finds an awkward place in the centre of this as does a lamb surrounded by wolves. Best for each in their circle of life to pretend they are alone and the lamb is simply a convenience.
 

Jerome Marot

Well-known member
Welcome back, Tom. It is nice to see you here again.

I like that last picture. Is that tree with the round bench in Darwin?
 

Doug Kerr

Well-known member
G'day, Tom,

A lovely essay.

How interesting that a black-and-white presentation seems so exactly right for an illustration that life is far from "black and white".

Best regards,

Doug
 

Michael Nagel

Well-known member
Hi Tom,

Welcome back - you made me shorten my self-imposed holidays from this place.

For me it is the last one of the series that coins it the best.

Best regards,
Michael
 

Tom dinning

Registrant*

_DSC8238 by tom.dinning, on Flickr​

The icons are constantly in our line of sight. They draw our attention to things of importance. Like the North Star, they can guide us to endeavors worthy of our notice. Our life is fulfilled with their ever present beckoning. A better life lies on the horizon, just beyond the wall and waters that we find hard to scale and swim. We take strength in their strength. We are strong as they are strong. We can shine like they shine.

Or we can pass them by without a moments notice. There is no strength in icons. They will crumble just like the rest of us.
 

Michael Nagel

Well-known member
The icons are constantly in our line of sight. They draw our attention to things of importance. Like the North Star, they can guide us to endeavors worthy of our notice. Our life is fulfilled with their ever present beckoning. A better life lies on the horizon, just beyond the wall and waters that we find hard to scale and swim. We take strength in their strength. We are strong as they are strong. We can shine like they shine.

Or we can pass them by without a moments notice. There is no strength in icons. They will crumble just like the rest of us.
These words are pretty much related to the lyrics of 'Les murs de poussière' (Francis Cabrel). The often futile search...
Original lyrics and english translation here.
 

Tom dinning

Registrant*
Not at all bad, Tom. Best pictures I've seen from you for a while. Prose pretty hackneyed though, in my opinion. Cheers, Mike.

**** off, Mike. I wasn't asking.

For all you might know, I might have been going for 'hackneyed'. Most stuff here is that anyway.


Aaaah! Now I feel better. The old self is still with me.
 

Tom dinning

Registrant*


_DSC7994 by thedingo0099, on Flickr​


A day in the sun is always healing. A dose of Vitamin D, sand up the crutch, greasy chips with sauce for lunch, washed down with a cold ale, the sting of sun burn on the shoulders and talk of retirement and cruises to exotic places. What more could a person want?

A house above high tide, is one thing. That's Global Warming to the top left of the picture.
 
**** off, Mike. I wasn't asking.

For all you might know, I might have been going for 'hackneyed'. Most stuff here is that anyway.


Aaaah! Now I feel better. The old self is still with me.

Doesn't matter to me whether you were asking or not, so fook off yersen, Tom... :) Cheers, Mike
 

Tom dinning

Registrant*
Doesn't matter to me whether you were asking or not, so fook off yersen, Tom... :) Cheers, Mike

Cheers, Mike.
You do sound a bit like Christine, though. I get her opinion whether I ask for it or not.
If I want to voice my own opinion, I have to ask Christine what it is first.
 

Tom dinning

Registrant*



_DSC7961 by thedingo0099, on Flickr​

Avoiding the cracks and following the light seems to be a good philosophy. That way you'll get to where you are heading and avoid the pitfalls.

Until someone drops something on you from above or comes out of the dark and steals your wallet.
 

Tom dinning

Registrant*


_DSC7776 by thedingo0099, on Flickr​

Then there are the messages. Signs from above, a noteworthy comment or piece of advise, a calendar saying, a get well card, a sunny day in winter. Everyone has a message for us. Adise on how to be better people.

But do make sure you pick a shady spot from which to deliver your oratory. It's bloody hot out there.
 

Tom dinning

Registrant*




_DSC7815 by thedingo0099, on Flickr​

At the end of the day a cuppa and scone is a remedy for all things. Life is brighter on the other side of a fine China tea pot.

Until you see the bill. How can they charge that much for warm, brown water?
 
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Tom dinning

Registrant*
_DSC8157 by thedingo0099, on Flickr​

Now there's a monument for healing. Sinful souls seeking forgiveness, the sick and needy seeking solace, those hungry for restitution and succour absorbing the words of wisdom, those who mourn find relief from their grief, those who die are guaranteed a safe place to dwell..


_DSC8161 (1) by thedingo0099, on Flickr​

Personally, I'm with the birds scratching for lice and scavenging for food at the feet of the lunchtime dwellers. It just seems a more logical means of survival.
 

Tom dinning

Registrant*
_DSC8147 by thedingo0099, on Flickr​

See what I mean? He's put the place to good use. He's got a warm blanket from the Salvo's bin, a spot out of the rain, protected from the wind by the doors of heaven and some company.
Take the demands of everyday life away and he becomes a contented man.
 

Tom dinning

Registrant*
But wait. There is life again. It takes many forms for many people. My life is found in this form: a self-conscious aging beauty with the tolerance of a saint and the tongue of a viper. She is my constant companion, even when I'm not there. She knows what I am thinking even before I've thunk it. Even when I'm not thinking she knows it. She is demanding, reassuring, devoted and she holds a grudge for life and then some. You cross her and she'll eat you alive and spit out the bones. Her emotions are always close to the surface and her secrets are buried deep. She hates having her photo taken so I do it often as I can. She can be incredibly jealous and totally involved. She is as smart as a paper cut. She is always right, even when she is wrong. I never disagree with her and she constantly disagrees with me. She swears like a docker and sings even worse. As far as photography is concerned, she hasn't got a creative bone in her shutter finger.

In finding life again, she is exactly what I need and want.

Is that trite enough for you romantics?


_DSC8253 by thedingo0099, on Flickr
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
But wait. There is life again. It takes many forms for many people. My life is found in this form: a self-conscious aging beauty with the tolerance of a saint and the tongue of a viper. She is my constant companion, even when I'm not there. She knows what I am thinking even before I've thunk it. Even when I'm not thinking she knows it. She is demanding, reassuring, devoted and she holds a grudge for life and then some. You cross her and she'll eat you alive and spit out the bones. Her emotions are always close to the surface and her secrets are buried deep. She hates having her photo taken so I do it often as I can. She can be incredibly jealous and totally involved. She is as smart as a paper cut. She is always right, even when she is wrong. I never disagree with her and she constantly disagrees with me. She swears like a docker and sings even worse. As far as photography is concerned, she hasn't got a creative bone in her shutter finger.

In finding life again, she is exactly what I need and want.

Is that trite enough for you romantics?




_DSC8253 by thedingo0099, on Flickr​

Those are massive eggs! Wouldn't even consider getting past her, LOL!
 
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