Woodfibre Ferry

Architecture, Canon 5D Mark II, Landscape, Mood, Poetry

by Patrick JenningsOct 14, 20157:00 am

Woodfibre Ferry

Vibrant
Important
Utilitarian

Once

Abandoned
Derelict
Unprofitable

Now

Beautiful
Nightfall
Subject

Still

Woodfibre Ferry Terminal
Closed
Squamish,
British Columbia, Canada, 2015

It’s the ocean — generally. Howe Sound, specifically. So it’s already a Happy Place. Add perfect light, spectacular clouds, glassy water reflections and… a camera in my hands.

How could I not submit it for this week’s WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: Happy Place?

8Comment

1

J Lapis on Oct 14, 2015 at 9:19 pm
Reply

Indeed it does make for a beautiful photo subject–and I must say I envy your concise poetry…

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- 2
  Patrick Jennings on Oct 14, 2015 at 11:22 pm
  Reply
  <smile> No one familiar with my prose would praise me for concision. 😉 So, thank you so very much.
  
  Poetry… you’ve put me in a reflective mood….
  
  Are you familiar with the Six Word Story? Hemingway is said to have made a bar bet that he could write a story in just six words. The result?
  
  For sale: baby shoes. Never used.
  
  He said it was his best work. Think about it. There are the three essential elements of a story in there: a beginning, a middle and an end.
  
  That’s pretty impressive, but I think it’s possible to write a poem in as little as three words. (Sort of the way a chord needs three notes.)
  
  Abandoned
  Derelict
  Unprofitable
  
  Those three words, I think, can invoke powerful images in anyone’s mind. I wonder if it would bring to any reader’s mind an image of some ramshackle thing in their lives they should have been rid of years ago. Or of some great folly of a local business, or government, or a friend. I think of Flint, Michigan, which was rendered a huge, urban ghost town by the collapse of the auto manufacturing industry in Michigan. Or of the numerous theme parks which have failed all across the world.
  
  WIth just three words, the reader can synthesize the context, give those words a personal meaning, a special kind of insight. Not only that, there is here a poetic story. A beginning, a middle and an end.
  
  Moreover, the narrative could be considered complex, since the beginning comes at the end.
  
  A “thing” was abandoned. Over time it became increasingly derelict. Why was it abandoned? Because it was unprofitable.
  
  Beginning: unprofitable.
  
  Middle: abandoned.
  
  End: derelict.
  
  Who doesn’t know that aspect of our human condition? Who hasn’t lived it a hundred times over in their own lives?
  
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  - 3
    
    J Lapis on Oct 15, 2015 at 12:50 am
    Reply
    
    Excellent reflective thoughts–and yes, I’m familiar with the 6-sentence story, in particular, Hemingway’s, which packs a punch. I’ll be thinking about how “abandoned, derelict, unprofitable” relates in my life– for the next few hours, I imagine 🙂 Thanks for the deep-thoughts chat!
    
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    - 4
      
      Patrick Jennings on Oct 15, 2015 at 1:11 pm
      Reply
      
      : ) Thank you for inspiring the deep thoughts.
      
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      - 5
        
        J Lapis on Oct 15, 2015 at 1:23 pm
        Reply
        
        Oh my goodness…I’m as likely to inspire silliness and trivia!
        
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        6
        
        Patrick Jennings on Oct 15, 2015 at 4:59 pm
        Reply
        
        But J, silliness, trivia and absurdity are just as important as wisdom, insight and enlightenment.
        
        So good on ya both ways. 🙂
        
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        7
        
        J Lapis on Oct 15, 2015 at 5:17 pm
        
        Oh yippeeee, you’ve made my day, Patrick!!
        
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        8
        
        Patrick Jennings on Oct 15, 2015 at 5:34 pm
        
        🙂
        
        LikeLiked by 1 person

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