1000 Words

Obviously, I did not take this picture. But, when I scanned it this weekend, while digging through old family photos, I knew it needed a few words.

This is Ryan and me at my Junior Prom, 1993. Ryan is a year younger than me and I had a crush on him from the minute I saw him. He was my seminary teacher's younger brother. I remember him being pretty quiet, but not shy. Had a fun sense of humor and as with all of my crushes, I idiotically followed him everywhere I could. Oh, I'm embarassed just thinking about it. But thankfully, he was just clueless enough to my shenanigans to not be turned off.

One day, as I was leaving seminary, Ryan's brother, Eric came up to me and said, "How do you feel about going on a date with a younger guy?", ahhh what? I had an idea where he was going and tried not to jump out of my skin before I could say "THAT WOULD BE GREAT!!! WHEN? NOW? I'M READY NOW!!!" Not really but the ticker in my brain sure was trying to spit that out. I got ahold of myself and answered that I would be juuuust fine with that. And as is Eric's style, that's all I got. Just sit and stew...and wait....

I'm waiting tables at Western Steer one night and all of a sudden I see Eric and Ryan walk in. Heart sink stomach. Brain losing function. Scared out mind. Yeah, I was not well when I saw them. The fact that Ryan was holding flowers did not help matters. Eric asked if I could take a break and since it was a quiet evening, I could. He asked me to go sit at a table in the back and said someone would be with me shortly.

Ryan walks up, smiles, and sits down. Hands me the flowers and points at the envelope. On the outside is written "Open Me". Heh. Told you he had a fun sense of humor. Gets better. I open it and it says "Don't say a word. Would you go to the prom with me? Blink once for yes. Blink twice for no." It took all of my power to make sure I only blinked ONCE. (I still have that card. You know it.)

Fast forward to prom night. Can't you see the excitement on our faces????? We were scared to death! Neither one of us had dated very much and I was older than him. He didn't even have his license yet, so I had to drive. Add all of that together and we were quite a pair. Didn't know what we were doing, he didn't know anyone at my school and I was driving him around. Getting ready for when he would come to pick me up, I was so nervous I got a lovely breakout of hives. His family arrived, we took some pictures (with my hair UP, I might add, stupid clip broke after we left and I was not too happy about having it down the rest of the night) and we drove off in his sister's Ford Tempo. Niiice.

We went to dinner at Darryl's, and then on to the prom. I couldn't even tell you if we danced. The whole night is a blur. I'm sure we left before it was over and drove around for a while, not knowing what to do. We ended up going back to his parents house and hanging out with his brothers until everyone fell asleep. I woke up the next morning on the living room couch and he had gone to get us biscuits for breakfast.

Needless to say, I screwed it all up eventually and he was gone. I ran in to him a year or so later and man, was I jealous of the new girl. He was still cute as ever, wonder what he's like now.

1000 Words

I had a strange imagination, growing up. I guess all kids have some things that they just think of a little differently. On road trips, while watching the sky go by out the window, I used to watch the clouds and think that my Grandpa Fritts was sitting on the biggest and puffiest of them all, looking down on me. I guess it was my way of getting to know him, since I don't really remember him. (I also used to pretend there was someone living underneath the eucalyptus tree outside my bedroom window. I'm beginning to sense a theme here.)

The clouds have recently been capturing my attention again. I'm unsure if they are exceptionally beautiful lately, or I just haven't been giving them the credit they are due. The sky seems to have an ethereal texture, kind of takes my breath away every time I look out the window. The clouds hold on to the sun's light and turn it in to that cliche of painted light.

I'm frustrated, because it seems to be one of those instances where I am unable to capture the moment they way it is happening in front of me. The picture is never quite as beautiful as real life. But then, what is ever as beautiful as what you have in front of you. That is one of the things we tend to forget, to be in the moment and be grateful for what you have. Lesson learned.

1000 Words

I want to start a series of posts on photos that I've taken and a little story behind them. How cliche of me to title the series "1000 Words", especially since I won't be tracking the word count or even coming close to that amount. Always unpredictable.


Location: Bethesda Terrace, Central Park
Date: Spring, circa 2003

I was living in New Jersey and had taken the train in to New York City on one of my regular day trips. I had fallen in love with the city before I had ever seen it in person. If NYC was my soul mate, then Central Park was our love child. In the few times I've been there, I have barely scratched the surface of the potential.

I had been wandering through the park, not really aiming for a particular destination. Just strolling along the paths, allowing them to guide me in their own directions. As I got closer to Bethesda Terrace, I could hear a quiet music flowing through the spring air. Violin. Soft and slow, touching and graceful. Reminding me of one of my great loves, being in the presence of a live orchestra. Very few things bring my heart to a swell as does the rise and fall of such emotional music.

The light was perfect. Filtering through the trees, cutting across the grass, bouncing off the pavement, highlighting the secret treasures throughout the park. And then I came to the stairs. A perfect silhouette. Standing alone, beneath the terrace. The chamber of architecture amplifying his tune. I have no idea what piece he was gracing me with. But it was exactly what I needed to hear. It made me weep.

It is one of those moments that you wish you could capture and lock away in a box. Revisit days and years later, attempting to savor the same feelings and sensations as when it first became a part of you. I suppose that is why I find such fulfillment in taking photographs. I enjoy the ability to grasp that one moment in time that I'm afraid I might forget.