Leaving Home
· Sunday July 15, 2007
Ben Franklin once said, “in this world nothing is certain but death and taxes.” I suppose that’s true. In our youth, we have these wonderful, innocent ideas about how everything will be some day. Things rarely work out that way, which is why I suppose some people become jaded and world-weary.
There are times when I look at the person whom I’ve become and marvel at how old and mature(ish) I am, and then there are other times when most of what I see is innocence and youth. This last trip back to the states fell in the latter category.
Longing
This summer, my mother is moving out of the house where I grew up. It’s the best thing for her and I’m glad she’s doing it, but it was also kinda tough. I think as a child, you assume you’ll always be able to go back to the home where you grew up. I still have some really close friends back in Pullman and I know I’ll always have a place to crash, but it’s just not quite the same.
Maybe the challenge is psychological, to make the adjustment in your mind of one’s past now being rooted in memory, instead of both memory and a physical place that you can actively inhabit. Thankfully we have developed ways of preserving the past, through audio recordings, video, and yes, pictures.
On my last night at home, I looked out from my childhood bedroom window and saw an amazing sight: a shimmering halo about a bright moon huddled in clouds. An 8s exposure time blurred out the fast-moving clouds just enough to add continuity to the halo.
Moonlight Halo
And on my way back to my new home in England, again I was greeted by a beautiful sight just outside my window: dawn at 35,000 feet above the Atlantic.
Transatlantic Sunrise
Upon reflection (no pun intended), I find it interesting that all of the pictures featured in this article involve actual or implied windows. Windows represent a physical and metaphorical boundary, one which we can gaze through but never cross. And so we view the past through the window of the present, a pane of glass continually coloured by new experiences and perspectives.
An image may never change, but the way we interpret it is as alive as we are.
— Emery Ku
Thoughts?
-
What a lovely post. I’m glad it’s not just me that thinks upon such things. The view from my childhood bedroom window is very dear to me and is something I miss most about living in Southampton. Thankfully I am still able to go home and appreciate it. Plus home is a little closer for me.
— Nick Bailey · Jul 30, 11:30 AM · #
-
You should share with us the view from your childhood bedroom window the next time you’re home! :)
Commenting is closed for this article.
Yosemite, or "What I wish I had, but didn't" Cambridge... Botanic Garden
