random thoughts – Day 1,611 – (Thursday) – missed photo ops

There is an old adage “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Today, on one of the most visually interesting and exciting days in a long time, I forgot my cell phone at home and there would be no pictures for me. 

The omission was realized when I was gathering my bag from the passenger seat to exit the just parked vehicle and walk to the office. Keys, check. Parking garage pass returned to its storage spot, check. Lanyard with work access card, check. Phone. Phone? Phone?!?!? Nope. Not in the bag, nor on the seat, the floor, or the tray under the heater controls and radio. Dang.

It was too late to go back home and fetch the thing, which was likely on the counter where I had been assembling lunch. Or maybe on the bathroom vanity. Or the living room couch or ottoman. Or any number of places.

It was concluded that it might be possible to survive the work day without a phone. That is, as long as I didn’t need to access the timesheet program, content management system, email marketing platform, my bank account, and a few other things. Fingers were crossed. The greatest stressor was the absence of the camera, but some days there isn't much of interest noticed.

This was not to be one of those days. Barely ten paces from the car, there were already visions to be captured in the garage. The levels above the fourth have been closed for a couple weeks and all sorts of noise have drifted down. This morning, looking up the ramp, it was like a movie scene – clouds of steam or mist swirled in the space, backlit by the light from the openings at the top of the ramp. Water streamed down through the gaps in the concrete panels and pooled at the bottom of the ramp. It was a mysterious and fascinating grayscale tableau. And I had no camera.

At lunchtime, with my freshly warmed leftover quinoa edamame bowl arranged in a yin/yang motif on a paper plate with chilled shredded cabbage and broccoli salad, I reached for my phone to take a picture. Then I remembered. No phone, no camera.

At 3:00, an ice cream truck was due in our parking lot, after having visited several branches. The clouds had been darkening and gathering. The truck was late, and during the wait, the wind picked up and the sky became so dark the streetlights all came on. The city hall clock tower, Wannalancit smokestack, and UML tower were shrouded in fog and at times, almost completely hidden. Lightning flashed, and a colleague counted 15 flashes in a short space between thunderclaps.

Storm remnants.

The view out the office window made me think of descriptions of London or Seattle, both places I have never visited. The rain began to fall, gently, then harder, then with full torrential force. What sounded like hail slammed on the skylights. It was dramatic. Picturesque. And not captured in pixels by me, because I forgot my phone.

By 4:00, the sky was getting brighter and the rain had stopped. The ice cream truck had arrived in the midst of the downpour. Those of us on my side of the suite chose to not venture out in the height of the storm, and by the time it had stopped, the truck was gone.

Back at home, the street was mostly cleared, the puddle had formed in one driveway, and the basement had remnants of incoming water. The basement scene was nowhere near as visually interesting as the scenes earlier in the day.

Kiki lounging.

I wondered if Kiki was scared during the storm. She was behind the couch when I got home. She has been more receptive to head pats and face rubs and tonight she walked into the living room and came near me as I sat on the couch to let me stroke her face. She sat in the room, and lounged on the rug long enough for me to get a couple photos. I keep inviting her onto the couch by patting the seat. She watches me, and maybe someday she’ll get the idea to come on up.

Some days there is nothing of visual interest going on. Then there was today, with fascinating visual moments everywhere, and the torture of no way to capture them for future reference. It was painful.