Connections

Connections is the November-December article in Shadow and Light Magazine.  It’s about encounters that occur quite by chance with strangers who tell me the arc of their lives or the most important events in them. Here I offer snippets that are part of longer stories. These highlights offer a glimpse of what I heard, felt and remember. All three approached me and my welcoming countenance. Each was a gift.

Rudy Mauldin

When I told Rudy Mauldin that I live in Taos, he said, “It’s a neat town.”

I replied that, “It certainly is but there’s a palpable separation of the cultures and simmering resentment beneath the surface.”

 “Tell me about it. I went to high school in Pojoaque and got my ass kicked more times than I can remember. It was so bad I was hospitalized with ulcers.” 

Ken Tingsley

I was photographing the Rio Hondo when Ken Tingsley yelled, “Take my picture. I’m getting married today.

I was taken startled but intrigued so I said, “Sure.”

I took a handful of photographs at the overlook and we walked back to Tingsley’s Trailer. He stepped into the trailer, poured himself two inches of whiskey and pointed at a makeshift altar. “See that photograph? That’s my late son. I’m wearing his tee shirt right now.”

Cristiana

I sensed someone behind me as I photographed the alley behind Main Street in Santa Paula, California.

I turned around and a woman asked, “Mind if I photograph the artist at work?”

I told her to “ Go for it.  I’m Steve.”

She responded, “I’m Cristiana."

I told her, “I love connecting with a stranger like we’re doing right now.”

She responded, “That happens when you feel safe with a person. Like I feel with you.”

Each of these meetings was the subject of a blog post which was more fulsome than these snapshots.

Each connection was life affirming and joyous. They filled my chest and pointed me down the highway of discovery. Meeting Rudy Mauldin propelled me south on US 285 toward Marfa, Texas, elated and excited about my newest friend.

I have thirty such experiences that may grow till they fill an album of portraits and stories about strangers who became a friends on my long highway of life.