Dear Universe

And what a successful Saturday morning it has been! Craig and I left behind a clean house for the open road ahead and clear blue Manitoba sky above. One Kijiji mission completed, I decided to call upon the mysterious contact given to me after a simple request made at the local camera shop resulted in a phone number in my pocket. Ain't nothing to it but to DO IT. I called up Ron and we paid him a visit at Tech Voc. He gave us a hearty tour of the impressive and chaotic innards of his photo department and then led us back to the place where we came to call. There stood the biggest enlarger I have ever seen in my young years. From the floor it measures a mean four and a half feet tall! I will have to enlist my lover to build a low throne for this beast to roost upon. After we figure out how to assemble and manipulate it that is. This thing has a computerized color head. Say what??

Ron invited us to dig through many a box to fill the missing pieces and weak links of our own darkroom. We pocketed new to us grain finders from Japan, a working order contact sheet easel, two other nice easels for printing and so many lenses and boards to choose from I nearly peed my pants. Driving away with that truckload felt like highway robbery. I think he was just happy to see that sitting duck go to a good home. Coupla' kids we are. And just like that, my world cracked open! Endless possibilities.

One of my goals for 2014 is to print a collection of photographs from the fat stack of 100 year old large format negatives given to me by my grandpa Syd. Ode to Peter Jet Boots, here I come. With this new enlarger, that faraway dream exhibition is now a tangible possibility! Oh Universe, you're good.

Here are a few recent trippy double exposures off a single roll of expired Fujicolor 400. What a surprise this roll was to receive back. It was sitting in my Nikon F3 for so many moons that I forgot I had filled it up once already back in October on my little Olympus rangefinder. Initial layer: driving around in the old 'Yota, Thanksgiving with my mom's family, gentle Uncle Jim and his most recent grandbabe Ben, a quick end of Autumn trip to the Sugar Shack and a final photographic walk-about in Point Douglas etc. Top layer: Many, many photos of the Jackal in my arms, as well as in the sink where he likes to bathe on a daily basis while still small enough to fit and a few shots of the antique photo album compiled for Terry & Myrna. I spy an embossed horse. Enjoy!