Day: June 27, 2013

The new lens is fast and has a wide range. It picks up the colors well. I haven’t tried it close-up yet, but so far, so good. A lens takes you different places, you see different things.

How absolutely fitting. I got my new lens from Fedex, unpacked it, rushed out to the pasture with Red to try it out – noon day sun, grey sky, hard light – and Simon went right into his daily dirt bath for me. Unfortunately, I was not paying attention to Red and he drove the sheep right into me, and Zelda took me down straight on, I never saw it coming, ended up flying through the air and landing so the camera and the lens was up in the air. I am a master at falling while protecting my camera, I am like those NFL players (sort of) who fall down in a mob and tuck the football under their arms and manage to hang onto it. My knee took the fall and it is wrapped in ice right now.

Zelda hasn’t lost her touch, she ran right over me and headed towards the new pasture, Red in pursuit and heading her off. She is a tough ewe, but I don’t see her knocking Red down anymore. I don’t think he even noticed that I was lying on the ground holding my camera and new lens. Rose always watched out for that, she would hang off of any sheep that came close to me, Red assumes – this is fair – that I can take care of myself. I like the depth of field of the new lens, and even in poor light, I like the richness of the color. My knee is just bruised and swollen a bit, it will be okay. And the new lens is fine! Lord. Well I always say a new lens helps me see the world anew, and today I got to look at the sky from a muddy field on my backside. I did curse a good and purple streak, not that anyone noticed or cared. Actually to be fair, Simon was concerned, unlike my dog. He came trotting over and sniffed me.

Okay, I blurted out to my wife this morning, I want to be honest, I have a crush on Wendy Davis,  the Texas legislator who literally stood in her truth for 13 hours, filibustering against yet another cluster of men who don’t yet realize they cannot tell women any longer how to live their lives. I was especially interested in the comments of the governor of Texas, talking about how much Texans value life on the eve of the state’s 500th execution of a convicted felon.

Davis wore pink sneakers all through her filibuster and they have become a symbol of women’s efforts to make their own decisions. That inspired Maria to think about potholders.

I love Wendy Davis’s story, every bit of it, this single mom, who raised her daughter in a Forth Worth Trailer, got herself through college and then Harvard Law School and then into public office, and who was told on Monday that she couldn’t lean on her desk, go to the bathroom or eat all during her filibuster. With the help of some loud supporters, the vote on shutting down abortion clinics in Texas was stopped, at least for the moment. She behaved with humor, conviction and strength.

Maria took the news of my crush well,  I expected her to be annoyed with me, she can be jealous and has accused me more than once – she is Sicilian – of having secret flirtations with women. I wouldn’t dare even think of it. Fortunately, she loves Wendy Davis too. She didn’t care about my crush, she shrugged it off, then came into my office from her studio to show me a sketch she was working on. She is going to spend the day making Pink Sneaker Potholders (sketch above)  and selling them in honor of Rep. Davis, and then donating a portion of her sales to Planned Parenthood, a group she supports and believes in. Me too.

Good for Maria. I may have a crush on Wendy Davis, but I am in love with Maria, a woman who is also standing in her truth. I will try and go online and get some pink sneakers for her. I admit to loving strong women. I admit to believing that woman are the best, perhaps last great hope for the world. I think an integral part of being a real man is letting go of the notion that women are helpless and dependent and need to be told how to live. It seems to me it is men who need some help making decisions. Perhaps some legislator will propose another way of promoting health and saving lives – when men mistreat, harass and rape or abuse women, or when they start wars or hurt and kill people,  or destroy economies and work lives through predatory banking and shady investment practices, or ruin the environment through their greed and insensitivity – send them off  to some of the new Texas health clinics where they can get vasectomies and a few years of group therapy. Think how many lives that might save, and how much health that could promote.

It seemed to me that Wendy Davis,  who has known hard times, risen above them, and who is the living embodiment of the idea that right or wrong, women can control their own lives and make the right decisions for themselves.

I am sure it was not easy for Wendy Davis to stand on that floor for 13 hours while people challenged her and yelled at her. It was not easy for Maria, either, to choose to make her own kind of stand. We both avoid politics, in our lives and especially in our work. But sometimes you just have to stand up and say who you are, that is part of being authentic. That is not an easy thing for Maria to do. But now that I think of it, it wasn’t that hard either.  Can’t wait to see her Pink Sneaker Potholders.

Red’s busy day begins around dawn, we I tell him to keep the sheep away from us while we clean out the barn and brush the donkeys. He pretty much take it from there, locking the sheep in place with his very powerful gaze, holding his position until he is released. Then he meditates with me, then holes up in my office while I work and write. We herd the sheep again in the afternoon, have lunch with Maria,  do chores around town, take a walk, write and take photos, blog some, then he is on his own, he collapses in the living, room, gets up to follow me from room to room until it’s bedtime.