The Comfort of Thunder

Last night a fairly violent storm rolled through central Indiana. It wasn't the most serious storm I've seen since I moved here but it was the biggest one that happened while I was home in my apartment. The first twenty minutes or so were the most ferocious, and before long I was sitting in the dark with no power.

For the next two hours, I sat by the the open window to get some light, fresh air, and to just watch and listen to nature's fireworks show.

My thoughts drifted...

I remember the worst storm I was ever caught in, a few years ago. My friend LM and I were camping about two miles from Graveyard Fields on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The storm caught us by surprise and it was too late to try to hike two miles in the dark to get back to the saftey of the car. We considered it, briefly, but in the end we decided that we had chosen a good safe spot far enough uphill from the stream that we didn't need to worry about flash floods.

I have to admit that as the storm brewed around us while we huddled in the tent, I was nervous. LM was nervous too, and she let it show a little. I think that helped me actually. I remember the comfort I felt as I kept my arm around her... perhaps drawing as much strength from her as I was offering to her. Those hours, especially after the worst had passed, sitting in the dark listening to the thunder and watching the flashes of light as they shone through the tent, were two of the most peaceful hours of my life.

I missed LM last night.

It's not the first time I've missed her. But it was the happiest time I've missed her. I love thunder.

The Demise of Fashion

As some of you may know, one of my many "on the side" careers is that of a photographer. I shoot portraits, weddings, landscapes, and the occasional model portfolio. Over the last two years or so, I have seen an alarming trend among young women... style is trumping fashion.

It started when I was doing a portfolio shoot with a 19 year old interested in modeling. In our pre-shoot interview, I had stressed the importance of remembering to bring shoes that matched her outfits. When "Alice" arrived for the shoot, I was initially pleased that she had brought an entire box of shoes with her. I say "initially", because upon closer examination I discovered that she brought two pairs of tennis shoes, 19 pairs of flip-flops (in various colors and styles), and one pair of heels.

Let's just describe the heels for a moment... they were actually quite nice, black with a silvery metal imbedded in the straps that go across the top of the foot, and a delicate 3" heel. They would have been beautiful with a black cocktail dress... you know the perfect "little black dress" that every woman is supposed to have in her closet. Except "Alice" didn't bring a cocktail dress. She brought a summer dress and more dressy (though still casual) red, white, and black dress.

So now my choices of footwear are limited to sneakers or flip-flops... nineteen different colors of flip-flops.

Don't get me wrong. We still got some good photographs, she left happy, and I was left shaking my head. But I told myself, "She's young. She doesn't know any better." But my concern was that if she really wanted to model, she would need more than just one pair of heels. Not every client is going to provide shoes and sometimes things don't work out exactly as planned anyway and she might need to have something that might work in an emergency.

So why am I bringing this up now after more than a year has passed? Because it is a trend that is growing.

Witness this story in The Chicago Tribune: 'YOU WORE FLIP-FLOPS TO THE WHITE HOUSE?!'

If you know a young woman, please, please, please, show her some pictures of Audrey Hepburn or Princess Grace. We have to do something now before it is too late.