The other day, I was walking about, had the boys where they needed to be, and it was a lovely, sunny-yet-cloudy day, big puffs of towering clouds breezing through, sun shining, trees budding, and I felt the most wonderful sensation of peace. I had my camera with me, snapped shots as they came to me, and just felt at ease. Weirdly, it's like, post-Exene, at 41 years of age, my true life in Chicago is beginning (despite having lived here since I was 23). There was just this strong sense of rightness and "alrightness" about it. I'm alive, I'm free, I'm healthy. Life is good. I'm more prone to brooding than fretting, anyway, but I was just surprised and pleased by the sense of peace I felt. Things are going to keep getting better for me. I think I was sorely tested the past few years -- a lot came my way at the same time -- and I not only survived all of it, I think I actually emerged better than I was going into it.
I know these shots are, perhaps, kind of foreboding, but they were from that day when I felt such peace, so I'm posting them. The beauty of the sky really did hang brightly over the darkness on the ground, and the contrast heightened the beauty of both.
