Orange you glad it’s winter?
I long for spring. At this point, I can only imagine what it will feel like to lose the layers, put on a t-shirt, take a walk and breathe in the scent of spring. I imagine that I will go for a walk around Lake Calhoun, I’ll take a break half way around the lake and plop down in the grass. Surrounded by grass that’s been warmed by the sun, gravity will pull me down to it and I will lie on my back with a panoramic view of the sky. It’s a perfect, red-filter day—the cumulus clouds are set against a cool shade of blue. When shooting with black and white film, a red filter darkens the blue and lightens the red, so the white puffy clouds will really pop on photographs. Only this day I will not be armed with my camera—only my eyes—and my imagination will begin to drift as I see the clouds forming animals, people and objects.
Okay, I realize it is going to be months before I can let my imagination drift while lying on the bare ground, gazing at white puffy clouds. But that doesn’t stop my imagination from being full steam ahead in the winter. I just channel it in a different way—orange peels.
Citrus are in season. The sweet, juicy flesh of an orange is just what my spirit needs on a blustery, snowy day. I challenge myself with every piece of fruit that I’ll peel it on one piece. The peels make unusual and interesting shapes, which I interpret—just like the clouds—as animals, people or objects. See what I mean in the photos below. The rules of this game are to peel a piece of citrus in one piece, then lay the peel flat on the table, rotate and evaluate.
#1. It looks like a fish. A deep sea fish. Likely a new discovery deep int he depths of the ocean.
#2. Buttefly.
#3. From the torso up, it is a bowler, extending his arm back in perfect form. He got a strike. His face even features an eye, nose and mouth.
#4. Swiming toward the left, this is one angry shark. Watch out surfers!
#5. This small animal like organism has a cute head shape, with pig like snout and mohawk.
#6. This one is my favorite, it's a vulture perched on a tree branch about to take flight.
#7. The head of a triceritops, the body of an insect.
What do you see when you look at these images? Leave a comment with your thoughts!
