Winter Sketches: With Broken Pencils

Happy is the man who has broken the chains which hurt the mind, and has given up worrying once and for all.
Ovid

It’s hard in winter to go out and photograph, what with the weather harshness and all; especially when out in the blizzard, when out in the snowstorm, when all you can think about is how cold you are and how you’re hands are freezing. :) That’s why I wear gloves in these situations and never take them out in such conditions, even when I manipulate the camera, press the shutter etc., even if I may be labeled as “comfortable” or looking for comfort even in these cold situations, or even if some photographers may say that it’s hard to work the buttons on the camera with the gloves on. But that’s just me! Some people like to take it hard and provoke themselves, and put themselves to the test to see how much of these rough conditions they can take.

Besides these, I was thinking the other day how some trees bend, are very flexible when tackled by stormy weather with gale force winds and all, and others don’t bend but just break. The conifers are as such and that’s a lesson to learn. Some people say that if you bend, it’s a sign of humbleness, modesty, but I think it could be also a sign of servilism, submissiveness and this is not healthy. If you stay up straight doesn’t mean you are hard-nosed, arrogant, full of pride, but that you have dignity. It’s a power people have, with which they put the wrong people and adversive situations to their places. They make a selection of what to accept and what not to accept in their lives. This is a landmark for all of us, a guide mark if you will, just like those we find on the mountain trail.

In winter I found out that this verticality enduring trees have is a sort of not only resistence but noninterference in the waves of natural calamities that come and go with the “seasons”. They allow what they can bring upon themselves. I wrote in an older article that if there are no trees there is no moisture and thus, no rainfall, to continue, thus, no storms, no blizzards, no precipitations of any kind whatsoever. If there are such beings in the world, there are also beligerant natural forces competing naturally to balance the scale of Nature. I don’t see it in another way.

But anyway, firs for example don’t bend, they break. Up there, on the mountain ranges, during winter time, firs or spruces are vertically pointing towards the sky and the sky keeps falling snow on them. But wait to see what happens after the clouds clear and the sun shines again, although low in the sky in this time of the year. ;)

Firs remain straight, nevertheless. When they are tackled by strong winds, like I said, they break. But they too leave their place for future generations to come and contribute to the scale of Nature. But is this all? Just natural sustainable, recyclable economy and nothing else? Is there anything else more, anything transcendent?

Winter is a time, if I may call it this way, for meditation, as I said many times. When you meditate you stay with your back straight. You don’t arch and bend like you would surrender to sleep because it’s not a time to sleep, but to be awake. You let your own Nature do the opening of the doors within you so you can explore your inner space.

With this project, in photography I learned to see but especially what to see and what not to see. This is a natural selection I could call the selection of impressions. I allow myself what to see, what to contemplate, and what not to see. This is natural because it’s a part of who we are and how we function. It’s called dignity. :)