‎63 Years of Memories....

‎63 Years of Memories....
that's what I have now. The photo below shows the chair on the point which for so many years was my father's favorite after-supper place to contemplate and cast for walleye. As much as I feel guilty about what's happened, I know he would understand and even say there's nothing to forgive. He lived life fully and moved on many times. I'm the one with the unique experience of being attached to a beautiful place for my whole life. And despite all my best efforts, yesterday the 'cabin' was sold. I signed the papers and, truth be told, a weight was lifted. A new life lies ahead without the obligations, but with all of the wonderful memories. My unrelentingly positive attitude says this is truly how it is, but my heart is still sad.

There are some things in life for which the balance between the obligation and the joy of ownership often cannot be sustained forever. It became clear that I was no longer up to the task of taking care of the place quite a while back. However, knowing what needs to be done and doing it are often far apart. Finally, no choice was left. It had to be sold.

Now it's gone. No more worrying about how long the grass or how deep the snow is up there. No more sublimely pleasurable early morning cups of coffee sitting on the dock when the color of the lake is like pale blue glass and the air is completely still. No more endless repairs, high taxes, and utility bills. No more late nights around the fire pit with friends and family - warm from both fire and friendship. No more frozen pipes or emergency calls to the furnace guys. No more saunas and midnight skinny dipping that make you feel like you'll live forever while your connection with nature is confirmed by the gazillion stars of the milky way and the loons calling out in the dark. No more concerns with low well water levels or water so hard and full of iron the clothes turn yellow and your newly washed hair feels like brillo. No more finding the way home by boat in the dark after a long day on the lake feeling like this is the only place you really, really belong. No more praying that the boathouse will make it another year without collapsing. And ultimately, no more making new memories with friends, family and loved ones. No new memories, that is, at Half Bay, Lake Vermilion, Tower, MN. New life... here we come!

How do you thank a place for memories?

Saturday, January 27, 2007

The Tent

Here is the tent where I am living now, as you can see, it is crowded. And whats that smell? These are the same type of tents that Britta shows horses under to escape the heat or rain. The floor is almost the size of a football field.
Here is me keeping a lookout from one of the guard towers over the Bazaar. If you look carefully you can see another guard tower in the background. I think that guy way down there is picking his nose. Nope, just a scratch.
A cloudy day, what a treat. Click for a larger view. This is a typical "life on the flightline" view. I like the way this shot is framed except for the medevac bird on the left edge. I should do a better job with cropping next time. Actually very few of my photos that you have seen so far have been cropped. I have been using a "rangefinder" camera with no zoom and with a set focus. It has been a good experiment because it really shows photos in the same scale that the human eye sees. The exception is photos that I felt worked better in a panoramic frame like the one of Alexander's castle from on top of Qalat. It is a good challenge to make "snapshots" look like "photographs". I have had a lot of missed 'National Geographic' photos this year though.
It seems like all these photos so far show alot of depth and sky. These are some low-rider Mad-Max-Mobiles. Cool huh? I wonder if I can get one at my local Mazda dealer? OK now how do you get in?


Ok, the first photo of the day with a flat composition. This gives you an idea about the mountains that dad had to walk up every morning on his way to school (with only one shoe, fighting off bears and wolves.)

This is me and Trooper Carmichael of the Australian Army demonstrating where not to take photos. The photo of the flightline earlier was taken with my camera resting on this sign. Everyone saw that and thought it was funny. This is also one of the few photos I have posted that I didn't take(even including the ones with me in them).
Who is that handsome looking Ninja? It gets seriously cold when you are at ten thousand feet with a 120 MPH windchill. The wrap I am wearing is called a Shemagh and is very popular with the Brittish Spec Ops guys. It is extremely thin cotton and is almost the size of a bedsheet if you unwrap it. Like any good Ninja should, I will vanish...

...with a puff of smoke.

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1 comment:

Lottie Dah said...

Way cool photos, Bert! I love the 'don't take photos here' sign photo. I was expecting your post to have fond farewell to Afghanistan tidbits in it, but you didn't say anything about your upcoming trip across the ocean. We are holding our breath until you're home.
Seriously, I can see how you've had some extraordinary experiences in Afghanistan and seen (and done) some really awesome things. I know you've been respectful and protective and patient and haven't shown us lots of things that you know would upset us. Thank you for that and for sharing all the cool interesting things that you have. I hope you can forget everything you don't ever want to think about again. There's so much good stuff waiting for you to enjoy!
We miss you and can't wait until you're home safe and sound.
Love, Mom

9:49 PM

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