A Day of One's Own

You know how some people, on the day that commemorates their birth, pretend that that particular day is not surrounding them, and instead quietly hold their breath until it's over, until they can tear away their page-a-day reminder that they have become a year older? I wonder if these are the same people who impatiently count down five days of every week, merely existing and plodding through the motions until they have gleefully arrived at the two that makes them want to devour life, only to dread starting the agonising process all over again on Monday?

Well I am neither of these people! While I ardently, intentionally or unintentionally, derive some form of pleasure from each and every one of my days, I thoroughly enjoy my birthday, the day of me. I have been thinking about it all week, deciding that just because it is my birthday, I am just going to do whatever makes me happiest: savour some decadently dark chocolate in the afternoon, spend a lunchhour meandering around Winners in pursuit of something stimulating, share the happiness that I feel for life with a fellow Aries.... but then I realised that I pretty much do things like this all the time! 

So, just because, I thought it would be fun to share a few of my thoughts on how to enjoy life.... Christine style:

Seek out the little details and revel in them.

Perched in a doorway of the Anglican Church of the Redeemer on Bloor Street, Toronto       

Unabashedly indulge in that which causes you to smile from the inside out.

Holt Renfrew window display, Bloor Street, Toronto

Marvel in your body as it exists.

 

Regularly and unapologetically surrender
to the whims of your passions.

 




Seize any opportunity

to revisit your childhood home.



Labrador City, Newfoundland. May 1992



Frequently contemplate your surroundings.



    

Behave like an enthralled tourist,

whether vacationing or not.

But vacation often.



Whitehall Subway Station, Manhattan

 

Relish each and every occurence of your birthday!

My Grandmother, August 2000



Sushi Lunch on the Niagara Parkway

© Christine Mastroianni, all rights reserved

We had pulled over to check out some uncommon species of ducks when I spotted this pair of gulls and crept over to see what was engaging them. I don't know how the fish entered the equation - whether it was freshly plucked from the river or discovered ashore - but it was pretty clear that the beak that carried it had no intention of sharing it. I did advance close enough to lay on the dock, and with my 300mm lens, secured myself plenty of whimsical photos. I also made sure that I occasionally paused to just observe the interaction. As it turns out, they weren't even fighting over the morsel... it was almost as if the gull in the back were standing guard as his companion took her time flipping it around and repositioning it without disruption. But this particular shot seems to be portraying furtive behaviour, and upon pondering it, I imagine the various possible statements the opportunistic gull might be uttering:

"I am going to enjoy this all on my own, thank you very much....."

"You keep watch as I divide this into two equally-sized portions.... yeah that's what I'm going to do...."

"Of course I'm going to let you have some... just hold on a moment..."

"Don't worry - I'm just going to lay it over here until we catch another one......"

A Gull from New York City patrolling one of the Staten Island Ferries

© Christine Mastroianni, all rights reserved

This is my city… mine. I get a free ride on this ferry whenever I want so I can chatter my lungs out at all the pretty gulls that hang out here. I get to fly solo to the top of the Empire State Building and look down at the rows of rooftops and trail of taillights as the sun grows weary from illuminating this energetic metropolis all day.

If I feel like perching on a bracket in front of the Coca-Cola display at One Times Square and bathe in all its warm, neon glory, then I am going to do it whether Newscorp likes it or not! I repeatedly and brazenly ignore orders like "No Standing", "No Trespassing", "Don't Honk" and other posted restrictions that this city's human inhabitants feel the need to impose on one another. I don't even have to concern myself with their preposterous threats...penalty schmenalty.

I get to feast on half-consumed big apples and discarded hot dog buns and capsized bags of popcorn in Central Park for as long as I want and then proceed to drop my duty into the Bethesda Fountain. And there's not a darn thing you can do about it!

Look at that magnificent skirt of skyscrapers that watches over these Staten Island Ferries as they pass one another day by day, hour by hour. I've flown over every single one of those towers and I know which ones have the best gardens erupting out of their soaring pillars of metal and concrete. Never mind the Grey Line trolley buses. You want to see New York City, stick with me. I'll show you New York City. This is my city.

An Evening with Brass

© Christine Mastroianni, all rights reserved

A good friend of mine not only invited me to check out his brass band's rehearsal, he even said yes when I asked if I could take pictures of the guys as they were playing. Of course the guys weren't so sure about playing for paparazzi at first, but I think they eventually got used to me creeping around on the carpet in pursuit of some good vantage points.

Despite a music stand barricade, I managed to capture natural images of some nice guys spending a few hours doing something they really loved and were fortunate enough to have worked it into their bustling lives. It's good to have a hobby, especially something as intricate as playing a brass instrument, even one that doesn't occupy as much of your time as you wish it could. I  like to think that it's always there, waiting patiently for you, letting you indulge without holding a grudge for the times you didn't play it.

I later switched the bulk of the evening's results to black and white and plan to share them with the band members, just because they might like to have them. I always review a new batch of photos several times because frequently, those that didn't excite me upon first glance will tend to surprise me later on. And I always get a charge out of inspecting reflections.

I discovered this gem in one of the images, hiding in the bell of my friend's French horn. This one got to keep its colour: I adore the dramatic splashing of the blazing red carpet and tungsten lit walls. These bold hues combined with the distortion and the subject positioning reminds me of a post-impressionistic painting... shades of de Toulouse-Lautrec perhaps? And it was all captured just as you see it here, photoshopped only to crop and rotate. A miniature portrait unassumingly nestled within an otherwise well-behaved image.. just waiting to be released!

Here's what it looked like before I pulled it out:

Port Colborne, Ontario

 

© Christine Mastroianni, all rights reserved                   

Children have no past and future. Thus they enjoy the present - which seldom happens to us.

- Jean De La Bruyere

I know it isn't summertime and I am therefore clashing with the season by posting this pic, but I am sure most of you viewing this are okay with being momentarily transported to warmer, lazier days. (Pause to feel the sultry sun caressing your cheeks.........)  I happen to love winter, and am also content with being on the brink of spring, so I'm not desperately longing for the mugginess of summer. I think in all honesty I was just in the mood to post a sweet picture of feet!

It was a lazy Sunday afternoon and we were visiting the stunning botanical creation of a photographer friend of mine - the perfect summer destination for my two curious little men. They were enthralled by the flurry of minute pond creatures that must have been skimming right over their submerged fingers..... seeking out darting damselflies as they teasingly hovered over the aquatic vegetation. I love how children can truly enjoy the moment in which they are currently breathing... they care not about what time it is, fuss not about getting dirty, worry not about whether there are spiders potentially lurking between the planks below them. (All things that I would probably be contemplating were I in this position!!!)

When I look at this picture, I remember a relaxing afternoon spent beneath a gazebo, kicking back and catching up with my good friend.. it was just a great day! The weather was wonderfully warm, not too humid or breezy, and I was revelling in the notion that this was the only real requirement of my day. I was quite conscious of this fact: treating it as a fleeting escape from all of my responsibilities. The simple fact of being removed from my own domesticated environment meant that I was physically unable to combine pairs of sports socks or remove lunchtime's spaghetti sauce from my dishes...I could just sit and breathe and talk. And enjoy it.

But my kids weren't revelling or relaxing or thinking about any of these things at all.  They were lying at the water, smiling as minute pond creatures skimmed over their submerged fingers, seeking out darting damselflies as they hovered over the vegetation.