My friend and much loved companion passed away in the early hours of today(( 07:02:2019 ), 11 years and 3 months old. 25.10.2007

No doubt she is running around in grass chasing butterflies , able to see again, somewhere.

Collagraph on 300 gsm Snowden with oil-based relief printing inks and unison colour soft pastels.

 

thebarebones2017.wordpress.com/2017/09/11/rip-current/

catching-up

Not the best pic, but brin was pretty cute ripsticking to the icecream store with the rest of the family. Need a video...

Uploaded with the Flock Browser

I named it the Disappearing Barn when I first photographed it due to all the vine and brush coverage, but now it really has disappeared. The snow and ice this winter was a bit too much for it... Previous photos were taken August 18, 2017 and uploaded September 2nd. It was quite a barn.

miss ya man.

An MRL extra carrying rip rap from Bradley to Hope bridges the Clark Fork River at Bonner, MT.

Pražská vyhlídka

A sad moment in history captured on a poor quality image taken from the TV

RIP little guy. RMANWR personnel have determined that this family of burrowing owls has lost the parents to likely predation. It sure was fun to see the work and attention to family these owls provided us all.

RIP Nicky Hayden The Kentucky Kid 1981-2017 You will be sadly missed by us all

RIP Jeff Beck

Like every annoying "Thursday"

Considering it as the beginning of the weekend

 

The hours of that day are jammed and the streets are crowded with cars

And I plead my mom to go somewhere to amuse myself.

 

How I wonder "Do I have the right to entertain myself???" huh!

 

But this Thursday wasn't like any other Thursday

My heart was "swaddled" ,like we say in Damascus

And it's an expression that implies fear or unease of a disturbing matter, whether it was a known or not!!

 

For me ,everything was unknown that day.

 

All I know is that I was on my way to my friend's house, Rawan

And I would be going out with Aya and a group of friends after my quick visit to Rawan's.

 

And suddenly I receive a message from a friend saying "All right Amal, you haven't told me whether to come or not"

She and her mother were supposed to visit us

And I was thinking about how to organize all these arrangements in the same evening. The end of that evening was six hours away.

Oh, Goodness

 

Suddenly , with all the confusion

One of my friends at school, Bana, called me

I knew she was going to call because we were on undetermined agreement to visit our other friend…

….not at home

But in the hospital

 

I was so worried to return to a place like that…again

Hospitals were one memory related to the death of my grand father.

Yes…I was scared..

Even though I am stronger than fear that paralyzes the human emotions when going into the "hospital of death".

 

Sorry, I mean…cancer treating hospital.

 

I know, I'm not allowed to dub it "hospital of death"

But "death" is kinder than "pain and suffering"

 

I won't speak for long

Let me go on….

 

We looked up the name of "Asmaa'" in the patients' records

So we can reach her.

The employee told us she was in the intensive care unit, second floor.

My heart beats were speeding up

While our steps were slowing down

Of the moments of this evening were frustrating

  

The strong feeling that we had before is coming back

 

How I hate to see a person who was safe and sound, yesterday

Like me and you!

All of a sudden, lies on a white bed…

Looks like the bed of "death"

 

When you enter his room you only hear the sound of his breath and his groans

The sound of the meter of heart pulse

Pressure, and oxygen

 

How bothering for me to see someone breathing with artificial respiration

You can see the wires in front of it and behind it

"May God be with her family"

 

She smiled when she knew me

And said to me :"Amal, call my mom, I need my mom, ask her to come! Amal،, please call my mom!

I said :"ok…can you please give me the number?"

I called her mother

And told her that Bana and me are in the hospital visiting Asmaa', and that Asmaa' wants her to come

Her mother replied: "What can I do for her….no one stays with her, anyway"

I said: "but Asmaa' is so upset and she wants you to be with her! She needs you now

She-feeling less- replied to me :"I'll pray then try to come"

She said it like as if she was coming just because it's her duty, not because she wants to.

