Cloudy With a Chance for Truth

As some of you know, I work at the library and we have a lot of interesting activities there from slam poetry for teens to book discussion groups and knitting at noon. One of my favorite groups is Digital Photography @ the Library in conjunction with the Harford County Photography Club. 

I'm really just an amateur photographer, but I do love doing it and whenever I can give time to my camera, I am energized. This month's theme is "reflections" and of course, I waited until the last moment to head out for some shots. 

I have been inspired by Ed Rybcynski's photographs over the last year as he trudged each day to the waterfront here in town to catch the sunrises. So, I decided to emulate him and got up on Saturday at 5:45. What is it about Saturday that makes 5:45 seem really early? I mean really early! Like any novice, the first thing I did was look outside through my bedroom window. Cloudy. Yuk. 

Might as well go back to bed. However, the dogs assumed we were all getting up, so by the time I had fed them yada yada yada, I figured I might as well take a chance. Maybe the sun would peek through all the same? 

Which is exactly what happened. While the rest of the city was shrouded in heavy cloud cover, the horizon had slits of open sky. It was just enough to capture a little light and a few "reflections." Beautiful time. 

But here's the point of all this. How many times do we stop short of an experience because of our expectations? How many times do we assume something will work out a particular way without giving the actual experience room to exist? We back away just when it could be getting good. We need to take some time to get closer to the subject, to break our routines, to look for the truth behind the clouds. 

Politics is like that too. We may have always voted for the same person at every election or even the same party. We may think we know a person, but really we're still looking at the surface, the cloud cover. Get closer. Ignore the forecast and observe more closely. 

The forecast is for heavy skies again tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that. But, I suggest walking down to the promenade anyway and while your at it, talk to our local politicians and ask them what really matters to them right now, not what they did before but what they want for the future of our city. 

We need some innovative ideas, some "out of the box" thinking as they say in the corporate world. Who do I endorse? The candidates who are willing to serve the community and take some creative risks. Show me what's behind the clouds. And I'll show you my support. 

Irmgarde Brown
Blogger, Writer, Librarian,
Follower of Christ
Facebook: irm.brown
Twitter: IrmBrown