Between

I’m near the end of my first semester at Naropa University, the first time I’ve been at school in about ten years. It’s been both exhausting and exhilarating, throwing me miles out of my comfort zone but also in a strange way expanding it as well, so that I can include more of the world without running away. 

Autumn has been on my mind as a theme lately, forming a large part of my assignments. I keep thinking of a quote by Victoria Erickson: “This strangely still pause between summer and autumn, greenery and gold, and the heat and rising wind that is once again readying itself to rush it all away in a climactic symphony of color and scent – is, in my opinion, one of the best parts about living on earth.”

These past few months have been a climactic rush of new information and experiences, and they have also been a pause. Maybe I’m just paying more attention this time, but it seems that autumn has been stretched, a long, slow season of quick changes with long periods in between. 

Now it’s approaching winter; my birthday; Thanksgiving and the rush of holiday fervor. But right now, I’m still enjoying the pause.

Photo taken with Fuji X-Pro2 and Takumar 50 mm f/4, shot in Acros mode. Seeing the world in black and white is strange and a little disconcerting. Once color is an integral part of your life, removing it turns common things into foreign objects that you’ve never quite seen before.