I hung up

and I started to feel like crying

a strong feeling

how I controlled myself just to avoid this weakness

but the response was cruel

is that the heart of a mother gave birth to her?

Or are there other parents who don't feel anything towards their children, too?

"May God help you, Asmaa'"

I got back to Asmaa' and told her that her mother is coming, and won't be late !"

Bana was trying to give Asmaa' faith, and improve her self-esteem, and her trust in God.

Asmaa' was interrupting , and asking: "how is the breathing meter?"

Bana :"99, don't worry"

Asmaa: "the heart….??"

Bana : "don't worry, everything is ok"

Asmaa: "I'm hungry"

Bana: "ok we'll get you some food"

Asmaa: "..but I want my mom"

I didn't know what to do

I kept quiet

But….

Tears of pain and Oppression burnt me

This is the pain

This is the examination of human faith

Oh, Allah

How hard it is for me to remember and imagine that room

She wanted to go back to school

She wanted to get out of this place

She wanted her mom!

She wants to study

She was worried about her death

She was asking for life!

I remembered to ask her about an important thing

-Me: "Asmaa, are you praying?"

-Asmaa: "no"

-Me :" Why? The most important thing now is praying, so God can hear our prayers, and stay with us, if no one could"

-Asmaa: "I don't know how to pray"

-Me: "Asmaa, I know that you know how to pray, don't fool around"

-Asmaa : "I swear I don't know how to pray!"

  

I was shocked

 

Not for her answer

I know she knows how to pray

And she is kind of conservative

But she was in kind of unconsciousness

She forgot how to pray

 

Bana started to remind her how to pray

We told her to pray everytime she felt upset

God is with you

Now we're with you, but we aren't going to be in a while

Ask God to give you his mercy

 

Asmaa' started to calm down

But she didn't stop asking for calling her mother

Where's she ???God….

I'm not going to call again

Her cruel words were more painful than seeing Asmaa' in this situation"

The time is now beyond prayer time

Why did she bring her to life if she wasn't able to stay with her till the end of life?

Why did she give birth to her if she doesn't have a bit of tenderness or compassion?

Is this the modern mother?

Or she used to treat her like "animals"?

Excuse me, but the feeling hurts

I swear, if she had a cat or a dog, she would've been compassionate towards it when it's sick!

 

But…

 

Every emotion, and every word freezes in front of these sad conditions

Of course, my mobile wouldn't stop ringing all this time

Aya, Rawan, Sarah….and another group of friends

They didn't stop calling to check up on her and being urgent about not getting late

But I was in a Deplorable mental condition

I remembered my grand father, I remembered death

Remembered every pain I went through

I got out of the intensive care unit

There was a family in the waiting room, and Bana's sister was waiting for us, too.

I couldn't help it

I cried

I felt the pain

Few seconds after that I heard the crying of two women were in the same room

And…. Bana's sister

How hard is to remember that situation

I remembered that…..that…Bana told me that her mom died because of this illness

And ..Bana is the oldest of her 5 siblings

And that she is responsible of them

And her aim is to study a major which is related to cancer and curing it's Patients and to know the secrets of this disease, maybe someday she'll discover the curative!

Because she suffered a lot

And it was hard for her to see someone goes through the same suffering

But she was stronger than me

She didn't cry

She strengthened her self

Faith was everything Bana held on to…

How I loved this power

Maybe god gave her the power to survive after the death of her mother

God gave her strength to stay "happy" even though she has lost her most precious person

After my visit to Asmaa'

I understood the meaning of Well-being

good health….

Destiny…!

Prayer!

Faith…!

Thanks God for the blessings that a lot of people were forbidden of…

I promised myself I would be more faithful

Closer to God

More satisfied with what's meant to be….

This is God's judgment

There's nothing we can do but believing in God and counting on his almighty power.

Finally : I'm sorry if I brought back bad memories to anybody or upset anyone by describing this condition.

