Capturing a Moment

Maybe it’s me.

Over the course of January, on two separate occasions, people asked if I’d take a picture.

“No problem,” I said. “Hand me your camera.”

“No, no, no,” they responded. “We don’t want you to take a picture of us, we want to take a picture of you.”

This was strange the first time, but I didn’t give it much thought. Strange the second time, but also moved on pretty quickly.

In February, however, the experience was so bazaar that I’d label it unforgettable.

I was guarding in the museum and a middle-aged man ran over, put his arm around me, and next thing I know his wife is snapping photos, as if she was a paparazzo. The fact that photos are not allowed in the museum aside, I was mortified that a stranger was touching me, and that without asking someone was taking photos!

Just as I began to yell, the woman said, “It’s okay, it can’t be a bad thing. You just look like a creature from another planet, who will only be here a short time.”

Ummmm... Puzzled, the only words I could muster up were, “I don’t really know how to respond to that.”

Unphased, the woman asked, “I’ll take one with you too?”

Blown away by having just been told that I’m an alien, I was speechless.

Her husband took several photos of her standing beside me and then they proceeded to continue looking at the works on the walls, as if our extremely odd interaction never occurred.

Later, the couple found me again, guarding in another room, and proceeded to ask me questions about myself like what I’m interested in, where I’m from, how old I am, etc… They refused to tell me much about themselves, but they did note that they are from Romania and that she paints as a hobby.

Next, they went outside and took dozens of pictures of Peggy’s grave, from every angle.

Seeing as guarding galleries provides far too much time to think, I spent the next hour contemplating all of the reasons these people might have found me intriguing. I came to the conclusion that perhaps their deceased child looked like me.

Or maybe…

I’m a stolen child! Mom and Ab, did you kidnap me in the 80’s causing the news and the entirety of popular culture to spend these past couple of decades looking for me? Nah, probably not…

Anyway, despite having recharged my internet less than a week ago, as is monthly ritual, today my internet ceased to work. Bright and early, I walked my computer over to the Vodafone store and sat on the Rialto Bridge until the shop opened.

Lo and behold, a group of tourists came over and asked if they could take photos with me!

Finally used to this now fairly frequent request, I responded “of course, but let’s take one with my camera too…” So above, is a picture of me with my very own group of strangers…

Call me a narcissist, but was that movie The Truman Show based on my life? If so, I better stop those silent raves I’ve been having in my room, because that’s just embarrassing.

(Too Much) Time to Think

You know when you are carrying a lot of things and you drop one, lean down to retrieve it, and drop another on your way back up?

I had an analogous experience when uploading my last post. Each time I added one photo, another one changed locations, or disappeared altogether! In fact, it took me as much time to upload and format the post as it did to actually write it! And it doesn't even look so great!

To avoid overwhelming amounts of frustration, I headed to the sunny outdoors, (yes one whole day of sun in Venice,) several times during the day for breathers and to hang out with Linda, who is in town visiting!

At one point before I met up with Linda, I sat on the monument in Campo S. Stefano, which you can see on the left, (who is he by the way?) and watched the pigeons. I strongly dislike pigeons, in fact so much so that I will not, under any circumstance, pass through Saint Mark's Square, (the city center,) which is known for being home to abnormally massive flocks of pigeons that some tourists enjoy feeding, petting, holding, and taking photos with.

Here are some questions and thoughts about pigeons:

1) How come I've never seen a baby pigeon? Discovery Online revealed to me that this is because pigeons hide their nests and don't let their children leave until they are full grown. However, in the spring and summer it is possible to spot young pigeons, as they occasionally have some down poking out from beneath their feathers, and they also have narrower heads. Based on the picture to the right, young pigeons are actually just the pigeons I always thought were diseased. (On a side note, Discovery online also taught me that the calcium in a bird's bones is amassed through the eggs shell which thins during the incubation process.)

2) Why do pigeons peck at each other's faces, as if they violently kissing? I learned from a pigeon breeding website that yes, in fact pigeons do kiss - it's called billing, and it's part of the courtship and mating process. (By the way, this question lead me to wonder how pigeons have sex. If you are interested in learning the answer search it on Youtube, home to hundreds of videos on the subject.)

3) Sometimes I see pigeon on the menu at restaurants here. Are those wild pigeons or farm raised? I could not eat a pigeon for the life of me - I know that's totally a matter of socialization, but even thinking about that grosses me out. Now that I've yucked what might be your yum, have you ever eaten pigeon? If so, what's it like?

4) What if pigeons had arms? I unsuccessfully Googled this one. Guess I'll have to invent a pigeon with arms in my sketchbook, or perhaps I'll leave that image to my imagination - at least then I'll smile, instead of run, each time I pass a pigeon...