Let's Reframe: By Degrees

Love Letter to Compost

3/5/2021

 
Picture
Valentine's Day Roses, 2021 Photo by ERSwett
It's been
a strangely long
winter.
Picture
Brown Paper & Snow, 2021 Photo by ERSwett
And we've
had a lot of snow,
which, in fact, is the ideal
background for 
​compost.
Picture
Houseplants, 2021 Photo by ERSwett
Pruned
houseplants,
torn newspapers,
& banana peals
can make a
person's
day.
Picture
Snow Day, 2021 Photo by ERSwett
My
friend who
runs the local landfill
says that snow can hide many
sins. It can also make the edge of an
avocado peal or the crust
of stale bread come
to life.
Picture
Fennel & Lint, 2016 Photo by ERSwett
I was
curious what
images I had created
in past winters. This was the
only Compost Composition I saved
from February 2016. Doesn't the gray blue
dryer lint look cool with the cilantro
and rainbow chard stems,
banana peels &
snow?
Picture
Winter Citrus, February 2020 Photo by ERSwett
These
orange rinds,
Sodoku & snow with,
it seems, more dryer lint, feel
cheerful & strangely innocent. When
I created this in February of last year, I had no
idea what lay ahead, nor how grateful I
would be for quiet and beautiful
moments with compost
​and my camera.
Picture
Yellow Roses & Stuff, February 2021 Photo by ERSwett

Love Letter to 2020

2/14/2021

 
Picture
Goodbye SAT Prep, January 2020 Photo by ERSwett
At
some point
in 2020, I lost 
​my way.
Picture
Winter Citrus, February 2020 Photo by ERSwett
The
turmoil
went to my
head and to my
heart and I
​froze.
Picture
Late Winter Bouquet, March 2020 Photo by ERSwett
Thankfully,
though, the compost
pile beckoned.
Picture
Soup's On at Umpleby's, April 2020 Photo by ERSwett
The colors,
textures and yes,
the pungent odors kept
things real and reminded me of
the beauty of it all.
Picture
Good King Henry & The Valley News, May 2020 Photo by ERSwett
I am
grateful
for extended
time with my family
and with my
​thoughts.
Picture
Early Season Watermelon, June 2020 Photo by ERSwett
Light
emerged
on the other
side of dark, and
we just kept showing
up for each
other.
Picture
Mid-Summer Feast, July 2020 Photo by ERSwett
The
dailiness
of watermelon
& houseplants that
needed trimming invited
calm in the midst
of brewing
​storms.
Picture
Discarded Housevines, September 2020 Photo by ERSwett
And
I voted.
We voted.
​Hope.
Picture
I Voted, November 2020 Photo by ERSwett
And the
Christmas Cactus
bloomed at Thanksgiving
as it does every
​year.
Picture
Houseplants, Early December 2020 Photo by ERSwett
And
we finally
bid farewell to
my mother-in-law's
pressed leaves and rhyming
dictionary she used to
write holiday
​poems.
Picture
Post-Holiday Clean-up, December 2020 Photo by ERSwett
It was
a messy, smelly
and uncomfortable year,
but it will be impossible to forget
2020 and the good that
will emerge from
the all of
it.
Picture
New Year's Eve, 2020 Photo by ERSwett

Holding Steady, Standing Still

1/31/2021

 
Picture
Calvin on the Run, 2020 Photo by ERSwett
In 2021
I'm practicing
stillness.

Picture
Demitasse & Me, 2020 Photo by ERSwett
Is
standing
still in moving
water & the changing
light a place of
​stillness?

Picture
Wet Moccasins, Vermont 2020 Photo by ERSwett
Does
a photo
shoot in a
bog wearing
wet moccasins
cause me to
pause?
Picture
Hydrangea at the Landfill, 2020 Photo by ERSwett
If it weren't
for these moments 
from 2020, I would not
even be asking these
questions.
Picture
Golden Hour, Vermont 2020 Photo by ERSwett

Old Favorites

1/1/2021

 
Picture
Ageless, 2008 Photo by ERSwett
Lines
on a log in
late afternoon.
The same light gives
pink silk & lace
an orange
​hue.
Picture
Gram's Pink Dress, 2011 Photo by ERSwett
It is a
new year,
so I explore
my 'old favorites'
folder & find
color...
Picture
Water Colors, 2012 Photo by ERSwett
...& the
warming
power of orange
during dark
days.
Picture
Pollinator in Action, 2014 Photo by ERSwett
Pollinators will return.
Picture
Harvest, 2014 Photo by ERSwett
Cherry
tomatoes will
pop in my mouth during
harvest time.
Picture
Sunrise in Maine, 2014 Photo by ERSwett
The sun
will rise and set
and I will drink a toast
to you, for showing
up and caring.
Be well in
2021.
Picture
Toasting the Light, 2011 Photo by ERswett

Mixing it Up & Moving On

12/31/2020

 
Picture
Pam's Pressed Leaves, 2020 Photo by ERSwett
Pressed
leaves - - so
easy to collect &
so simple to
compost.
Picture
Pam's National Geographic Collection, 2020 Photo by ERSwett
National
Geographic, not
so much. Each year, eleven
pounds of images from around the world.
But last week, it was time for this collection of stories
and images to 
move on, to mix and mingle
with 
holiday wrappings ​and
​old bills.
Picture
Photographing the Photographs, 2020 Photo by ERSwett
​Our
children
did not plow
through them, as I
once did, and no library
wanted them. This 450 pound
collection was, in fact, a
burden from
another
era.
Picture
Goodbye, 2020 Photo by ERSwett
When
I returned from
the recycling center, I was
not surprised to experience an increased
flow of fresh air in my studio - -
The shelves, lighter and
more open, an
invitation.

Picture
Bread & The Rhyming Dictionary, 2020 Photo by ERSwett
We
were managing
the clutter we brought
home from my mother-in-law's
house, which we had cleared out three
years ago. It was time to say farewell to her pressed
leaves, National Geographics and her
dog-eared rhyming
dictionary.
Picture
The Rhyming Dictionary & How to Build a Better Vocabulary, 2020 Photo by ERSwett
The
compost
absorbed all
of it, including the 
expectations of creating
the perfect turn of phrase in a
gift card, thank you letter or speech
at the garden club. In our pile, the leaves
& this book will nourish new growth
in a new year & maybe even
inspire new ways of
thinking post
2020.
Picture
Composting Expectations, 2020 Photo by ERSwett
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