Thursday, July 15, 2010

Staring at Doors


Staring at doors allows me to study the character of a house and ponder upon it’s very state and about the people behind it. Each would remind me of my home, no matter how uncared for or opulent. The subconscious representation of a door is home to me. Doors remind many of us of new beginnings, journeys, goodbyes and comfort. Oh, how significant is the door.

For years I have pondered upon taking photographs of those doors I would find particular whether optically pleasing or not; and it would take me the year 2008 to finally take the pictures. In 2009, it’s time to put it together and here are the results. I know each door I have taken and I can tell the background of each one. If I do not know the story behind it, I have made one up to add for an interesting measure.

My sister once commented about how sad must the destitute be in rural areas wherever we would venture to those towns and it’s the doors that tell the story; my retort has always been, “As long as there is a family inside a house, it is home and someone will always answer the door.” 

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Mother's Garden and then some:



My last trip home to my family made me see more beauty in simple things; yea, even provincial things which I didn’t mind growing up with. Mother’s plants at the rooftop of our home has become an elevated garden of tropical plants and relaxing place.





Some snippets inside of the house meanwhile were much like how common houses are in our island town – a hodgepodge of whatever one likes and can afford. Our house reflects the orthodoxy of living back home, which is to say, the things we like are the ones we can afford. (hehe..)
 



I do appreciate the fact that some things which are exotic in one place may just be prevalent in another. An example of that is the orchid, this flora is pervasive in the tropics and it almost takes next to nothing to make them proliferate at gardens all over back at the islands.
 


Hmm... the simple snippets of life.

Friday, July 9, 2010

Captivation in South Carolina:


Columbia, South Carolina, is a town not wanting in history and blooms. My second rendezvous with this destination only confirmed the ease in my heart for this Southern and unaffected place which bears the mark of Dum spiro spero.


With Georgia to it’s south and the other Carolina to it’s, north, the current allure of South Carolina encompasses 3 centuries worth of history, an awe-inspiring landscape and people still rooted in feet-to-the-ground hospitality. Founded in 1670, South Carolina was one of the original colonies to declare independence from the British monarchy and for better or worse was the first state to secede the Union during the American Civil War. 


With a penchant for photography one year long and a companion - true southern woman strong, I chronicle COLA’s wonders as best I could. Contemplating on one Daffodil caused me to inquire (like the Psalmist), what merit does man have that the Almighty would bother with him? Humbling. Rusty, a worker at one of the mundane fast food joints queries us if we were bothered by the cleaning he was doing some feet away as we eat inside the joint; he offers to stop if it was so. A fine example that values are well placed and practiced in COLA. 


The nightlife destination is dubbed The Vista, on and around Gervais St. It is an amalgamation of the old structures preserved and renovated for new business, USC apprentices earning extra for college and elegant restaurants and bars for folks ready to unwind. I however was not oblivious to the decline in commerce in this large-scale financial crunch at present. 


Still, Columbia has a bountiful land which houses luxuriant blooms of Azaleas, Daffodils, the most celebrated dogwood tree flowers, with more to spare. Spring wild flowers croon to sojourners and inhabitants alike and so do classic architectures of Colonial, Neo Roman and Puritan designs. Venturing into Columbia, for certain will connect one to the days of - old natives displaced, European settlers vying for a new life, slaves who’ve toiled, yet were residents all, who have hoped while they lived. The contemporary enterprise between citizens and visitors is a surviving testament.


St. Augustine, FL.

The very first locale that stimulated my interest for the romanticism in the word "quaint" was St. Augustine, FL. This 400 and some year-old little town unleashed the shutterbug in me and by the time my time with it was over; I’ve covered all the nooks and crannies of the old cobblestone pavements, the antique doors, the crooked little houses and soaked in every courtyard I laid my eyes upon.






If one has not been to this place yet, these photographs I took are just a few of the hundreds I captured of the oldest town discovered and settled in this side of earth and I hope you enjoyed them.