We have a joke that comes up a lot – in response to anything puzzling, or in situations containing contradictions, we just say, “It’s complex.” Long before the brain storm that struck four weeks ago today this phrase was shorthand for the shared knowledge that when contradictions arise, you acknowledge them and find a way forward, through and with the discrepancies. Or, maybe you set aside the conundrum and return later for another look, but there’s no getting around it – complexity is all around us.
So here we are. I go out
with my camera.
I see
dark and sad things, and
I see
beauty, which itself
is overlaid with
subtle
opacities,
somber films.
*
And
I have
no doubt,
light abides too.
1) Home – a foggy Pacific northwest woodland morning.
2) Chewed and fallen, a Cottonwood leaf at Quitobaquito Spring in Organ Pipe NM, Arizona.
3) Hydrangea bloom from 2016, still gathering the light at Bellevue Botanical Garden, Bellevue, WA.Japanese wood Buddha, ca 1130, from Kyoto, now in the collections of Seattle Asian Art Museum, which will soon close for a major renovation.
4) Japanese wood Buddha, ca 1130, from Kyoto, now in the collections of Seattle Asian Art Museum, which will soon close for a major renovation.
5) Bamboo in the breeze, Bellevue Botanical Garden.
6) Camelia bud in black and white, Bellevue Botanical Garden.
bluebrightly 
Breathtaking!
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Thanks, and thank you for stopping by and commenting –
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The woodland photo from home and the buddha both state: peace…….
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🙂 It’s quite a beautiful Buddha, one of those big Japanese monastery ones….and when there’s morning fog, the woods here are beautiful.
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I have heard the phrase, “It’s complicated” used in the same vein before, but I like “It’s complex” better for sure. Much more nuanced and accurate word, I think.
Is the complex
necessarily also
complicated?
Somehow, I
don’t think so….
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Yes, we hear “it’s complicated” way too much, and “It’s complex” has a better ring to it. Your teasing the two apart makes a good point, too – you are ever the wordsmith!
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It’s an affliction, for sure.
I am also fond of the quartet of complex/difficult-simple/easy and how often people seem to mix them up.
I have quit smoking (many, many times) and drinking (a couple of times) with greater and lesser success but addiction and quitting are really very simple.
Every day it is a yes-or-no question, or a series of yes-or-no questions, but at root it is still a binary. Could not be more simple.
And yet one of the most difficult things in the world.
And many complex things are fairly easy to deal with given the right knowledge and a bit of patience.
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What a terrific series!!!
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Nice to hear, thanks! They kind of fell together.
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A great set and settings and thank you for the food for thoughts on this Sunday. 🙂
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You’re welcome, Dina, I’m glad you enjoyed it.
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Great series of photographs!
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Thank you!
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Love the woodland and the cottonwood leaf …
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I worked on the woodland scene a while to get it balanced right, between the fogginess and the detail. It’s so easy to put too much definition in, but I’m often wanting a lot of detail. Many of those fallen leaves were chewed – some insects had a major feast!
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😀😀
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Yes, finding ways forwards, that’s the thing now. There are subtle opacities and sombre films, but you are absolutely right to be sure that light abides; never let yourself stray from that certainty. A
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Adrian, thank you for the reassuring note. Much appreciated.
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Very moving!
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🙂 Note the lack of snow over here… 😉
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Like a glimpse inside a stream of consciousness…nicely done, Lynn.
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I know you’re on close terms with streams of consciousness, so thanks for that comment. Hope all is well with you, Scott. I enjoyed the Superstitions through your eyes…
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Agree with Scott.. VERY nicely done. We generally say “it’s complicated”… but it’s the same principle! Love your view of the world. Love seeing it through your eyes.
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So nice to hear that…more coming…these sort of fell together.
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Beautiful photos, as always, Lynn. I need to go back and read the entries I missed so I can find what happened with your partner. I hope he’s recovered and I hope you’re doing okay.
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A beautifully tranquil and poetic post.
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Thanks very much Louis.
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Though neither as artistic nor as poetic as your entry, I thought you would enjoy this old photo of an actual intersection in the little country town of Danbury, Texas. The signs still are there. I need to go back and get a better photo.
Your first image is breathtaking, although I’m as taken by the single leaf and the drying hydrangea. I love the new growth of spring, but autumn’s gentle decay is just as lovely. I’m not a melancholy sort, but I find such images strangely touching.
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Are you serious?!?!? Unbelievable signage! Thanks for showing it to me.
Autumn hangs on into Spring in some cases, doesn’t it? I’m not generally melancholy either, but I’m more attuned to a somber mood of late, naturally.
Thanks for your thoughts, always something to think about.
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Beautiful words, beautiful images, Lynn. I feel so lucky to read and look at your blog, and grateful that you share yourself with us so. (My favorite of these photos is the first—love that fog.)
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That is quite a compliment Linda, Artistic expression is up there with food and water and air…gotta do it, and so much better when shared, I guess.
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A beautiful and subtle set of images, Lynn; the camellia bud image is poetic.
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I’m glad you like that – it’s still strange to me, seeing them budding and blooming in winter.
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Knockout shots as ever Lyn, you do complex so well!
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Do I have a choice Patti???
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I love your photo of the camelia bud! Its complexity of arcs and greys and sharps and blurs is wonderful. And it reminds me of spring in Vancouver (back when it didn’t snow in March). 🙂
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Thanks! These days, there’s probably no place you can go where the weather will be dependable. But life goes on, in its own complex dance of arcs and sharps and blurs.
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