Why I Love Photographs

The mind is a wonderful thing.  It controls our entire bodies, allows us to feel emotion, think thoughts, hold memories and it probably performs many other functions that I can't even begin to comprehend.  As powerful as this central command center is the recalling of memories function is imperfect and not always complete.

Maybe I'm the only one with this problem but often times, as hard as I try to remember some things I find that over time, the memories become less vivid, begin to fade and sometimes slip away all together.  And that is why I love photographs so much.  They capture in great detail the things that we see that may not be held in our memories the way that we want them to be.  Photographs allow us to refresh the memory in our minds and bring back to us the feelings, smells and tastes that are associated with these images captured through the lens of a camera.

I've been reflecting a lot lately on my memories and my poor mind has been overworked in the recall department.  As I've sorted through family photos, some memories are easy to pull up and I can see them in my head almost as clear as the printed picture.  Others I do not remember at all either because I simply can't recall them or because I was simply too
young to remember the event.

Either way, my heart is thankful that we don't have to rely on our minds to capture all the details.  As hard as I try to remember, with the simple click of a shutter I can have a tangible memory, one that if well cared for will not fade no matter how many years pass by.

Gram and Me 1989

The Pasture

By Robert Frost

I'm going out to clean the pasture spring;

I'll only stop to rake the leaves away

(And wait to watch the water clear, I may):

I sha'n't be gone long. - You come too.

I'm going out to fetch the little calf

That's standing by the mother.  It's so young,

It totters when she licks it with her tongue.

I sha'n't be gone long. - You come too.