Curating Memories: Short Days and Long Nights
In the last two weeks, the clocks have turned back and the November rains have started. As I listen to the deluge of rain outside, I am reminded that only a week ago, we experienced one of the most memorable days of what has been a pretty glorious London autumn. Even Permanently Jet Lagged Husband who had just spent the last two weeks in Tokyo, Rio and New York and was home on weekend furlough before going to LA, eschewed a much cherished Saturday morning lie-in to come come with me to our local and newly established Primrose Hill Market. The air smelled too good and the light was too golden to stay in bed. And besides, I promised him a cup of fresh-brewed artisan coffee from one of the market stalls.
Last Saturday's market bounty.
In the past, I would have reluctantly bid farewell to the warmth and heady freedom of summer. But now with the short days and long nights, I am finding a certain comfort in the consistent rhythm in the change of seasons. When I was a little girl, I hated what I deemed to be the rather unfashionable raincoat and rubber boots that my mother made me wear to school on rainy days. I dreamed of a world where we could walk around with individual, independent weather systems, delivered to us through our own customised clouds — old fashioned-meteorological ones, that is. Now, I can’t think of anything worse. The joys and problems of the world, are larger than one person alone and meant to be experienced together. Without these shared common experiences, we would be without empathy. And a world without empathy is one that will have difficulties resolving its problems.
One of the most common topics of discussion which binds Londoners together is the mercurial weather shifts we experience on this island. My imaginary world would be much the poorer for this.
The bright side of cold, rainy days that turn dark before dinner is that the pressure to maximize time outside “enjoying the weather” is now off. The additional indoor time can be applied to other things like learning new skills. I decided to improve my image-making abilities. Since the beginning of October, I have been going to weekly Photoshop classes and last weekend, I attended a workshop in portrait photography. With both, Aristotle’s words “the more you know, the more you don’t know” keep resounding in my ears — I have a long road ahead. Never mind, I can now operate my camera in manual and can fully appreciate why I might want to. Small steps, as they say.
A collection of non-digital cameras in the workshop studio inspired us throughout the weekend to learn more about controlling the light.
No. 2 Son has been learning new things too as part of his gap year. As I have mentioned before, he is now a fully certified bartender and as of this Monday, an employed one as well! The benefits are obvious. He keeps making cocktails and testing them out on me. I have never been much of a cocktail drinker — typically too sweet for me — so in the past, I have steered away from them. He’s clearly been taught well because his drinks are delicious and make me wonder what I have been missing all these years. Looking forward to catching up and as I’ve never been able to drink before dark, it’s another good reason to welcome the shorter days.
Cheers and Happy Weekend.
N.B.: This post was originally published on My Contents Have Shifted.
What I can't shoot properly (indoor nighttime shots, for instance) is subjected to my ever increasing Photoshop skills, like these two Cosmopolitans, which were gharish in colour before undergoing surgery.
This brought a smile. We lived in Toronto for 5 years before moving to LA and I so miss my seasons.
Thanks Natalie. I have family in LA and so have spent a few Christmas’s there. It definitely takes a little getting used to. Then again in January, LA is a pretty good place to be. All the best, Xtine.
I love ‘My Contents have Shifted’. Your posts really resonate with me. Growing up in England and Ireland I am not fond of the long winter nights and mornings. I am happy to awaken to crisp, blue morning skies in New York, even though it is below zero outside. However each New York winter is beginning to take its toll, and I am dreaming of winters spent in Southern California or the most southern part of Spain (you should visit if you haven’t been yet). I too took my camera of manual, a year ago when I started my blog.… Read more »
Hi Paula. How nice of you to write in. And I love The Shopkeepers which I recently discovered on Instagram. Such a great idea — wish I had thought of it :). It looks like we love the same parts of the world as well as sharing a love for shopping. I grew up in New England and New York, have family in Southern California and adore the southern part of Spain, which has some of my most favourite cities in the world. I dream of spending 3 months a year in the Albaicin section of Granada. It would be… Read more »
lovely writing – I am going to have to try these gold protea in a woodland arrangement I am working on for an upcoming contest 🙂
or some gold painted something smaller… maybe thistle … ?? hmmmm
oh i forgot to click on the notify me button… 🙁
I am just starting with Lightroom, more for its cataloguing capacity than picture manipulation, though heaven knows I need both! Memories of my father’s darkroom.