[Categories: Photography, Photography 101 Forever]
[A right-click might allow you to open a photo in a separate tab or window.]
The Lens-Artists Challenge is hosted this week by Xenia.
There’s a world where I can go and tell my secrets to
In my room, in my room
In this world I lock out all my worries and my fears
In my room, in my room
Do my dreaming and my scheming
Lie awake and pray
Do my crying and my sighing
Laugh at yesterday
Now it’s dark and I’m alone
But I won’t be afraid
In my room, in my room
In my room, in my room
In my room, in my room
–In My Room by The Beach Boys, written by Brian Wilson and Gary Usher
SANCTUARY! Or should that be a whispered word, like
‘sanctuary’?
Those of us fortunate to have a room have spent a lot of time in it these past months. This too shall pass, I trust. (Extended self-isolation, that is.) Occasional self-isolation is a good thing, in my opinion.
Amongst other things, I find sanctuary in a room with books.
Following is a former mountain sanctuary. If dog is at peace, it is a good place.
A loft, with a once-coveted handmade ladder, in a much former mountain getaway, was a place of comfort:
My current repository of some favorite books and objet, including 12+ years of Lapham’s Quarterly, follows. (The Summer issue, normally published mid-June, will be distributed late August. Subject: Epidemics. Perfect for sanctuary.)
Sanctuary during COVID-19 (as in 2019, though it’s pretty much a 2020 pandemic, and I hope we don’t add to the numerology) has included two tv viewings of the 2016 musical Hamilton in movie form. Lapham’s Quarterly published a booklet on Hamilton that year. I admire his cursive:
As some of you know, sanctuary has included the eye strain involved with solving jigsaw puzzles. Those completed include:
This eighth puzzle ‘broke the camel’s back’ as they say, and nearly required an optometrist’s visit. I’m in puzzle rehab now, and deign to pursue any further jigsawing for an indefinite time.
Stay safe, be well. Find your sanctuary, and be kind to one another. 😷 👏 👍
Kudos to the tireless leaders of the weekly Lens-Artists challenge.
A beautiful post John and I especially love your reading den and your idea that ‘if a dog is at peace, it is a good place’. Thank you so much for sharing! 🤗
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you 🙏
LikeLiked by 1 person
Why am I not surprised that your sanctuary is your roomful of books and Lapham’s Quarterlies John?! It looks cozy and a perfect place for uber-puzzling! And the pup is the icing on the cake!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Tina. 🙏
LikeLike
Reblogged this on Hutts Ultra Blogging World.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you.
LikeLike
Very enjoyable post John!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Anne.
LikeLike
I love Brian’s room and yours!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Cindy. (Who’s Brian?)
LikeLike
Oh, duh! Brian Wilson. (It’s late here is my only excuse.)
LikeLike
Great post, John! My own sanctuary, my home!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Ana.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You certainly have a well-equipped sanctuary for covering your pastimes, and your reference to the Beach Boys song is apropos, for sure. My wife and I enjoy Ravensburger puzzles (as you may recall from earlier comments), but our latest challenge, a 2000-piece winter scene, is over two weeks in process, and we are still not 50-percent done.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks John. Those big puzzles, IMO, you just can’t get in a hurry about. Someday… it will be finished.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes 100 percent with you that it is good to have your own sanctuary…especially with all those puzzles. Thank you for taking us with you, John.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank YOU Teresa.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, John, for sharing your personal places of sanctuary and what you do in them. We, too, have watched the movie version of Hamilton — and loved it! Bert is the puzzle worker in the family, and he’s just finished one at the beach with the help of others staying with us. Perhaps the quarantine has netted us some good experiences even though I hope a vaccine is on its way . . . soon.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for your kind words.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wonderful reading den, John. Thank you for sharing your personal sanctuary. Puzzle rehab, really? 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Would I be the first in puzzle rehab? Hmmm. 🙂
LikeLike
Be blessed to have your santuary John. Those puzzles look fantastic.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Rupali.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Still puzzled here, John – absolutely love your den and SO many puzzles done! I have done 4 or 5 I think, going on a new one right now. Rehab?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha ha. Thank you A-C!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like your idea of sanctuary, John, with plenty of books and puzzles. We are still struggling with our 2000 piece jigsaw and my husband has threatened to buy our daughter a 5000 piece one in retribution (if they make them that large.)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Our 2000 piece cured my addiction.
LikeLiked by 1 person
how wonderful and thank you for sharing your sanctuary, John. beautiful puzzle and i can see why you need a break! 🙂 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you!
LikeLike
I agree with you that your reading room is your sanctuary, John. A friend has a big house with a little room behind the laundry room. It was built as a maid’s room. They never had a maid. She decorated and set it up as her reading, sewing, and quiet room. That is her sanctuary.
We’re on our third puzzle. By the 10th one, we may take an indefinite break also.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Fantastic sanctuary in your reading room, John & fully agree with if the dog’s happy, it must be a good place 😃
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Jez.
LikeLike
Your sanctuary feels like a very quiet and comfortable haven. Good -luck on the puzzle rehab. I haven’t done any puzzles during this Covid-time of isolation, but I do understand how addictive and also frustrating they can be from past experience. I remember even framing one with birch bark in my younger days..Cold turkey a few years ago and my rehab has been a success. Ha ha! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Olga. Rehab is doing well. 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Your rooms filled with books are wonderful! I agree with you – a room filled with books is a great sanctuary. We have books in almost every room of our house.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you. Real books, with paper pages, haven’t gone away.
LikeLiked by 1 person
John, what lovely pictures of your former and now current sanctuaries. (And, I love the handmade ladder, it has such style and character!😊). The subjects of your many puzzles are interesting – especially the steam engine! I haven’t put a puzzle together in years but sure I will be, sooner or later. I remember it being fun and challenging.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Sylvia.
LikeLike
I’ve got to say, that top photo, with the dog, looks extremely comphy and cozy!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you. Sometimes, I would like to crawl into bed, assume the prenatal position, and turn the electric blanket up to nine.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Personally I’m ready to jump ahead and escape our current predicament. Can’t quite figure out how to do that.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Off planet, time travel, ‘beam me up Scotty, there’s no intelligent life down here’, perhaps. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Very Nice, Thanks for sharing Sir … 🙂
Spirituality Awakening
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m enjoying this post that I missed when you first published. We, too, work puzzles — especially at the beach in the summer — and we’ve enjoyed the film version of Hamilton. Your happy places look to be comforting and filled with things you treasure, things that give you much pleasure. I enjoyed this post!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for your kind words.
LikeLiked by 1 person