5 April - Bridges - One of the reasons I do this project is to discover little moments like this; I’ve driven past this spot a thousand times but once I stopped to look, it became a whole vibe
6 April - Back in Town - Today was a lot of fun. I headed down to Utsunomiya to meet up with an old friend for the first time. By which I mean I got to meet an online friend for the first time in real life. It was a lot of fun and a beautiful day to be out. Could use a few more days like this if I’m honest.
7 April - Sizing Issues - One of the things that is strange about photography these days is that there’s no way of controlling the size of the screen someone is using to see your photos. Which means that this photo, which looks fantastic on a phone but is kind of a blurry mess on a larger screen, may or may not be a good photo depending on how you’re seeing it.
8 April - Nashi - These are flowers on Japanese pear trees. The wiring above and around them is actually a frame that will be covered with nets to protect the trees once they’re done flowering and have begun to fruit. Also, fruit is a really fun word to use as a verb.
9 April - Clear Blue Skies - I know I’ve shown this view before, but it’s notable today for being the clearest, bluest sky we’ve seen in a while and, notice that all the white flowering trees are now green. It’s only been a week and yet all the cherry trees have mostly turned green. On the one hand, it’s sad that it’s so short, on the other hand, it means warmer weather is here to stay for a while.
10 April - Clear Blue Skies 2 - Here’s another spot I’ve driven past a thousand times and never bothered to stop at. There’s nothing spectacular about it; it’s just a small strip of shrubbery sandwiched between rice fields, but it was still good to get out and have a look.
11 April - Campus Days - One of the schools I work at has this beautiful garden right at the front gate of the school. I made it a point today to take half an hour after lessons had finished to walk up to the garden and wander about. I’m glad I did.
This past Monday saw the start of a new semester for me and, as always, that brings out a few conflicting sides of myself. On the one hand, it’s easy to be cynical - none of this matters. Everything I’m trying to teach my students will soon be made irrelevant by a.i. tools and even the garden at the front of the campus will one day fall prey to budget cuts and be paved over. Probably by an a.i. powered self-driving bulldozer.
Which is slowly becoming the main impetus behind this project for me. As I’ve said before, the initial idea, so many years ago, was just to explore. Last year, it was about getting out of the house, about seeing what was around me. This year, I thought it was about documenting and showing off the changing spring where I live. But, again, I don’t think that’s really true anymore.
I’m finding that getting the camera out and making myself seek out engaging spots to photograph does a lot to keep the cynical commentator in check. And, if I’m being honest, simply wanting to keep him in check is kind of new to me; growing up when and where I did, cynical forms of humor - sarcasm, irony, satire - were easy, cheap laughs. I’m not saying that was a bad thing, just that it’s not working for me as well as it used to.
I’ve said a number of times that one reason I like working at the university level is that the students I teach are so optimistic, so full of energy and life that it helps keep me young-in-mind. Even when they’re being cynical and sarcastic, they don’t quite hit the levels of despair and negativity that a seasoned pessimist like me can conjure up. It’s refreshing. And it’s convinced me that optimism is a choice.
So, this week, I’m grateful for this project. It’s made me look on the brighter side, both literally and figuratively for a bit and that’s something to be appreciated.
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