What’s left behind after the flowers have faded, dried, their petals blown away…new life. The seeds for next year, enough to feed some birds, enough to house a few insects to overwinter, tucked in and protected from winter winds, little spider sacs that will bloom with baby spiders when the spring sun washes what’s left. Some seeds have scattered in autumn winds, others fall to the ground under snow, each one packed with the chance for life to swell and burst with spring rains, push roots below the soil and sprout leaves above, and next summer a little cluster of Queen Anne’s lace plants will welcome the summer sun and nod in the breezes, lie down in the storms, and open clusters of tiny white flowers to lure an insect to pollinate, then when flowers are finished and blown away to stand there in the blast of winter and carry on its tradition.
Well, that was fun. I was only intending to add one or two sentences but I went on and on as the story developed in my mind, and decided to leave it, unedited, so it’s a…story? Essay? whatever…in progress.
“In Progress”
I’m calling this “in progress” because, rather than waiting until I had the chance to work it over a few times, I would give it my best rewrite while the experience was still fresh. I like to do that with poems and a quick, brief essay can have the same treatment. It’s part of what I do to encourage myself to write, not trying to make everything perfect before I present it but giving the drafts themselves attention.
About the Photo
Sometimes everything looks like a 1950s horror flick on black and white film, especially using the old original 50mm lens.
This photo was taken with Kodak 400 ISO black and white film using my 40-year-old Pentax K1000, on one overcast winter day, January 14, 2020. I used the scans from the company that developed them just as they came off the roll of film, no adjustments at all.
I mentioned to a friend that I’d considered getting my hands on some black and white film to use in my old Pentax K-1000 for my Christmas walk on the trail, but I couldn’t find any to purchase anywhere, and had no idea who developed it now. There is nothing like black and white film, and it’s been years since I’ve used it. He mentioned he had a few rolls and he’d give me some, which he did, and I waited for the right moment to load it in my camera and head out the door.
Read more: Essays ♦ Short Stories ♦ Poetry
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