AuntShecky
01-02-2008, 01:48 PM
Vocation
Snow is ever silent but still it calls.
Take, for instance, Mr. Wilson Bentley,
the gentleman farmer from Vermont.
He had an infinite selection for his
life’s work: he could have chosen
sunflowers or rainbows or starfish.
Instead he chose the snow –
as individuals, that is: some five
thousand dendrites in all, lovingly placed
under a microscope and photographed,
each crystal painstakingly treated
like a priceless gem from the Holy Grail.
He wanted to find uniqueness, Wilson did,
the sui generis quality of each ephemeral
flake, like himself, one of a kind.
Let’s test that concept, you and I.
Look outside. You can see them.
There must be billions – - gazillions! --
of them each vying for attention. Put your
boots on. Grab a piece of black velvet,
a slide, the camera. I'll take the
snowbank on this part of the parking lot,
and you can start on the other end.
All Rights Reserved.
Snow is ever silent but still it calls.
Take, for instance, Mr. Wilson Bentley,
the gentleman farmer from Vermont.
He had an infinite selection for his
life’s work: he could have chosen
sunflowers or rainbows or starfish.
Instead he chose the snow –
as individuals, that is: some five
thousand dendrites in all, lovingly placed
under a microscope and photographed,
each crystal painstakingly treated
like a priceless gem from the Holy Grail.
He wanted to find uniqueness, Wilson did,
the sui generis quality of each ephemeral
flake, like himself, one of a kind.
Let’s test that concept, you and I.
Look outside. You can see them.
There must be billions – - gazillions! --
of them each vying for attention. Put your
boots on. Grab a piece of black velvet,
a slide, the camera. I'll take the
snowbank on this part of the parking lot,
and you can start on the other end.
All Rights Reserved.