“It feels like half the world has gone away, doesn’t it?” asked a fellow twin parent I keep bumping into.
He was referring to my outing with just one twin, the other one out with his dad, swapping from the day before.
“Yes”, I replied, stunned. “It does.”
Calmer and finally able to focus on the child in front of me: today, the one pulling the comic faces but in a very subtle way, so that you had to know him to know he was joking; yesterday, the one riding his scooter down a hill fast, wearing a big boy skateboarder helmet paired with sweet dragon puppet mittens from H&M. A British-looking guy pushing a pram with his wife flashed a warm smile and gave my kid the thumbs up when he passed.

The stories kids this age tell, at almost four, are amazing. Their vocabulary is as impressive as their memory.
One day, a short while ago, something odd happened. No one knew what was going to happen.
On a planet, from within the ground, came a monster. And there was a boy with a backpack to protect him in case the monster tried to bite him.
But they became friends and saw each other every day. The boy realised the monster just wanted to learn how to play. The end.
Oh, I said. That’s… quite a story! Did you hear it at daycare or make it up yourself?
It’s from a commercial, Mum.
A few days ago, I stole a rare moment of me-time and walked downtown to visit Vivian Maier’s photo exhibition. And I was the only customer there. No one else but me! It felt like going to see Picasso and being the only one who showed up – her exhibition had been the museum’s most popular one ever, just before Covid hit.
Part of me couldn’t believe my luck, and the other part wondered if the apocalypse had started without me. Indeed, seeing the very exhibition that was on the top of my list and it happening to be in the middle of a pandemic felt odd. The fact that our government was planning curfew added to my feeling of having found a glitch in the system.
This shouldn’t be possible, not right now. Art in a pandemic? Enjoying yourself, forgetting for a moment about the present. Vivian’s photos transferred me to Chicago and New York in the late fifties and early sixties, and they were irresistible. The characters she had spotted and immortalized in her shots, the funny details, it all felt so upbeat.
Aghast, I looked at crowds and dirty hands, and it felt like another planet. I wondered about the people in her shots: the grown-ups were most certainly dead, and the children possibly alive, enjoying happy retirement after a childhood in fashion so different than today’s.
Vivian’s vast collection of film was discovered after her death and I wonder if she would be pleased with her late fame, or perhaps feel violated? Nobody asked for her permission before they made public all the views her eyes had seen, her mind had sought. Just like most of the people in her shots didn’t know they would end up in an exhibition. Nevertheless, I’m on the winning side, having had the chance to enjoy these vivid moments of street life.
The photos in my post have nothing to do with Vivian, or my kids, or commercials that sound like stories. I just haven’t published them yet and thought I might as well use them. The first and last ones are from last summer, moody clouds and all. The middle one is a winter shot, in case our seasons seem unrecognizable from these limited views.
Happy Easter!
44 replies on “Half the World”
Happy Easter
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Thanks, you too!
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Happy Easter to you all too! xx
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Thanks, Marion, the same to you!
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Lovely post. 🙂 Ahh, your summer that looks like our stormy winter while our summer feels like the desert. I’m so glad you had Vivian to yourself (really, discovered after death?). And that’s a great story story. 😀 I could just hear him say it’s from a commercial and you laughing. Glitch in the system… we all need one of these.
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More glitches in the system and secret arts expos, why yes please 😊
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I love the opening line. If you’re into it, it’d be a perfect line for a haiku!
Ever since I wrote my first haiku, I’ve been seeing 5 & 7 lines and potential 🙂
I’m glad you had a special gift on your me-time day.
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It almost feels like
Half the world has gone away
Just us two today
😅
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Wonderful!
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I envy your visit to the Vivian Maier exibition. It must have been a feast to the eye, but, yes, also strange to be there all by yourself. Quite some time ago the world was discussing the so called Neutron bomb. The bomb would kill people but leave structures undamaged. Covid seems to be some far away cousin of it. Nevertheless – happy easter!
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Oh yes, I’ve half-watched a few ”documentaries” on what it would be like after mankind… plants and animals taking over. But I’m not sure animals would survive whatever wipes us out. Still, a fascinating concept. But yes, despite the topic, Happy Easter! 😊 Is it warm there?
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Thank you! But no! Not at all warm! We might have frost in the night and the northen wind brings cold weather and perhaps even snow. 😦 🙂
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Ah, so we aren’t the only ones! 😅 oh well…
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Happy Easter TSMS. How lovely you got to see the photo exhibit!