Forgive me for the prolonging

Written on : Friday, April 10, 2009 at 8:02am

 

To complete this sad story !

I wanted to tell you the end

The girls were calling me to see who is going to visit Asmaa' today

After a few calls

Bana called me and said : "Amal, don't go!!"

After a few silent minutes I said : "…..when???"

She replied: "today",

Me: Shocked!

 

Bana: I dialed the phone number of her house

Her brother answered the phone and said : "she died today…", and he cried

 

The end

 

Plead to God to give her His mercy and forgiveness

Written on : Thursday, April 23, 2009 at 8:02am

 

Special thanks for my friend: Yasmin Hawat. the translator

___

 

ككل أيام "الخميس" المزعجة ..

باعتبارها بداية العطله الاسبوعيه ..

 

تزدحم ساعات هذا اليوم و تكتظ بالشوارع السيارات!

و أتوسل إلى أمي، للذهاب إلى مكان ما ترفيهاً عن نفسي!

 

و كم أتسائل " هل يحق لي أن ارفّه عن نفسي؟" هه!

 

أما هذا الخميس فلم يكن كأي خميس سابق ..

 

كان "قلبي ئامطني" كما نقول في الشام ..

و هو تعبير يدل على خوف أو قلق من شيء ما يزعج، مجهول كان أم معلوم!

 

أما أنا فكانت كل الأشياء مجهولة بالنسبه لي في هذا اليوم ..

 

كل ما أعلمه أنني كنت ذاهبة إلى منزل صديقتي روان ..

و سوف أخرج مع آية بعد زيارتي السريعه لروان ..

و كان من المخطط أن أخرج مع مجموعه من الاصدقاء بعد زيارتي لآيه ..

و تفاجئت برسالة قصيرة تقول "ماشي يا أمل ما رديتيلي خبر اجي ولا لأ؟"

من صديقة كان الاتفاق أن تأتي هي و والدتها لزيارتنا ..

و كنت أنا أفكر بكيفية تنظيم كل هذه المواعيد في مساء واحد تقل عدد ساعاته عن ستة ساعات!

يا إلهي ..

 

فجأة و مع كل هذه الأمور المتداخلة ..

اتصلت بي "بانة" أحد صديقاتي في المدرسه ..

كنت أعلم أنها تتصل بي .. لأننا على موعد غير محدد لزيارة زميلتنا في المدرسه ..

زيارتها .. و لكن ليس في بيتها ..

زيارتها في "المستشفى" ..

 

كَم كُنْتٌ قلقة لدخول مكان كهذا مرة أخرى ..

فإن المستشفيات في ذكرياتي، غالباً ما ترتبط بذكرى رحيل جدي المرحوم ..

 

كنت خائفة، أجل ..

مع أنني أقوى من الخوف الذي يتملك مشاعر الإنسان عند دخوله لمستشفى "الموت"

 

أقصد ..

مستشفى "علاج السرطان"!

 

أعلم أنه، لا حق لي بـ نعته "مستشفى الموت" ..

  

لكن كلمة "الموت" أرحم من العذاب و الألم في مستشفى كهذا!

 

لن أطيل الحديث ..

دعوني أكمل لكم ما حدث ..

 

سألنا عن "أسماء" في سجل المرضى في المستشفى لنتمكن من الوصول إليها ..

قال لنا المسؤول: إنها في غرفة العناية. الطابق الثاني

 

بدأت دقات قلبي بالتسارع ..

خطواتنا كانت بطيئة ..

دقائق هذا المساء كانت مزعجة ..

 

الاحساس القوي الذي نكرهه يتجدد ..

كم أكره رؤية إنسان كان بصحته و عافيته في الأمس ..

مثلي و مثلكم!

و فجأة يتسَطَحٌ على فراش أبيض ..

شبيه بفراش "الموت" ..

