Bench: Shadows and Light

It is nearing the end of spring break week at Penn State, and this week has been a perfect time for taking photos on the deserted campus. On Monday morning, I started my week with a lovely photo shoot around campus, and while walking by a bench near the duck pond, I finally stopped and SAW the bench.

It was one of those "Aha!" moments. I finally saw how beautiful it was, saw the play of light on its shapes and textures. I got some pictures of it that I was very happy with. But I had another photo I wanted to post here on that day, of the two walkers. So the bench shot went unused.

On Thursday late afternoon, I was on campus again. I stopped by the Creamery and bought some beautiful white button mushrooms, only $2 for a pound, which is quite reasonable (and no, alas, I didn't have time for an ice cream cone). And then I walked down through campus to catch my bus; several roads are closed this week, and some major bus stops have been moved, including mine.

While it had been somewhat gray and overcast on Monday morning, Thursday afternoon was bright and sunny, the shadows very contrasty and dark. It was quite cold and very windy, but a great time for taking pictures. And so I stopped by my favorite bench again, and got some very different pictures than the ones I'd made on Monday morning.

I had the very strong feeling on Monday morning, when I looked at this bench, that I was finally SEEING it for the first time. While I've enjoyed it before, and even photographed it before, I had never really gotten down to the bench at eye level and seen all of its beauty.

So the song to accompany this image is from the Jakob Dylan album, Seeing Things, in honor of my "Aha!" moment, of finally seeing the bench for all of what it was. And in honor of the coming of spring, I picked this particular track: Jakob Dylan, Something Good This Way Comes.