Illumination Round-Robin - Sunspots on Wildcat Creek

The final lines of the "Illumination" poem by J Power:

"
Seeing the water
I sat down and said to myself,
'We can be as beautiful as we want to be.'
"

inspired me to select this photo for the Illumination Round-Robin. Taken from the south bank of the Wildcat Creek, just a few yards downstream from the Adams Mill covered bridge, the uneven surface of the water produces not a single reflection of the afternoon sun, but rather turns the sun into hundreds of sunspots. This is fitting, since the image was captured shortly after leaving a reunion picnic of employees of the Sunspot Natural Market, owned by my sister, Joan. The Sunspot Natural Market has two locations, one in Kokomo, Indiana and the other in West Lafayette, Indiana, and is in its 34th year of operation. The event was held on the grounds of Adams Mill, which was constructed on the Wildcat Creek in 1845.

This photograph was taken on July 4, 2011.

"self-portrait".

i feel the impact of my

eye injury in many ways

sadness, anger, bitterness

my self-confidence is not

what it once was

it's affected my acting

it's affected aspects

of my personal relationships

if i glance at my

favorite portrait of
myself as a child, i think

'where has that little boy
with the beautiful brown

eyes disappeared to?'

i wish he was here but

he's gone forever

i am loved

unconditionally

by many and yet
my injury won't go away

as an actor in an

industry where image

is god i feel i am at a loss
i wonder what strangers think?

'do they think i'm ugly?'

but i'm the same person

inside as i was before
how soon the strangers forget

i am surviving but
i'm forever haunted.

winter solstice 2008

A Celebration

The return of light!
Monday will be the longest night of the year, and then we begin to see life return to the world...winter is a season which proves that we are indeed mammals, and it sometimes seems that the cold is trying to wipe us out. But we are survivors, just like the flower bulbs, tiny saplings, and this years' fawns. We need these holidays to get us through, to reflect, yes, to put up with our insane relatives. Their quirks make us family, blood or not. It is not the money spent, not perfect gift which matters, but the time spent together, and the connection we share with all things. Accept the blessings, trials, joy and sorrow of the school we term life. Love in the best way you can.