Day 2

“A picture is worth more than a blank page.  Take out those dusty photo albums.  Pick out photo #14.  Count however way you like, but make sure you stop at photo #14.  Look at the photo for 2-3 minutes.  Then for 10 minutes, write all the feelings that photograph made you feel.  Don’t censor yourself.  Just write.”

Let me just start this entry saying that looking at this photo made me giggle the minute I looked at it.  I had to go through a couple of different albums to find a picture I could (or wanted to) talk about.  Ultimately I came across a photo that just tells a story in my mind, which is ultimately what a picture is supposed to do, so it’s at the end of this entry for your viewing pleasure.

For a birthday a few years back, another friend had told me about a winter wine festival taking place in Sonoma County the very weekend of my birthday.  Because my birthday is in January, it’s typically colder than…well…anything I’d care to imagine, so we’ll just leave it at it’s usually REALLY cold.  That being said, this was my first winter in California where seasons don’t seem to work the same way as the rest of the world.  Wine country can get to the lower 90’s during the daytime and the evenings are cool and wonderful.  In other words, it’s pretty much heaven for someone like me because it stays like that all year round and you’re “forced” to explore the vine-covered countryside to look for your next tasting room.  I…er…hate when that happens?

In order to get back to the exercise at hand, I felt I needed to share a little back story about how this photo transpired.  The photo itself is of my two girlfriends—empty wine glass in hand—while posing for the camera after multiple tasting rooms.  I remember thinking (after multiple samples myself) how beautiful wine country really is.  Don’t get me wrong, another favorite place of mine from my childhood also revolves around vineyards, though not because of the wine itself, so I knew the power and beauty these kinds of places held on me.  But having wine IN wine country really completed the whole transcendental experience for me.  I was home, so I wanted to share this moment by capturing my two girls in this photo.

Another thing that comes to mind when looking at this photo is the love I have for these two women.  Emily, the one of the left, has had multiple personal issues in the past.  After taking control of those, she’s one of those who somehow decided not only to conquer them but then to set out for a course in life that couldn’t possibly lead to riches, but rather give her the satisfaction that she’s helping special needs children try to come to grip with their own personal demons.  She’s an inspiration to me for finding something that works for her and sticking with it, which shown me that you’re the only one who can live your own life and no one is going to tell you how to do it otherwise.

My other friend, Seda, is also an amazing role model/friend of mine.  She left her native Turkey for college and then grad school in the States, found a guy who has proved that he’ll travel the world to be with her, and has ultimately moved back to Turkey so she can be closer to her elderly grandparents while she still has the opportunity.  Here I am worrying about these little, meaningless things in my life when I have friends around me that take like by the horns and ride off into the sunset looking for the next adventure.  I want to join them.



Emily and Seda in Sonoma County