The Tuesday noon Kinship Practice Group met yesterday. I had “nothing.” No images to share. Not much to contribute. I was in hiding. I almost hid by turning off my camera, but I let myself be seen. As I talked to the group about wanting to hide in light of the past week (the shooting of Charlie Kirk, the anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001), our facilitator suggested that I take advantage of that idea and look for the things that are hiding.

Today, I had a couple of things on my agenda for photographs. The group assignment for the coming week is to take daily photos of something to notice the often subtle changes that occur. The second thing I wanted to accomplish was to pay attention to the things that are hidden but want to be seen.

To satisfy the first “assignment,” I am photographing the cherry tree in the backyard.

If only these cherries were edible! The tree is loaded with fruit.

Now, what is hidden but wants to be seen. . . . So many things caught my eye today. These things are hiding in plain sight! And as I looked, the more I saw. I came in with more than 100 images. Of course, some of these images are ‘rejects.” Repetitive. Out of focus. “Miscomposed.” And yet. . . I saw something beautiful in them.

One of my misfires is this one:

It is all out of focus! Yet it is the lack of focus that speaks to me–the quiet greens and soft purples. The suggestion of late summer.

Some other things that were hiding in plain sight:

All I have to do is look for the beauty that hides in plain sight. It’s there.