Storm Gazing

Though I hate wasting any warm day by staying inside, I am always secretly relieved when a storm forces me to stay in. I can guiltlessly fill my time by parting the blinds and watching the trees and plants sway in the rain while I write in my journal, read & take photos.

As inspiration tends to go, I had no intention of taking photos before these were taken. I was just leaning on my bed when I noticed the way the light bleeding in from the overcast sky looked against the sheets. I grabbed some cozy socks, my grandmother's teacup, some pretty postcards I picked up two years ago in the city's Seaport District, placed my tripod at an awkward angle in my tiny bedroom, and snapped away.

I like storms. But it's the calm before the storm that I love more than any other kind of weather. The part where it's warm and grey but not damp, where you can stand outside & bask in the way that everything around you looks like morning. How the colors stand out in stark contrast to the backdrop of the white sky: suddenly ordinary brick looks beautiful, all the different shades of green are apparent, and the daffodils sitting on the neighbor's fire escape aren't upstaged by the sun.

When planning a shot, I grab a few things that I want to portray in a photograph, and hope that they'll form a cohesive scene. Then I snap roughly 50 photos of the same thing until I'm (mostly) satisfied. I try to make the photographs match the moment that the inspiration to take it sparked, and these images came close to reflecting that.

Although we had a hurricane yesterday, it felt marginally different to all the summer storms we've had so far. In any case, I've been so grateful for the time it has allowed me to fall back into the things that bring simple joy.

Does anyone remember the song "Storm" by Lifehouse? I found it when I was fourteen and ever since I heard it, it gets in my head every time there is a storm. I have no idea what it's called when a song enters your head based solely on the setting you're in, or a word or event triggering it, but it happens to me all the time, whether or not I like the song (I usually don't). Does this happen to anyone else?

If you've stuck with me this long, thanks. I love you. As a parting gift, I'll leave you with a song that reminds me of rain that I actually like. It also reminds me of a sunset and mountains and prairies and heartache and running, but it comes close enough.

See you again real soon, and don't forget to scroll down + add your email if you want to get on my mailing list! (I won't spam you, I promise)

─Krista