Week 2.20: Unaware

Week 2.20: Unaware. Finally. The 20's. Sheesh. This second go-round of Project 52ing it has been a major challenge for me! Nevertheless, I continue foraging for proofs that I am, indeed, "a creative," which is always under the microscope in my own mind. Nevertheless, I had this picture rolling around in the back of my mind for more time than I'd like to admit, and I finally pulled it out, dusted it off, and gave it a good going over with the Photoshop.

While editing is definitely not one of my favorite past times, it serves its purpose now and again, and Unaware is one of those now and agains. This photo features none other than my lovely friend, Wahkuna, standing on the bridge that crosses the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon. I'm pretty sure she doesn't remember this photo being taken. I'm also quite certain she's not sure what to think of being featured in my blog. whatever.

I want to talk about the bliss of the Unaware. I love that right there, right in that place where she stood, my friend was so involved in soaking up the smell and sounds and sights of that little moment that she was totally Unaware of the lens being pointed at her. And, knowing her as I do, I'll venture to say that she was actually framing an image in her mind, cementing that bridge with all its texture and movement and personality into her heart. She's that kind of girl.

She's the kind of girl who doesn't know how addictive her laugh is. How the sparkle in her eye dares you to follow her into the next chapter of the adventure. She's the kind of girl who stays up all night nursing kids on the brink of collapse but somehow burns the other end of the candle to run straight after something hidden and amazing in spite of her long shift at work. She's the kind of girl who doesn't know how to pick a cat, but loves the cat she picks.

She's the kind of girl whose hair color changes, whose shoes change, whose scarves change but she remains the same. She's the kind of girl whose reliable and dependable, the rockstar who is always trying to take the back seat. She deserves first chair, but she prefers waiting in the wings.

She's the girl who came to be with me the first holiday I was alone in Hawaii...after a certain someone disappeared from my life. She's the girl who has beach combed and swum and strolled and cycled and sunned and ice creamed with me on both sides of the Pacific. She's the girl who stood next to me before dawn at the Balloon Fiesta and road tripped with me more than once. The California coast in the college days. Durango and all over Washington state more recently.

She's the girl who didn't rail at me when I left my purse behind on the patio where we had been eating frozen yogurt...just laughed and drove me back. She's the girl who kept me from being killed when I became completely engrossed in the pattern automotive oil makes in the parking lot after a rain in Kauai. She's the girl whose never been embarrassed of me for hanging in a very unladylike position or even taking a tumble chasing after a certain angle with my lens. She's the girl who refused to let me eat tomatoes left behind in a lovely pile at Balboa Park.

She's the girl who always knows what to say in cards and seems to know just when to send them. She's the girl who cheered for me all through art school and openly admired that I was submitting myself to such "subjective" judgment on such a regular basis. She's the girl who has always voted for me, even when I received a failing grade on a project in design class (my major).

She's the girl who never wants the spotlight on her. She's the girl whose Unaware of just how fabulous she is, no matter how many times I tell her.

And she's my friend. Lucky, lucky me.

(Just so you all have fair warning: I've gotten it in my head to do a "Featured Favorite" of the month each month this year. Wahkuna, you get first choice for January. Everyone else, watch out, you might be next!)