The Life and Times of Big Blue

In the 70’s there was a popular sitcom on television called “All in the Family.” It featured an iconic character, Archie Bunker. He was uninformed, hidebound and generally ridiculous but seemed to have enough soft spots to make him endearing. One soft spot that I remember was for a chair. It was a simple chair, but the one he always sat in. Edith, his wife, decided one day that they needed to get rid of it. Hijinks ensued and in the end he kept it, because his life was in the chair, he had held his baby daughter in the chair and watched memorable football games in the chair, etc. We retired a similar chair this week.

Big Blue is a large Laze-boy recliner/rocker that has been in our family room for 12 years or so. It replaced another blue recliner rocker that my Dad pulled the arms off of while trying to get out of it (yes, I was annoyed). At first, I didn’t like the new chair. It was larger than the original and I felt a little lost in it. However, time went by and the extra size was welcome. Blondie and I could snuggle a little in it together, it was perfect for holding small children on your lap in, and I could sleep in the chair. This became probably it’s biggest attraction.

I recovered from two bouts of cancer and one gall bladder operation in that chair. My ability to sleep in it, was a great blessing. Lying down in bed after major surgery is problematic. The laying down is not the issue, it’s the getting up. It is very painful. If I could stay in the chair, getting up is not such a big deal, you just rock forward and the back of the chair supports you. This was particularly helpful with the kidney cancer, since the incision was in my back.

As grand children have come along, we have rocked them in Big Blue and they too have slept in the chair. Many meals have been eaten in the chair and many Bronco games watched. Many Sunday afternoons have been spent in the chair, napping or reading. It has been a great chair.

This week one of the springs broke underneath and the reclining mechanism is threatening to poke up through the seat. So, sadly we replaced the chair with two new leather recliners. Blonde says they are colder than Big Blue, which was fabric covered, but I like them. We will need new names for the chairs. My daughter has suggested Dino and Saur, I like Minotaur and Elsie. Any other suggestions?

Stealing Beauty

I was reading an article recently about why people get involved with photography. In many cases, young men get involved to meet girls. For myself, it was the gadgetry and art of it and, okay, later it was meeting girls. I put serious photography down for many years due to monetary constraints and a long relationship with video cameras. I still like video, but it takes sooo long to edit it, that I don’t spend as much time as I would like. Still photography is much more immediate and you can do some pretty amazing things with the new tools, no darkroom needed. (Just Adobe Light-room)

In order to improve myself, I joined a couple of local photography groups to get myself out shooting and hopefully learn a few things. Utah Photowalking is one, the other is Utah Strobist. So, what is a Strobist? I wondered that as well, but it is a person who shoots with a strobe light. Photography is all about shadows and light and a strobe is to a photographer what a lightsaber is to a Jedi. If you can control the light and manage it, you can create amazing images.

On Tuesday, we had a meeting in downtown Salt Lake. It was my first meeting, but I knew many of the people from the Photowalking group. I brought along my niece as a model. I thought it would be fun to shoot her skating on the outdoor rink nearby. We got to the site and I talked to a few of the people there and asked if any were interested in taking pictures of her. A few were interested and we went over to the rink. One of my photo friends, Ann, was very helpful. I am not that great with the strobes yet, but she is quite accomplished. She hauled out her remote triggers and two strobes, hooked them up to my camera and even held them while I shot. We played with light for about an hour, while Caitlin jumped, spun, glided and twirled, always with a smile in spite of the cold. It was pretty chilly, too. She was a real trooper.

The area around the rink was lit with Christmas lights, which made for intriguing backgrounds. By this time, several others had come by and were shooting. Two in particular, Harley and Diane joined us and helped with the lighting. Harley taught me a cool trick with the zoom and flash. I have always wanted to know how to do this kind of picture.

Photographers steal beauty and store it in their little black boxes. There is a magic in it, to be sure, but only if it’s shared. I have stolen beauty from many, including my wife, my daughter and granddaughter. To add another beauty to my black box and then share it with her and her family, well that’s the sweetest magic of all.