Life Is Like A Polaroid Picture ... You Never Know What You Are Going To Get

The other day a coworker asked what new hobbies I've picked up as the result of being mostly  homebound due to the pandemic and I couldn't think of one. 

I mean, I do stuff. I take walks, I read books and New Yorker magazines and since the YMCA reopened, I frequently use its elliptical and treadmill machines. 

Mostly, I fallen into a terrible habit, which is stew and mope over all the things I don't have. This is a rotten thing to do because not only does it further deepen my funk and self-pity but it's selfish and cruel. Have I not read or watched the news? Am I not aware of the worsening state of so many, many things? What kind of person do I want to be, anyway? 

In other words - I haven't been in a great mood lately. 

I can't escape my head much less my house. All I want to do is run away but where on Earth would I go?

Actually, I have been able to flee even though I just traveled down street. Last weekend, my mom and I drove to Jemez Springs. This is a sleepy, hole-in-wall town but it is beautiful. There are towering canyon walls and in the middle of the summer season there is lush greenery and colorful floral blooms everywhere you look. 

My mom, an avid photographer, whose collection includes everything from the conventional digital camera to a Hasselblad 500, took along her newest addition to that collection - a Polaroid. 

You get what you get with a Polaroid picture. There is no flash or zoom. You can't modify the image in Photoshop. You have to appreciate what you have for what it is. 

We snapped a few photos with it. Once the crisp, white square piece of film slipped out of the camera, my mother would delicately hold it and we watched as the image slowly appeared. As a kid, I always thought Polariods were magic and there still is something fascinating about watching a photograph take shape.

Something about being in that picturesque town, walking around and taking photos that may or may not be keepers, really lightened my mood. Even in pandemics and crisis and heartbreak and tragedy there are still places to explore, things to laugh about and beauty to enjoy. You have to appreciate all of it for what it is.