The sound of a ticking clock, literally “tick-tock,” was part of my life every day growing up. The clock and the sound it made marked time even when it seemed to change from day to day. On some rainy days, when I only wanted to play outside, it was unbearably slow, while other days it zoomed by seemingly unrestrained.
Clearly much has changed in the three-quarters of a century that old clock has been counting time in my life. Many of those changes are incomprehensible to me—slang, pop music, right-wing politics, my aging body. Even the sound of that old clock has been co-opted.
I don’t know if life actually used to be slower and simpler. The Sun coming up and going down, the measured pace of the natural world is, regardless, a treasure that sustains me. Perhaps these days it is also a measure of privilege. While seeing the world through a camera lens cannot bring back all we have lost—murdered actually—it can, by stopping time with a click of the shutter, remind me of what we still have and how foolish it is to not stand up for it every day.
I invite you to enjoy these photographs, share them as you like, watch life literally buzz and move in the breeze, perhaps take a walk with a friend to find your own piece of the Planet, and, with me, renew a pledge to live in ways that work for all of life.
Still Learning To See 