There is a Sycamore tree on Route 67 that I love to photograph every Spring, it is a beautiful tree, set off gracefully against the deep woods, and I always think the tree is waving to me, so I stop the car, get out and wave back.
It took me months to get Sandra Adams and Cassandra Conety (mother and daughter) to pose together for a portrait, both are shy and modest. They speak softly, but have the same twinkle in their eyes, they know how to smile and laugh.
Today, I finally wore them down and was grateful for this portrait, I love taking portraits of people with character, and especially people with character who love one another.
Cassandra is a vet tech at the Cambridge Valley Veterinary Service, Sandra is a former school teacher who now runs a nearby farm with her husband Brian. Her former students speak very highly of her. They raise goats, sell hay and harvest sap for maple syrup, among other things. Sandy comes from a much loved family that has lived in my county for a long time.
Cassandra is businesslike and efficient. She does her work and pays little mind to me. I will miss seeing her in the morning.
In these two faces, I see character and honesty. Cassandra is also quiet, there is no drama or artifice about her, she has helped me tremendously during Maria’s absence, even if it didn’t turn out the way I thought it would. Does it ever? We have a good pet sitter if we need one. We do need one.
When I need hay, I call Sandy and she and Brian drive their good hay over and it has kept our animals healthy and content over the winter. I was surprised when Sandy sort of agreed to pose today. “Would you like a portrait of you and your daughter?” She said it was up to Cassandra, who was shocked her mother agreed to be photographed.
Usually, Sandy just shakes her head no. I didn’t waste any time. I told Cassandra up front that working her meant being photographed, and she just shrugged.
It’s okay, I said to Sandy, I was a reporter, I got a guy in a riot to stop throwing rocks at me long enough to pose for a photo, and then he set fire to my car. Oh my, she said. I told them to look at my bald spot, and they smiled.
I’ve been waiting for months to get a picture of my friend Bob working the tractor at the town dump (Recycling Station) and today I brought a wide angle lens and Bob was down in the pit moving the piles of garbage into organized stacks so they can be hauled away. To me, a great and startling and even beautiful site, Bob is a very good man who is much beloved in the town.
Every since my open heart surgery three years ago, Bob – who reads my blog – rushes out when I come, he gives Fate a biscuit and sometimes a donut, and he snatches the garbage cans out of my hands before I can carry them. I keep telling him I can carry the cans, but he just laughs at me. I love taking photos of good people who work hard.
It seems like I have a family once more, and it centers around some wonderful women that I love. Maria is returning to the farm in the morning, she has been flying in airplanes for about 30 hours. Emma and Robin are in Arizona, where Robing went to see her first baseball team play – the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Life is odd, I took Emma to a Yankees Game when she was 14 and taught her how to score a baseball, and I didn’t think much of it, but it changed her life. She is a senior editor at Sports Illustrated in New York City now, she is in charge of their baseball coverage.
Emma was a serious kid, thoughtful and bookish. She was also up for almost anything, but I don’t remember her smiling that much. Nice to see them at a ball game together.
I love the rueful and ironic look that is often a part of Emma. I don’t see that yet in Robin, she seems to me to be a good time girl, she is up for almost anything, and loves to go almost anywhere. Or so it seems to me. I don’t see her that often but it doesn’t really seem to matter.
I feel like I know her well, and she has brought Emma and I closer together, which is so important to me. I cannot yet imagine what Robin will wish to do with her life, and I am not going to be around to see it. But that smile will carry her far, it suggests a love of life that is precious.
Suddenly, I am surrounded by wonderful women. How wondrous is life.
This was one of the last photos Maria took before she left India. I love the feel of it.