 

عند دخولك غرفته لا تسمع سوى صوت تنفسه و آهاته ..

و صوت جهاز القلب

و الضغط

و الاكسجين ..

 

و كم يزعجني! أن أرى مجدداً أحدهم يتنفس بـ"المنفسة الاصطناعية"!

 

و ترى الأسلاك و الشرائط الممدة عليه و من أمامه و من خلفه ..

"كان الله في عونهم" ..

  

ابتسمت عندما عرفتني ..

قالت لي:

أمل .. اتصلي بماما .. بدي ماما .. قوليلها تجي! أمل الله يخليكي اتصلي بماما!

 

قلت لها:

حاضر .. عطيني الرقم

 

ذهبت و اتصلت بها ..

 

حييّت والدتها و أخبرتها أنني و بانة في المستشفى عند أسماء لزيارتها ..

و أن أسماء تطلب منها أن تأتي ..

 

قالت لي: و أنا شو بعمللها .. أصلاً ما في حدا بيقعد عندها ..

 

قلت: بس أسماء كتير متدايقه و بدها ياكي تكوني معها! هي بحاجتك هلأ

 

قالت لي بكل برود: سأصلي المغرب و أحاول المجيئ ..

 

"و كأنها زيارة رفع عتب"

 

أغلقت السماعة ..

و بدأت أشعر بـ رغبة بالبكاء ..

رغبة ملحة ..

كم تمالكت نفسي في مواقف كثيرة لأتجنب هذا الضعف ..

 

لكن الرد كان قاسي!

هل هذا قلب أم أنجبتها؟

أم هناك من تحَجَر قلبهم على أبنائهم أيضاً ..

 

"كان الله في عونكِ يا أسماء .."

 

رجعت إلى أسماء و طمئنتها بأن والدتها قادمة و لن تتأخر!

 

كانت بانة تحاول أن تثبت إيمان أسماء و تقوي لها الثقة بنفسها و بالله تعالى ..

و كانت تقاطعها أسماء و هي تسأل ..

 

اسماء: كم جهاز التنفس؟

بانة: 99 اطمني ..

 

اسماء: القلب؟

بانة: ماشالله عليكي مافيكي شي لا تقلقي كل قراءات الأجهزة ممتازة و عين الله عليكي

 

اسماء: طيب أنا جوعانه

بانة: يلا رح نطلبلك الأكل ..

 

اسماء: بس أنا بدي ماما!

 

لم أكن أعلم ما يجب علي فعله ..

التزمت الصمت ..

  

لكن،

 

أحرقتني دموع ألم و قهر لحالتها المؤلمة!

هذا هو الألم!

هذا هو القهر!

هذا هو اختبار إيمان العبد ..

هذا هو البلاء ..

 

ياااا الله ..

 

كم يصعب علي تذكر و تَصَوُرَ هذه الغرفة ..

 

كانت تطلب أن تعود إلى المدرسه ..

تريد أن تخرج من ذاك المكان ..

تريد أمها!

تريد أن تدرس ..

 

كانت قلقة بشأن موتها ..

كانت تطلب الحياة!

 

تذكرت أن أسألها شيء هام ..

 

أنا: أسماء عم تصلي؟

أسماء: لأ

أنا: ليش؟ أهم شي هلأ انو نصلي مشان الله يستجيب لدعائنا و يضل معنا إذا ما كان حدا بيقدر يضل معنا!

أسماء: ما بعرف صلي!

أنا: أسماء .. بعرف انك بتعرفي تصلي لا تمزحي هلأ

أسماء: و الله ما عم امزح! ما بعرف صلي!

 

صعقت! ..

 

ليس لجوابها ..

أعلم أنها تعرف كيفية الصلاة ..

و أنها من النوع المحافظ تقريباً ..

و لكنها في حالة فقدان وعي خفيفة ..

أنستها الصلاة ..

 

بدأت بانة بتذكيرها بكيفية الصلاة ..

