Finding your way back

Lost…

…in Venice. Not a bad place to wander and roam aimlessly for a few days. Although, that's not entirely true. We had an aim. We always had a goal of finding a specific location. It's just that we never quite got to where we thought we were heading. Bright shiny object. Oh look, a gondola, just over that next bridge. 

It was nice to know that we weren't the only ones who found the lack of a grid or any obvious sign of a numbering system to be a bit, how shall I put it? Italian? At the end of every long alley, attached to every corner of every building is a small sign that says "San Marco" or "Rialto" with a single arrow pointing down yet another long alley, until you spot the next "San Marco" or "Rialto" sign… Bright shiny object. Cool! Look at all those Carnival masks in the window… Wait a minute, haven't we been in this piazza recently? I think we might be going in circles.

At some point during our trip, I stopped photographing the incredible scenes of Venice: the old buildings, the artistic displays of food, the narrow, crowded canals filled with lacquered black boats and their striped gondoliers, the gorgeous Italian women flaunting their long hair and high heels, holding their well-groomed dogs and expensive leather purses. Instead, I turned the camera to the wandering, map-reading tourists, of which I very much related and with whom I commiserated. They, the lost, the sore of foot, the English-only speaking tourist, just looking for their way back.

Some were by themselves. Maybe he lost his partner somewhere along the way?

Some were together, but by their body language, they were clearly "not together." We sat in the piazza drinking our bottle of wine (and reading our maps) and watched this couple try to orient for a good 20  minutes. She, studying the map furiously. He, assuming the arms-crossed, looking-away posture. 

This guy has to be Italian, or at least European. What's the give away? A cross-body bag and a cigarette.

Ahhh, the fold-up, Venice pocket map. Young eyes are a must to be able to read the font on this map. 

Besides sensible footwear and the confused, furrow-browed look of intense concentration, there are certain characteristics common to the lost tourist; a bag or backpack big enough to carry a bottle of water, crouched posture leaning over to see the map more clearly and the unfortunate habit of stopping in the middle of pedestrian traffic to stand and read a map.

I'm thinking this family has the best odds on getting to where they are intending to go. Mom's not sure, but this kid has confidence.

All things considered, I'd take lost in Venice on any given day.

Grand Canal

“By day it is filled with boat traffic - water buses, delivery boats, gondolas - if something floats and it's in Venice, it moves along the Grand Canal. And by daylight it is one of the glories of the Earth. But at night, especially when the moon is full and the soft illumination reflects off the water and onto the palaces - I don't know how to describe it so I won't, but if you died and in your will you asked for your ashes to be spread gently on the Grand Canal at midnight with a full moon, everyone would know this about you - you loved and understood beauty."
― William Goldman, The Silent Gondoliers

Tweed Indeed

Kansas City Tweed Ride 2013. It was a great morning for a ride and picnic. The BikeWalkKC group was fun to hang with today! KCTweedIndeed.Wordpress.com

At the beautiful Colonnade near Cliff Drive.

1937 Raleigh with original paint 

Wicker filled with baguettes, brie and a bottle of wine! (I wish that was MY bike!)

A stopping point on Cliff Drive, near St. John Avenue and Gladstone Blvd.

We stopped for a picnic at Scarritt Point.
There is a fantastic view of downtown KCMO from this hill.

Unrelated commonalities

Two completely unrelated photographs. Where is the connection? They were taken on the same day; is that enough to tie them together? The coloring is similar, but not exact. Light plays an important role in both pictures; in the first one, the sun is behind me and in the other the sun is to my right. The sun was setting on both of these shots. But, are those enough to relate the two pictures together?

Do these photographs share anything in common?

Both pictures show a journey. The cyclist is only seen in shadow. The viewer doesn't actually see who's on the bike, where he is headed, what he has seen on his ride or how many miles he has already travelled. The spider's web is also a journey, of sorts. The spider, like the cyclist, is out of view, but has been busy. How many times did he circle round and round? How long did he work at it? It's difficult to tell from the shot because there is no perspective, but the size of this web was about 2.5 square feet.

As I think more about these two photographs, it's the circles that connect them for me. The wheels with the spokes radiating out to the rim; and the fragile, thin silky thread, moving with the wind. Both of these photographs remind me of Kelly's and our family's journey over the past nine months. An exciting, wind-in-the-hair experience, but also hanging on by a thread at times.

Through the years, photographs with circular focus have collected in my albums, but I'd never tied them together before, until now. It's fun to pull them out into a group, and to remember where we were, what we were doing, why we were there... the journey for each picture.

Kelly left Afghanistan yesterday and is in Kuwait. The loop in this circle is almost completely closed up. I'm looking forward to some long bike rides in our future, ...and no more hanging on by a thread!