Drive-by Shooting in Toronto

© Christine Mastroianni, all rights reserved

I love images like this, which you have probably already deduced by now if you do come to Salt, Angles, and Elation for the occasional visit. I'm not really sure why distressed-looking relics of a distant day appeal to me. Upon selecting this particular image for my post tonight, I mused about this and came up with a few satisfying linguistic combinations: tenaciously weathered... rustically charismatic... inherently functional... refreshingly asymmetrical... 

Delving into it a little deeper, I decide that lingering solely over this trailer's two-dimensional existence allows me to virtually explore it without burden. I imagine touching it without having to worry about inadvertently acquiring a splinter or encountering a web-encased stowaway. I can enjoy its likely history without having to expend energy on its upkeep or to make room on my property for its sizable footprint. I also find myself drawn in by its perfectly affixed hardware.. I am actually longing to slide the metal rod upwards and slip it out of its position! Not because I feel the need to open the gate necessarily; it's just that I see potential motion. Besides, when you think about it, half of a lock's reason for existence is to unlock. It's probably very good at it, too.

And then, perhaps it is the origins of the photograph itself that entrance me. I captured it while sitting comfortably in a passenger seat, awaiting an illuminated colour change at a downtown intersection, blissfully immersed in an intermission from my routine of active duty. Don't get me wrong: I love everything about my routine as well as my daily intentional lack thereof, which you also 'get' if you've been here before! I simply delight in an intriguing change of scenery while indulging in an abundance of uninterrupted deep breathing. Couldn't we all use that from time to time? Long ago, I stopped waiting for it to appear at my door... now I either take advantage of being offered the means to an escape and turn it into what I need or just go out and concoct one on my own. It's all good.