علمناها التيمم ..

قلنا لها صلّي كلما شعرت بالضيق ..

إن الله معك ..

 

نحن الآن معك و بعد قليل لن نكون معك ..

اطلبي العافية من الله و اسأليه اللطف في حالك ..

 

بدأت أسماء بالاسترخاء شيئاً فشيئاً ..

لكنها لم تكف عن طلب الاتصال بوالدتها!

 

أين هي .. يا الله!

لن أتصل مرة أخرى ..

كلامها القاسي كان أشد ألماً من رؤية أسماء على هذا الحال!

 

لقد مضى على أذان المغرب فترة لا بأس بها ..

لماذا أنجبتها إذا لم تكن قادرة على البقاء معها لنهاية العمر؟!

لماذا أنجبتها إذا كان قلبها لا يحمل ذرة عطف أو حنان؟

 

هل هذه هي الأم الحديثه؟

أم أنها اعتادت على معاملتها كالـ"حيوانات"!

 

اعذروني! فالإحساس أليم ..

و الله لو كانت تقوم على تربية قطة أو كلب،

لأشفق قلبها و حنت عليه عند مرضه!

 

لكن سبحان الله ..

 

تتبلد جميع المشاعر ..

و تتجمد كل الكلمات ..

أمام هذه المواقف الحزينة ..

 

طبعاً، لم يكن لهاتفي المحمول بأن يصمت كل هذه الفترة!

آية، روان، سارة .. و مجموعة اصدقاء أخرى ..

لم يكفوا عن الاتصال و الاطمئنان و الإلحاح على عدم التأخير و "خلصينا" ..

 

لكنني كنت في حالة عصف ذهني يرثى لها،

تذكرت جدي، تذكرت الموت ..

تذكرت كل ألم رأيته ..

 

خرجت من غرفة العناية ..

كانت هناك عائلة في غرفة الانتظار و كانت أخت بانة تنتظرنا أيضاً ..

لم أستطع أن أتمالك نفسي أمام الناس ..

بكيت ..

تألمت ..

و ما هي لحظات إلا و سمعت صوت بكاء اثنتان من النساء المتواجدات ..

و ..

 

أخت بانة ..

 

كم صعب علي هذا الموقف ..

لقد تذكرت أن ..

أن ..

بانة قد أخبرتني ..

بأن والدتها ..

 

توفّت بسبب هذا المرض ..

!!

 

و أنها هي أكبر إخوتها الخمس ..

و أنها من يتحمل مسؤوليتهم ..

 

و أنها تطمح لدراسة اختصاصاً يساعدها لاكتشاف أسرار هذا المرض علّها تجد علاجاً له ..

لأنها تألمت كثيراً ..

و كان من الصعب عليها أن ترى أحداً ما يتألم نفس الألم ..

 

لكنها كانت أقوى مني ..

لم تبكِ ..

تماسكت ..

كان الإيمان كل ما تمسكت به بانة!

كم أحببت هذه القوة ..

ربما وهبها الله قوة لتستطيع أن تحيا بعد رحيل والدتها المرحومة ..

وهبها القدرة على البقاء "سعيدة" رغم فقد أقرب الناس إليها! ..

 

يا الله .. تذكرت أحد الأدعية التي كانت تتبع سورة "يوسف" في أحد تسجيلات القرآن التي أمتلكها ..

  

"

اللّهم اهدِنا فيمَن هَديْت و عافِنا فيمَن عافيْت و تَوَلَّنا فيمَن تَوَلَّيْت و بارِك لَنا فيما أَعْطَيْت و قِنا واصْرِف عَنَّا شَرَّ ما قَضَيت سُبحانَك تَقضي ولا يُقضى عَليك انَّهُ لا يَذِّلُّ مَن والَيت وَلا يَعِزُّ من عادَيت تَبارَكْتَ رَبَّنا وَتَعالَيْت فَلَكَ الحَمدُ يا الله عَلى ما قَضَيْت وَلَكَ الشُّكرُ عَلى ما أَنْعَمتَ بِهِ عَلَينا وَأَوْلَيت نَستَغفِرُكَ يا رَبَّنا مِن جمَيعِ الذُّنوبِ والخَطايا ونَتوبُ اليك وَنُؤمِنُ بِكَ ونَتَوَكَّلُ عَليك

 

"

 

بعد زيارتي لأسماء، بدأت أشعر بكل كلمة في الدعاء ..

