Three Panes of Light

Three small shapes have formed in the light that touches our sheer white curtains. Three tombstone shapes, but tombstones are too dark and morbid and solid a metaphor, of clodded graves and crypts and death. So perhaps they are three ghosts. But ghosts are vague, shimmery, quavering things, curvy and mystical; indecisive; wavering, as it were, between comedy and terror. Not at all, these sharp-edged, curved-top, near-rectangle shapes that grace my window this morning. The soft folds of our drapes give thin, wispy legs to the shapes, ready for silly cartoon men to take to their spindly legs and dance about. But cartoon men are all wrong on this quiet, peaceful day. The shapes of light lie too still to inspire the energetic dancing and chattering of whimsical little men. It breaks the spell. It ruins the mood. In the end, they are just three still panes of light on a pale curtain in a silent room, that captivate and cheer me... then quietly disappear.

The Bear Came Back

The bear came back! This time, I heard a noise and looked to see him standing, looking through the window of the door. I started to beat a hasty retreat in case the latch gave way, but he got down and started to walk away. I ran and dead-bolted the door, then grabbed my camera. I got in a quick shot from the kitchen (blurred by the curtain and reflected glass), but you can see the pads on the bottom of his feet. Then I ran to a bedroom and captured a snapshot of him looking into my car. My view was blocked by lots of vines, but you can just see his shape, standing tall, head stretched toward the Tracker ~ a big, black bear shape, not unlike a giant teddy bear. Finally, he walked off to the woods, where he stopped to maul a small tree, hoping for fruit. There is none (we had a late freeze, and there has been drought). I snapped one more shot, though it's so far away, he's pretty blurry. My heart was racing. It was scary to know that if the door hadn't been latched, or if he'd brushed the knob just right, he would have been inside the house...

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North Georgia is full of surprises!