No one else in my family remembers this. Over twenty years ago, I told my mother and my sister this story from my childhood. They were both there when it happened. The story didn’t sound familiar to them. Maybe I just dreamed it, but I don’t think so. It feels much more like a memory than a dream. But I’m the only one who remembers Itty Bitty, the calico kitty.
Read MoreA Long-Awaited Morning on Bald Rock
On the morning of December 7, 2020, I woke up at 5 AM with high anticipation. Sunrise would be at 7:24 AM. Twilight would be in the 30 to 40 minutes before that. And I needed to arrive during twilight. I had to get ready, prepare my camera gear, make some hot tea for the journey, and then drive for over an hour to reach my destination.
It was time to get moving.
Read MoreMother and Child in the Morning Sun
Then, I heard something up on the mountaintop, two young female voices, sounding excited, one much younger than the other. And I thought to myself, “There goes my quiet morning.” But in this case, it wasn’t a bunch of rowdy kids yelling at the top of their voice for no apparent reason, as had happened recently. Just two people enjoying the scenery, talking quietly to themselves, barely audible. After a few moments I forgot they were there.
Read MoreThe Troubling Ride Home
On December 7 of last year, I made another trip to Bald Rock Heritage Preserve. As you can see in today’s photograph, this was not a clear blue-sky day. There were clouds. And I was thankful for that. The presence of clouds in the sky means that my sunrise photos will benefit from those clouds as they move around, while the sun crests the horizon.
Read MoreThe Little Boy And The Big Fish
For a five-year-old sharecropper’s son, every season is like a new life. The passage of time does not seem to register. All I knew was that the weather started warming up and Daddy started plowing the fields and planting the cotton. The bare-limbed trees in the forest that surrounded our house began to turn green. The grass in the front yard started growing again. Soon Daddy would be out there on Saturday mornings with a sling blade, mumbling words I was not supposed to repeat. The tall weeds and bushes on the side of the house, out past the clothesline, sometimes produced baby bunnies that would sleepily sun themselves, just this side of the tall weeds … until I tried to run and catch one.
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