شعرت بمعنى العافية ..

الصحة ..

القضاء ..

القدر! ..

 

الصلاة!!!!

 

الإيمان ..

و حمد الله على نعمه التي حرَم منها كثيراً من الناس ..

 

قطعت على نفسي عهداً،

بأن أكون أكثر إيماناً ..

أكثر قرباً من الله ..

 

أكثر رضىً بما قدّر لي و كتَب جل و على ..

 

أكثر يقيناً بأنه كما قال الرسول صلى الله عليه و آله و صحبه و سلم:

 

" يا غلام , إني أعلمك كلمات : احفظ الله يحفظك , احفظ الله تجده تجاهك , إذا سألت فاسأل الله وإذا استعنت فاستعن بالله , واعلم أن الأمة لو اجتمعت على أن ينفعوك بشيء لم ينفعوك إلا بشيء قد كتبه الله لك , وإن اجتمعوا على أن يضروك بشيء لم يضروك إلا بشيء قد كتبه الله عليك , رفعت الأقلام وجفت الصحف "

 

رواه الترمذي

  

فهذا هو قضاء الله و قدره ..

و كل ما نستطيع فعله هو الإيمان به و التوكل عليه ..

 

و أخيراً و ليس آخرا: أعتذر إن كنت سبباً في إحياء ذكرى سيئة لأحدكم أو إزعاجه بوصفي لهذه الحالة.

السموحة على الإطاله ..

 

كتب في:

Friday, April 10, 2009 at 8:02am

 

____________________________

  

من باب تكملة القصة الأليمة! ..

حبيت قلكن النهاية ..

 

..

كانو عم يتصلو فيني البنات ليشوفو مين طالع لعند أسماء اليوم .....

و بعد كذا مكالمه،

 

اتصلت فيني بانة ..

 

قالتلي ..

 

أمل لا تروحي!!!

 

سكتت ..

 

قلتلها ...........

 

ايمتى؟

 

قالت ..

 

اليوم ..

 

اتصلت ع بيتها ..

 

قالي اخوها انو "توفت" اليوم ..

و بكى ..

 

..

انتهى

..

 

ادعولها بالرحمة و المغفرة ..

 

قال عليه الصلاة و السلام:

"

استغفروا لأخيكم و سلوا له التثبيت، فإنه الآن يسأل

"

   

كتب في:

Thursday, April 23, 2009 at 4:02pm

 

**** سامحوني إذا كنت غلطت بحق أهلها لـ أسماء!

ما كنت بقصد الإساءة ولا تشويه السمعه

 

بس اللي أنا شفتو و سمعتو و عشتو ..

ما قال لي غير اللي كتبتلكن ياه ..

و اتأكدو من صدق كل كلمه انحكت

This barn, which I have posted in various seasons, had disappeared when I last drove by in the fall. It may have been one of the many victims of the heavy snow Thanksgiving blizzard.

An old church cemetery in Little Britain, ON.

Canada is relatively new so this is considered old seeing tombstones from 1860 of two little children.

 

Fotografia tomada con una Olimpus OM 10, Negativo digitalizado

Ripset

I didn't know him at all, and was probably seen by him as another asshole from flickr, but to me, he was god of legos.

 

I literally saw no one better then him at creating new, original MOCs that used unconvential shapes and techniques. He consistantly wowed so often that i would simply glance at his thumbnail of one of his weekly MOCs and just assume it was amazing.

