Running. With Perforated Edges.

~ Live & Learn

6:39:47 a.m. April 10th. The time stamp on photo.

I recall the moment. The end of my run, I’m rounding the last corner before home, breathing heavily.

Morning sun. A light warm hue painting the tips of trees and bushes. Beautiful.

I slip off my glove, the tip of my index finger is moist, trembling, and sticking to the screen. I wipe it dry and slide the menu bar from Pano, Portrait, Video, Slo-Mo, Portrait, and stop on Photo. Pleased, I pause for a moment longer, admiring the view, so glad I was able to catch the moment. 

I walk the rest of the way home, catching my breath.

I’m sitting in the backyard, 30° F, sweat drying, goosebumps form on skin. I shiver. Legs sore, but that good sore after finishing a run.

I open the camera app to check out the photo.

I tap the image, and it pops up. It stutters for a moment, then a series of frames, and it stops. Irritated.

I tap the image again. And there on the top of the image, a “Live” tag.  WTF is that?

I tap the image again. It stutters, pans through a series of frames, and then stutters to silence. Jesus. You can’t even get this right.

I grab the phone and slide my index finger along the menu options, and don’t see a “Live” option. Damn it!

Index finger. Dotted line. Bad outcome. Mind draws up the Moment.

35 years later, like yesterday. My hands trembling. The course of Life would change based on the GMAT test results in that ever so thin envelope. Before I tear it open, the tip of my index finger slides along the perforated edge, my skin tingling as it passes each tiny raised dot.  I don’t recall who was with me at the time: “How’d you do?” I walked away, needing to be alone, needing to be quiet, needing to be still.

I’ve been dragging that anvil around for 35 years.

I turn back to the photo. Love photos. But it’s clear, cameras, are not my thing.

The photo syncs on iCloud to my laptop. (Magic!)

I convert the Live Photo to a still image.  Upload it to the blog post.  And pause.  Didn’t notice my shadow in the photo until now.

I run my finger around the silhouette. There you are DK. 

You caught yourself in the shot.

Your legs look a bit long, but you turned out to be ok.

35 thoughts on “Running. With Perforated Edges.”

          1. Putting your camera skills aside, if I have to count the 20 people that inspire me the most in this universe, you’re on the list.
            10 people, you’re still on the list.
            5, still on.
            3, on.

            Maybe even 1.
            I appreciate you 🙏🏻

            Liked by 3 people

  9. “There you are DK. … you turned out to be ok”! What a lovely message!
    also, a frequent message showing up recently: “I walked away, needing to be alone, needing to be quiet, needing to be still.”
    Do you get that from running?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  10. Beautiful moment and perfect photo. 👏🌈 My interpretation…in the stillness, you saw your shadow self, the one that has always followed you around. But today you accepted that part of you. You saw it and what you thought was a failure was actually a gift. That’s a miracle. To accept our shadow self is only discovered in still moments, in the pause. Bravo to you. And Happy Easter 🐣

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  13. I applied at one of those online colleges a couple years ago. I think I did OK on reading comprehension and grammar, but blew it on math. I also had to submit an essay.
    The results from the college came in. “Thanks, but no thanks” along with a suggestion that I take a couple math courses at the local community college and check back in a year or two. I figure they were saving me a lot of trouble.
    All in all DK I think we are both OK.
    https://srevestories.blogspot.com/2017/08/no-wonder-they-turned-me-down.html

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  14. I took a day off from reading (catching up – bloody hell). I love this post, David. You share in such a unique and wonderful way. And by the way, the first thing I saw was your shadow 🙂
    I had that “action picture” thing happen on my phone, too. WTF?? Funny when it uploads to my computer, there is only one image. I did find the setting rather by accident and removed it as it annoyed the hell out of me. You did a wonderful job on the pic, so don’t be dissing yourself, K?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a Reply