Wired

I saw the wire

and then their grace

and how they seemed

to bend both time and space

Albert whispered - Photo time

get down on the ground

bend upside down

whatever it takes by rules unbound

but be careful, be wise

you might be in for a Montana surprise

where cars and rifles are in cahoots

and gun control means “hit what you shoot”

 

But Albert, I said,

don’t you know where I live

it’s northern Virginia

where there’s much more to dread

guns on racks are nothing compared

to those which in stealth and mayhem are held

the only danger which here I might cause

is to drivers who might think my life is on pause

 

In May of 2008, I spent 2 1/2 weeks in Victor, Montana visiting my sister. I soon discovered that it does indeed deserve the title of the “Big Sky State”. I have been to other western states but there is just something bigger about the Montana sky. I can’t explain it but other people have said said the same thing. If looking at the Big Sky could produce spiritual “Enlightenment”, most Montanans would be Buddhas now. On my second day there, I became aware of the fence wire and started taking photographs, trying to be careful that the occasional passing motorist would not see me in an inverted or contorted position and conclude that I was in extremis. I wasn’t completely successful. Once a passing motorist stopped, turned around, and inquired about my health. Victorians do not engage in recreational walking, though, of course, they do hike in the mountains. Seeing me walking the roads automatically marked me out as a tourist. Seeing me on the ground taking pictures of wire fences probably marked me out as something else.

This was my first wire photo. The bending wire reminded me of models of General Relativity. I also noticed that it sometimes accented and highlighted the sky.

They sometimes produce whimsical shapes

I soon discovered that the wire could sometimes look kind of zen

On the lower part, the sky seems to bulge with the wire.

The moon is climbing the fence too.

A little illusion. The top half is darker and less clear because of the focal length, not the wire.

Hitting a rise caused these drops to line up perfectly. I called it “Uniformity”.

This reminded me of the ghostly figure in Picasso’s famous painting “Guernica”.

I call this “Baying at the Moon”.

I think this wire made this sky look brighter.

A seal might be balancing the moon on its nose.

The moon is climbing the energy hill.

Now it goes down the energy hill.

Game of Cricket

Wires in rain.