By JIMMY LOWE
Glasgow Daily Times
GLASGOW —
Photographs are more than simply pictures. Sometimes a photograph is a piece of recorded history, and sometimes, a stimulation toward a particular mood or inspiration.
A photograph is capable of capturing a point of view that the eye once saw so that it can be seen and studied again and again.
We enjoy making and assembling photos at our house. We’ve got several collections in albums and a few are framed and hang on our walls.
There’s one photograph in our home that’s been the source of an occasional argument.
Several years ago, I snapped a scene in either Kansas or Colorado. My wife says the photo was made in Colorado; I maintain it was in Kansas.
The picture is of a rustic, abandoned house, resting in the corner of a somewhat overgrown and lonely-looking yard. A windmill droops nearby, tired from working in the winds from the majestic sky.
We had been making a car trip out that way when I stopped and focused the camera. The kids were asleep in the back seat at the time, so they don’t remember if it was Colorado or Kansas or Turkey Neck Bend.
The photograph is displayed in a wood frame, hand carved by my father-in-law. He even used wooden nails to construct it.
Just to look at it makes me feel lazy. I am attracted to the simplicity that the picture represents.
The sky is light blue and soothing. It looks to be a place ideal for solitude.
I like the photo for what it is. It is a scene of peace. Nature is in control. Neither the house or the windmill seems concerned that the yard has grown up.
I also like the photo for what it is not. It is not filled with people or modern machinery. Certainly, it is not noisy or busy.
If the demands of my life seem to scream for my attention, the photo offers a pleasant diversion. If I feel perplexed and confused, the photo seems to suggest an answer.
Sometimes I think I would like to be at that old house. There I would enjoy piddling about and caring for the yard, studying the sky, and spending enough time alone to develop some new thoughts. It would be nice to hang out with the windmill. I could get along for a while without the telephone, computer or alarm clock.
This daydream has come to me through the years when I felt especially rushed and tired. Sometimes the only thing that kept me from going there is that I didn’t know which state it was in.
