“How to Do Absolutely Nothing
by Barbara Kingsolver
Rent a house near the beach, or a cabin
but: Do not take your walking shoes.
Don’t take any clothes you’d wear
anyplace anyone would see you.
Don’t take your rechargeables.
Take Scrabble if you have to,
but not a dictionary and no
pencils for keeping score.
Don’t take a cookbook
or anything to cook.
A fishing pole, ok
but not the line,
hook, sinker,
leave it all.
Find out
what’s
left.”
Over the last several weeks I’ve been backing up of my outhouse files, and yesterday, I came across a set of photos from a cookout in August 2014. Among the set were two photos of Sandy Davis who, coincidentally (or not), Jen Bartlett and I had been talking about just hours earlier. Back then, in 2014, I was going through a highly experimental period with image processing. I can definitely say that I pretty much hate everything I did, but the compositions and subjects I still like, especially these two pictures of Sandy. So I reprocessed them. Much better. Much more me. After 13 years I had been planning to have a housewarming party the next time Sandy came to town to celebrate the house remodel. I hadn’t told anyone, not even Sandy. Instead, I’m imagining this cookout in 2014 was the housewarming. Not everyone from the tribe was there, but Sandy and her dogs were. That will do just fine.
Stacy Yelton
Sandy. Always in this tribe.