The memorial service for my father is over. Friends and family flew back home yesterday. The home remodel is almost complete and today is the first time in over a month I feel like my life is returning to normal.
Yesterday Sarah and I took a walk at Manito Park with our dog. Near the start of the path we saw a young magnolia tree suspended between three stakes with some magnificent blossoms. I thought it was a magnolia tree but Sarah wasn’t sure. From a distance we could see a tag on the tree. As we got closer we quickly realized that it was a photograph of a young boy and that the tree had been planted as a memorial. What a beautiful tribute.
Sarah used her plant identification app to verify that it was indeed a magnolia and I proceeded to make a few cell phone photos of the blossoms using the camera’s portrait mode. The portrait mode throws the background out of focus and emulates shallow depth of field. I think it works well here. The smart phone camera continues to improve and I will continue to explore its features as part of my daily visual journal practice.
I’m back!
Ira
