Opal Reflections
Perspectives through Prose, Poetry and Photography
Finding Clarity
Finding Clarity
I pause to think, to calm reflect, to know,
That days long gone did mold us through the years,
Now that the water’s still, reflection shows.
Wisps of whispers o’er mind’s caverns show,
The lessons of my life I should not fear,
I pause to think, to calm reflect, to know.
Filled phantasmic dreams’ ethereal glow,
In blessing we are blessed to love and share,
Now that the water’s still, reflection shows.
We met that schoolyard day so long ago,
We learned together, joys and losses bear,
To pause, to think, to calm reflect, to know.
When running waters ripple, eddies flow,
So often we can’t read the message there,
Now that the water’s still, reflection shows.
These visions keep me grounded as I go,
Deep clarity returns with passing years,
I pause to think, to calm reflect, to know,
Now that the water’s still, reflection shows.
(Inspired by Light and Shade Challenge, April 15, 2015)
Before the Dawn
I have always been an early bird, creeping out of vacation hotel rooms to avoid waking the family, camera case slung over my shoulder and flip-flops tucked under my arm. I cannot miss the sunrise. I know that the most beautiful moments are fleeting and often are on display before the sun rises up, as if from out of the ocean.
This photograph, however, was taken from the balcony of our room at Bacara in Santa Barbara. I didn’t have time to race down to the beach, and rather than miss the already-rising sun, I shot it from where we stood in our bathrobes, sipping coffee. Shooting directly into the sun does not usually produce a great result, but this shot captures the silent, soaring, solitude of that morning. I can only imagine how lovely it would have been on the beach, but at least I have the memory of that stupendous morning, captured forever.
It is said that when we share a bottle of wine our memories of the wine cannot help but be colored by the sensory recollections from the moment. Photographs are the same, to me. I look at this photograph and I remember the morning in exquisite detail; the nip in the clean air, the walk down to our al fresco breakfast overlooking the gardens, the stroll along the beach afterwards, and most of all, our shared joy as we planned the next phase in our life.
This is not my most beautiful ‘sunrise’ photograph, but I see it through the filter of my vivid, sensory recollections of that lovely morning.
Sculpted Sand
Dry
Parched, Scorched
Thirsting, Dehydrating, Cracking
Sun, Ray, Water, Wave
Rippling, Rushing, Refreshing
Cool, Clear
Wet
*****
Photo Friday: Wet
An Engineer’s Journal: April, 1978… “Tuning My Piano”
April, 2, 1978
Today, is the first day of work in Nutley!
To disregard history is to risk repeating its mistakes, so I glance in my rear-view mirror for a moment, remembering the day three years ago, when I began my tenure at another Pharmaceutical company, as the Project Engineer for the reconstruction of a pilot plant that had been catastrophically destroyed several years earlier. I was enthused, not only about joining the company on a lovely campus where my Mom was a lab technician, but also about embarking on what I expected would be, a fertile career opportunity. It did not disappoint.
*****
It was a dream job, with friendly colleagues and opportunity for professional and personal growth, until I hit a bump in the road. The newly-designated Director of Engineering dispatched from Basel to New Jersey to ride herd on the engineering group, saw me as a novelty – a nuisance, who was not to be taken seriously. This came to a head when I applied for a next-level, posted position. Based on the stated prerequisites, I was a viable, qualified candidate, and I reasoned that there could be no downside to exhibiting initiative and self-confidence, even if I didn’t get the position.
After several weeks of silence, I met with the Director to discuss the status of my application. He smiled and, with an air of undisguised dismissiveness, said that he thought it was a joke and that I could not possibly have been serious. His parting words suggested that I offer my services to a garden club. Armed with my outrage and the employee handbook, I went to HR. Sadly, this only served to enhance his stature and diminish mine (politically-correct policies notwithstanding). I was disappointed but refusing to be a victim, I turned my sights towards a new day and a new environment where my contributions and talents would be valued, rather than denigrated.
*****
Today is that new day, the first day of work in Nutley!
I may be going from the frying pan into the fire, leaving one Swiss Pharmaceutical company for another, but I am impressed with Richard, my new boss, and my gut is telling me that this will be a life-changing experience. I’m in a positive frame of mind and believe that anything is possible. My featured article, “Controlling Construction Costs” in Chemical Engineering, was well-received and once I successfully navigate the EIT, I’ll be on my way towards earning my Professional Engineer’s License.
I pause at the mirror, staring at the woman in her skirted-suit and blue silk blouse (Malloy’s, “Dress For Success” followed to the letter). Who is she? She is a young woman, wife and mother of two (her true and heartfelt vocation) tackling the challenges of being a woman engineer in 1978. She whispers that I’ve chosen the right path for my family, albeit a less-traveled path; pushing aside prickly brambles and stomping on decades of overgrown underbrush.
It’s akin to tuning my piano, note by note, tone by tone, moving up and down the keyboard of life, attempting to harmonize with adjacent notes and distant octaves. Hammers striking strings, loosened and tightened to match the reverberating tone of the tuning fork; repeat the insistent crescendo of grating sound, until suddenly, the brilliant clarity of perfect pitch rings out.
****
This anecdote is recounted from the scribbled, yellowed pages of my hand-written journals, and the indelible memories of these events, so long ago.
In Vino Veritas
The television screen appears to be suspended, as if “afloat” in my crystal goblet. In truth, world events are a bit easier to take, when viewed through the softening prism of a glass of my favorite Cabernet.
Buildings
Buildings, sparkling, bask in setting light,
Seem cold, unliving, as they stand upright.Whilst deep within live hidden trials of souls,
Ten thousand-fold, their stories seldom told.Behind the glaziers’ walls, hide deepest fears,
Enjoining business mates ‘neath masks of cheer.Until return to shield of home lights burning,
Mask removed, unveiling doubts and yearnings.Tomorrow, bound again for sky-scraped cell,
Re-donning steely mask, to frailty quell.*****
Photo Friday: Buildings
Masque Macabre
He hangs ‘mid relics borne of eons past,
Not clown, but macabre monster might he be,
For ‘neath the fearful fangs and horned masque,
True countenance, though hidden well, we see.
Photo Friday: Intense
Ephemeral
Pausing for a second at the door,
Out corner of my eye, motion in the snow,
I stay to watch, foregoing busy chores,
The foraging of fawns and bucks and doe.
Bearing silent witness to their show
at times, I’m blessed to catch a glimpse, unseen,
My Holly bush will (none the worse) still grow,
And their nib-nibblings won’t the shrub demean.
This forest denizen has been
through something, I cannot begin to know,
A lonely antler growing strong and lean,
Perhaps the other lost to stronger foe.
Ephemeral though, my opportunity,
A moment more, and they’ll in transit be.
*****
Written in response to The Weekly Photo Challenge:Ephemeral.
Other entries in this challenge can be found at the follow link – https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/ephemeral/
Lighthouse in the Mist, Cape May, NJ
Bandit
Festive View from the Pub, Peddler’s Village – Lahaska, PA.
Home Sweet Home
Opal Reflections 