Strathnairnability

It has been a couple of months since I moved to Strathnairn. It is an uber quiet suburb with fewer than a thousand residents. And no, unlike Bhutan, it is not the kind of place where everyone knows everyone else. Apart from my immediate neighbours and a Bhutanese friend who lives a few blocks away, I know no one else. People here just keep to themselves. As strange as that might sound, I have grown used to it. I will tell you that you must have an ounce of Strathnairnability to do that, really. Looking back, I have never really been a people person anyway.

Back to the Strathnairn scene, I take an evening stroll, and I am instantly filled with the urge to take my phone out and go click, click, click. And that is exactly what I did.

If the houses are Strathnairn’s soul, then Paddy’s Park must be its heart. Its sheer existence is a feast for the eyes. The photos prove it.

Oh, and I have been saying for a while now that Strathnairn has the best sunsets. I cannot speak for the sunrises though. By the time I am up, the sun is already high, staring down at me with a knowing smirk.

So here I present some of the photos I captured. They were colour corrected and graded on Lightroom Mobile.

Inside Paddy's Park

'Tashi was here.'

Food for the body and Strathnairn for the soul.

There was this darkling sky, and then sun just peekaboo'd.

Trees are always close to my heart because they remind me that no matter where
I branch out, I must remember my roots. 

Paddy’s pause

Strathnairn is too young to be an empty-nester, but it wears its quiet well.

A spark from Paddy's Park. 

One thing that lives rent-free in my head is the bridge metaphor. We are all just a bridge: between moments, between people, between versions of ourselves.

I overheard a voice go, "I will shower you with the sun."

The following photos were taken a few days later with my camera.

A clandestine rendezvous, not so clandestine.

We always need a bit more room, don't we?

The path curved, the light lingered, and everything felt just spacious enough.
Eventually. Or did it?

"Well, all is well that ends well," sighed the sun at the end of the day.

Gear: Sony A7CII & Sony FE16-25mm F2.8G

Photos from Bhutan

Some random photos from Bhutan. I took my gear out and gave it a try. Each frame felt like a small step forward. I still carry the conviction that there is a long way to go before I can take photos with real confidence. But maybe that is part of the process. Learning to see. Learning to wait. Learning to keep going.

Paro Taktshang

Punakha Dzong

Traditional Bridge, Punakha Dzong

Wangdue Phodrang Dzong

Miniature Buddhist Mask

Gear: Sony A7CII with Sony FE 28-60mm and edited on Adobe Lightroom (Macbook version). 

Lazy Musing

I sit by the tavern,

Beside an old, hoary man,

And I tell him all —

That I am broken,

Splintered into a million shards,

Bereft of even the faintest tinge

Of hope and dreams.

He sighs,

Raises his silvery brows,

And fixes his pair

Of steely eyes

Straight at me,

Then softly whispers

A tale so true —

How he carved

And chiseled down

A fine life of his own,

Out of this dark,

Troubled world.

Then I rise,

And leave,

With head held low,

In utter shame.