 

My heart goes out to his family.

 

This site and our little community, no doubt the world is a lesser place without him.

   

Scotland

rip

RIP Gordon Lightfoot

I know times are changing

It's time we all reach out

For something new

 

rip prince

 

Today, Elaine's father lost to COPD.

nice rear view, ripped and dense!!

rip

reposting an insanely great american icon.... 5Oct2011

online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304447804576410753...

WWW.RICHZOELLERPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

Sad sad night.

 

This is Yow Ling, my mom's new kitten. He was tragically killed by a bobcat tonight. He somehow got out of the garage at my mom's home in Carefree and disappeared. My mom realized he was gone within 30 seconds of his disappearance but it was too late. She called me at 11PM and asked for me to drive up and help try to find him.

 

When I got there, I stared searching a wash that runs through the property and spotted a pair of eyes. At first I thought this was Yow Ling, but after trying to get close I realized it was the neighborhood bobcat. I kept searching the area until I came upon Yow Ling's little body on the ground. It was an awful sight, he was bloody, broken, and covered in ants.

 

The poor little fella. I buried him in the backyard while my mom wailed -- this is the 2nd kitten of her's in a year that has sneaked out and fell prey to the desert predators. Years ago my Siamese that I had since 2nd grade got out and never returned. Damn desert -- sure is pretty, but has a really thorny side...

 

This picture was taken yesterday when he was playing with his best friend, my cat Milo. Makes me tear up just looking at him. He was a special little guy and I'm really going to miss him.

The famous Terlingua Cemetery abounds with photo ops.

 

Had to say goodbye to my sweetest little dog. Terrible timing but she had a heart failure. Photo is from the summer of 2022 when she came with me on a hike to Glymur waterfall. She did so well for being so tiny (had to be carried in a backpack over a river I had to wade through).

Le Magoër; la nuit; la lune...

Thanks to Dicky for the title

 

Inhaling the inside of a city and coughing up black shit for a few days probably wasn't worth it.

Yesterday the world lost a beautiful soul, and I lost the best of friends.

 

You were the sort of friend that shone light into my life. It felt like our friendship was meant to be right from the start, it has been such a short time really, but such a good time that has meant so much to me.

 

You were always passionate about the things you believed in, animal rights and other environmental causes were very important and I loved the hours we spent attending protest rallies and talking about politics and the issues of the day.

 

You were always there for me, always willing to listen and to talk, and to tell me when I was being a bit bloody stupid about things.

 

You were a terribly bad influence as far as any sort of chocolate was concerned though, but I never complained.

 

As a photographer you were really very special. You would tell me that you knew nothing of the technical side of things (I never quite believed that), and that you really didn’t know much about processing (didn’t really believe that either). However, put the Lensbaby, or 60mm macro on your camera and you would weave magic, your ICM images were always ethereal and beautiful, and your multiple exposures were so accurate and clever that I could never really ever work out how you controlled them so well, especially as they were always completed in-camera. I learnt as much from you as I have from anyone, you will always be a part of my photography.

 

My dear Ali-gator, I will miss you so much. I will miss those long email conversations. I will miss our outings to Fitzroy and Collingwood and our wanderings around the city laneways. I will miss being your “model” and sharing a pumpkin and feta pizza with you. I will miss our outings to find beautiful flowers, and getting wet photographing water-drops with you. I will miss the walks around Yarra Bend park, and the lunches at QPO. All of these things will always remind me of you.

 

You have a very permanent place in my heart. I feel so lucky to have had you call me your friend.

 

Love you Ali-gator.

 

My love and condolences to Ali’s beautiful family.

 

Explored 27 February 2020 # 439

#hotwheels ID

.

Cheers,

Wade

#ArtByWadeBrooks

#TheToyCarProject

Une pensée pour toi mon ami,

on ne t'oublie pas

repose en paix.