Alison
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Thanks Alison dear! It was such an unexpected treat. Also, I noticed that I perhaps appreciated it more than I would’ve done previously, when even art had become a bit mundane with easy access
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Great reading, Snow! Happy Easter to all of you! Marcus
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Thanks Marcus, you too!
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Your boy is a great storyteller! Even if the idea wasn’t original. Nice that to got to see the art exhibition you were after. A moment of stillness in your busy life.
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All too rare, yes! Hope you’re well, Amanda! Happy Easter 😊
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Happy Easter!
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I’ve said it before, but will say it again, your photos compliment your story beautifully, even if they’re not connected. I laughed at the ‘It’s from a commercial, Mum’ line. Is that the first of the ‘try and keep up, Mum,’ comments or are you already well into them? Was eye rolling involved?
What a treat to have the Vivian Maier exhibition all to yourself, being able to take your time and move from photo to photo when it suited you. I don’t know if you’ve seen the documentary ‘Finding Vivian Maier,’ but if not, you might enjoy it. I thought it was really was done.
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Thanks for the tip, I’ll definitely watch Finding Vivian Maier! I’m glad you thought the photos matched: the last one was a bit stormy for the quite happy mood in my mind, but I still wanted to post it with the first one. They are from different places but somehow seemed to match.
(Oh, and eyerolling isn’t quite here yet but I’m sure we aren’t far!)
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Well, I didn’t find the last stormy pic to be downbeat. I liked the how the valley leads my (non-rolling) eye to into the photo.
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Thanks, Graham
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Always welcome
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Happy Joyful Easter 🕊️❤️
Sid
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Thanks Sid, you too! Hope you are well! Nice to see you drop by again 😊
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Me, very happy to visit you again 😜❤️
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🤩
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Happy Easter!yes,I know the feeling even though they aren’t twins..
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Oh you can relate for sure, no doubt about it! 😁 Enjoy Easter! xoxo
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Thanks xoxo
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Enjoy the VIP feeling while it lasts! I’ve gotten so used to not having crowds anywhere I go, that when I do encounter more than a handful it freaks me out…
As for Maier, part of the allure of her work is that so little is known about her life and personhood. But, she would’ve hated the notoriety, I think.
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I’m afraid I agree, she seems like the private type. Not everyone wants fame. At what point does art, of any kind, become bigger than the artist, I wonder? So big that it overrides immaterial rights?
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sometimes i wish i had a pertinent comment to add, but rarely i do. But i do like your posts! Happy Easter!
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😁😁 Your comments make me laugh, Andy, and that’s perfect enough!
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The middle shot is definitely very unique but the last one is my favorite. It looks like it could be a painting.
Another blogger, who’s a photographer, has been posting a lot of photos of people pre-pandemic. It definitely seems ‘weird,’ as if from another world.
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Now that you mention the last shot looking like a painting, I’m suddenly imagining it as a jigsaw puzzle 😁 Thanks Goldie for stopping by. And I have to agree, pre-pandemic photos look so crowded… an unsanitary!! People eating with their hands or waiting for a train very closely packed, oh my
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I too am a Vivian Maier fan .. she was amazing! How lucky for you to spend time in the gallery .. I sure hope she doesn’t mind, talent like hers needs to be shared 🙂
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She was amazing, I agree! Thanks Julie for dropping by, enjoy the weekend! ☺️
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It surely feels everything odd nowadays…how this pandemic changed all our lives.It´s a hard toll on everyone.
Imagine, 2x in a row that Easter is nothing but an ordinary day now, just like otherdays in Lockdown.
But one thing is for sure, our kids are growing so fast, we can´t control that, they observe what is going on outside and shoot us questions. I am hoping they would grow in an environment far better (healthier) than what we have now.
Art in Pandemic, why not? !!:-))
Stay safe.
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Our kids will grow up thinking face masks are normal. Hope they won’t feel anxiety one day when they happen to stumble upon a crowded event, like a concert? So odd, yes.
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Always love to read your stories. That time spend alone at the gallery is just pure luxury. I am late to wish, but Happy Easter to you and family! 🙂
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Thanks for the wishes and hope you and your family had a good one, too! And yes, a little luxury is what I needed in the midst of this pandemic. Take care!!
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