Sunday, September 23, 2007

Intrusions in the Meditation Garden

Friday was one of those strange days. The first thing I saw when setting out for a brief walk was a claw. Looked to have been barbecued. When I picked it up, tho, it was merely a twig. Well, Halloween is around the corner, isn't it?

I was headed to the meditation garden over at the nearby church. A couple of days earlier, I had seen objects that didn't seem to fit exactly with a contemplative mood. It was time to photograph them, which had to take place up over that wall you see to the right, with the lens zoomed to telephoto position.

For instance, there was a flag tucked into the garden mulch. Turned out there were three little flags, one in a potted plant. I don't object to the flag per se, but somehow this doesn't seem the place for patriotic declarations. At least as I see it.

Item number two was a black fashion boot. Really, really out of place. I tried to picture how it got there -- not very meditative, for sure. When I walked around the upper perimeter for a better shot, lo and behold, both boots. From the comfort of my office, I can see that there's a hole in the sole of one. That's a somewhat better explanation than my first theory! Still a tacky gesture, though, throwing worn out boots into a serene garden.

This intrusion I'll allow. At first, I thought that a cement sculpture had been plopped down in one corner of the garden. Trying various angles, I discovered that the Siamese fellow was indeed alive. Now, examining the picture in greater detail, it seems that he was deliberately put in the garden. On a lavender leash. Guess he's the church cat.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello Julie,
I admire your talent for photography. In every post you place some amazing photos of your own. I have to resort mostly to "Wikipedia" for my choice of pictures and need my student Stefan's help to put them on the blog.
Congratulations to your snapshot of the "Siamese fellow" meditating. He seems to feel at home in that church yard.

Linda G. said...

It's the boots that most boggle me!

Granny J said...

Olivia -- you should get yourself a cheap digital camera and start taking a lot of pictures. It's fun and doesn't cost anything beyond a battery or two and, of course, your time. Do give it a try!

Brain -- Yeah, those were expensive, I'll bet!

pb said...

A serene feline is a perfect addition to prayer and contemplation.

St. Casimir's here in Elmira used to have a black kitty that turned up everywhere.

We loved Inky's visits to the sanctuary.

Anonymous said...

That's what I'll do, Julie. I'll get a cheap digital camera and start taking pictures. Then Stefan can show me how to get the best ones onto my blog. I'd like to show some personal pictures like you do. Thank you for your advice.

Granny J said...

pb -- Inky sounds like a fine cat. My Max cat, on the other hand, is far from serene.

Olivia -- good for you. You'll enjoy it -- and I, for one, would love to see pictures from your part of Germany.

meggie said...

I was curious about the cat! Cats are not usually serene outdoors? It seems strange that he/she was tethered there?
Lovely post. The boots were quite obscene in a way.
I agree about the flags.

Granny J said...

Meggie -- the Max cat assumes a similar pose often when he's outdoors, waiting for something interesting to come his way. It's all a part of that 18-20 hours per day of "sleeping" that cats do.

Lucy said...

Way too many wonders to catch up on since I was last here to comment on all, newborn horney toads and mountain mahoganies stand out!
Siamese are a little bit different from other cats aren't they? They seem to tolerate leashes better than most.

Granny J said...

Lucy -- welcome back from your wonderful exhibition. As for cats -- my Siamese mutt Max was trained to the leash as a little kitten and I still put him on a leash when he visits the vet. On the other hand, he never, never was willing to walk along with me -- although now, unfettered, he will follow as I start out on a walk. Fortunately, he sticks very close to his home turf.

Anonymous said...

REALLY!?!?!? First of all you need to get a real job so you can save up for a nice camera and also, what the ______ are you trying to take pictures of? If you are going to take pictures of things that aren't interesting in any way possible, at least use some kind of angle, instead of just standing, pointing, and pressing the camera button.
zachary

 
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