Monthly Archives: December 2011

Happy New Year! Ring in the new!

31 Saturday Dec 2011

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"New Sun Rising" - Copyright 2011, Wilson Wyatt Jr

New opportunities, new chances, new experiences, forgiveness, a time to start again.  Ahh…can’t you feel the freshness of it all, as you breathe it in?

We cram in promises on this day, forgetting at least for a moment, the arbitrary nature of it.  While it may be just the first day of the year on our calendar, it is a powerful day of new beginnings.

That stack of “undone” becomes “to do.”  There’s a new timetable for my writing.  Those “incomplete” outdoor chores  begin a whole new list.  Exercise…yes, the gym and that old bike with flat tires.  Forgotten household “fixes” become “new improvements.”  It’s magic.  There is no scurrying around to remember what hasn’t  been done.  It’s over. No guilt for the forgotten.

There is only the transformation, as with pixie dust, of everything to a new calendar. Relief.  A new sense of order.  A new world awaits. Please…someone tell the politicians and Wall Street.  They might miss it.

Oh, yes, those resolutions…that’s easy.  Let’s see.  Where did I put last year’s list?

 

 

Aging and Freedom…”How would you like to die?”

27 Tuesday Dec 2011

Posted by in Aging and Freedom, Uncategorized

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Sunset Over the Valley

I just read a story about a man’s determination to be free and to realize a dream.  It was about his struggle to remain free in aging, to make his own choices, when others sought to place him in an “assisted living home”…ostensibly to protect him from himself in his final days.  We saw the world through the man’s mind.

All our lives we struggle with personal aspects of freedom, trying to find our way through the quagmire of reality toward some vision of freedom…reminds me of Jonathan Franzen’s novel, Freedom.  You’d think that as we get older and wiser, we’d reach our answer…and maybe we do in death.  Or, as Franzen illustrated in his novel, perhaps freedom is not all we think it will be.  There may be unintended consequences.

It seems as we grow older, in the final third of our lives, freedom is as much a dream as in adolescence, those precious years when a boy or a girl struggles through innocence to enjoy the imagined fruits of adulthood.  There is always someone to be beholding to…some impediment to reckon with.  Life becomes bigger than ourselves, never as simple as it seems.  It’s what it is.

My doctor asked me an interesting question the other day, after my annual physical exam. He finished going through my lab work, reviewed all the tests warranted for my age, and gave me a conclusion. He told me the good news was I was almost at no risk for any of the major causes of premature death.  My veins were clear, colon was healthy, good blood pressure, no heart disease, no cancer, clear lungs, etc.  All I needed to do was lose some weight and get more daily exercise…very reasonable. Then he said. “So, assuming you will live to be 85 or so, you face an enviable question. How would you like to die?”

It was striking, not what you’d expect your doctor to say after a successful physical exam. It was provocative, as I think he intended.  The question begs other questions, how will you lead the rest of your life…what will you do with it?  I’m still thinking of a dazzling array of interesting answers.  There are spiritual and personal choice concerns. Regardless of my imagination, the question of my own freedom keeps nudging up in importance…along with the unintended consequences.  It’s good to have choices.

Wouldn’t it be best if when we knew the time was right, we could just reach up and turn off the light?

Holiday Book Signing…Yosemite – Catching the Light

09 Friday Dec 2011

Posted by in Photography, Writing, YOSEMITE - CATCHING THE LIGHT

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YOSEMITE - CATCHING THE LIGHT

As I prepare for a holiday book signing tomorrow (Dec. 10), I’m reminded of all my author friends who have stood in lone duty behind a table, hoping to attract visitors, chat and discuss their book. In fact I have two shelves in my home library with over 50 books written by friends…most purchased to support them at book signings. It’s part of the process, perhaps “a rite of passage.” Now it’s my turn behind the table, ready to engage anyone with a twinkle of “holiday” spirit.

I was delighted with an article on my book signing published in “Attraction” magazine, the December 2011 issue. It tells the story, and I’m pleased to share it with you:

“From Facebook to Published Book”

Starting with Facebook, local photographer and author Wilson Wyatt has journeyed from the granite cliffs of Yosemite Valley to publishing a limited edition fine arts photography book, on sale in local bookstores and direct from the author.

His tabletop photography book, Yosemite – Catching the Light, contains 75 color images of Yosemite Valley, California and the surrounding high Sierra wilderness. Wilson will be exhibiting and signing his book from 1 to 3 pm Saturday, December 10, at the News Center, in Easton, Maryland.

The images were taken on a seven-day photographic journey in June through Yosemite, led by his son, professional photographer Wilson Wyatt III, of Scottsdale, Arizona. He was among a group of seven photographers studying the rapidly changing light conditions on Yosemite’s towering cliffs and in the wilderness region.

“The book started as a personal project to give to my son,” Wilson said. “I posted images on Facebook from our daily treks through Yosemite and people started requesting copies. So I reconsidered the book for a public audience, primarily for those who enjoy nature and photography.”

Wilson has more than 4,000 friends on Facebook from around the world. “I sold one of my first books to a graphic designer in Tokyo,” he said. “There is a world-wide audience for fine art photography. Social media connects us.”

He dedicated the book to his son, noting that he taught him the magical wonders of the photographic darkroom when he was ten years old. Now his son, as an adult professional, teaches him some of the finer aspects of digital photography.

“Give nature time and she will dazzle us with her power and beauty,” Wilson writes in the book’s opening. “In life’s universal sense, time is infinite, and we are here for a brief moment…just like a camera catching a blink of light.”

The 50-page hardbound book is published as a tabletop edition in full color on photo-quality paper coated with a high gloss finish. The images were printed directly from digital files to capture the original color.

Copies can be ordered directly from the author at: wwwtwo@earthlink.net. Wilson is completing a second photography book, The Eastern Shore – Catching the Light, to be released in the spring of 2012.

"Half Dome Before Dusk"

Wilson Wyatt (left) and his son Wilson Wyatt III at "Glacier Point"

Yosemite Valley in June