When I returned from The Do Lectures I shared highlights with the family. One of them was Mickey Smith and his inspiring film The Dark Side of the Lens. One of the many memorable lines from Mickey is "remember it with a photo or a scar". Borrowing from Mickey, this yurting excursion, and others for that matter, are often memorable for incidental reasons.
After I showed Rachel Mickey's talk and film she chased other pieces of work from him. The wonderful song by Ben Howard, Old Pine, made all the more brilliant by Mickey's film making was quickly added to our yurt. surf, cruise playlist. It has become the defining track for this trip. When we took Pat off-road last week onto a sandy track running parallel to a long wild beach, Rachel sitting in the front passenger seat, window open, cranked up Old Pine ... loud. Johanna sings the lyrics often, randomly. (You can find the lyrics here.)
Maria's dislocated toe has defined her time. One of her favourite activities is walking. This time that's been taken away from her. Rachel burned her back with the sun and her arm with a lamp. I've got large purple patches on both legs from a single dramatic wipeout.
I'm writing this in the evening sun, on a seat beside a rockwall on which Maria is perched with her camera taking shots of Johanna sitting further up the wall on a rock with her headphones in. As always, we will remember this trip by Maria's pictures.
