Author Archives: kdriscoll921

End of Innocence

Aside

April 17, 2013
I was just out running alone in the woods and thinking about Monday’s marathon and just felt the need to write out my thoughts so I’ll share them with you here.

I had been quite nostalgic about the marathon this year for many reasons and just the day before the event was reminiscing (actually in writing) about what inspired me to run the marathon many moons ago. I had just moved to Boston and went by myself to the finish line, exactly where the second bomb went off, to watch the elite runners go by. They are fast and unbelievable and unreal. I ended up staying for hours though because where the real inspiration is and the real spectacle and where the crowd goes crazy is for the average runner. The runner out there literally “running for life”!

Be it a journey to ease a bruised spirit, a fundraising run for a friend/family member struggling to battle a deadly disease, to the wheelchair runner who has already lost a struggle, to the soldiers who protect us, to the runner who has trained and run many marathons trying to qualify for Boston the most premiere marathon of all, or just the average college kid who is young and wants to run in costume and drink beers along the way because he can.

The elite runners are done in no time and it is easy for them; but for the average person out there it is a lifetime goal and a huge time commitment and a huge physical struggle and the crowds cheer those people on and get them across that finish line. It is an amazing and difficult struggle to complete a marathon but the feeling that average runner has crossing the finish line is beyond words; one of the best days of my life. Even as a spectator the feeling is incredible watching those people conquer their
goals and the tough course and they literally keep the runners running when all you want to do is stop because your legs have never hurt so much in your life. Those crowds chant “run, keep going…you can do it!”. Those spectators literally get those runners down Boylston St which can feel endless.

This terrorist tried to take that away from people. From the runners who didn’t get to finish, to the spectators who were literally running for their life, to the people who lost their life. BUT this terrorist just gave the average runners MORE REASONS to run.

One…for that beautiful family and two Boston women who just lost so much
Two…for the spectators and runners alive but who are reliving the terror in their mind
Three.. for dreams and goals that you should never give up on
Four… because you still have your legs and you can run
Five….because Monday will not be the marathon we remember

After 117 years….it may be the end of innocence for the Boston Marathon but it is not the finish line. There will be even more runners out there next year to prove that you can’t take the Boston Marathon and all it represents away from us.

LIGHTING TAKES ME BACK

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Norwell MAAnother one of my favorite things to photograph is light; or should I say, how light hits and illuminates places and things.  Light is something that can take me back; back in my mind; I’ll look at the way the light is in the trees and it will remind me of a very specific memory.  This has happened to me numerous times.  One day a few years ago, the lighting in the trees brought me back to a memory of going to a birthday party as a little girl.  I can picture myself wearing a pretty dress and those ankle socks with lace. I can clearly picture the house where the party was, although I have no idea where it was, or whose home it was.  I can still picture the house and the memory, and it was years ago that I was reminded of it. Another time while traveling in Europe during my college years, I turned a corner and looked in the sky and had this strong feeling that I had been there before; yet it was my first time to Europe.  Perhaps a past life?  Not sure I believe in past lives so maybe the lighting just reminded me of a memory that I couldn’t quite call up.

Talking about memories makes me think of something else I always wonder about.  When I read a novel, I have a picture in my mind of each location or room that is discussed in the book.  I don’t consciously think of these while reading but they just pop into my head and I have to concentrate to figure out exactly what the image is.  Where do these visual concoctions come from?  Sometimes I don’t know where the room/location is, yet it is clearly vivid when I read the book.  Does that happen to anyone else?

FIRST POST EVER

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Paths

I’ve always wanted to build my own web site and I recently read “The Happiness Project” and decided to start a blog.  A lot of my friends have suggested to me that I should start a blog as they are always coming to me for advice on restaurants, recipes, apps, books, information on protein powder, name of my acupuncture woman, etc.  I even have one friend (Hi Thyme) who has started giving me information to put in my blog.  So… when I sat down today, I originally planned on writing a blog about my daily life with all sorts of useful information in it where I could direct my friends.  While looking into the WordPress software, I started messing around and thought, why not get my feet wet building a site with all the photographs I have taken over the years.

IMG_0008So here goes…this is not the blog I planned on doing when I woke up this morning.  It is more of a photographic journal of some of my favorite “artistic” photos that I have taken over the years (hence the name ‘Fave Snaps‘).  “Artistic” in the sense that something moved me when I saw the scene and just had to capture it.  I have tons of photos of family and kids attempting to capture a memory, but these are different.

I have taken SO MANY photos over the years but never seem to do anything with them.  Yes they flash on the screen on my computer.  Yes they are all organized digitally on my hard drive.  Yes they are all backed up.  Yes they are all uploaded to an online photo site and shared with interested friends and family.  But can’t think of the last time I printed any photos or updated the photos in the frames in my house.  I used to think I was going to make photo books of each year but this is my year to reduce clutter and honestly I have some photo books and no one looks at them.  I made a photo book of family photos taken in 2006, my first year of going digital, but haven’t compiled any since.  I have probably 20,000 digital photos on my hard drive.  I have a giant Rubbermaid container of photos from childhood to the digital era in my basement, that no one can lift.

Maybe I wonder about the path not taken?

SO…. time to do something with at least a few of these photos and display them here on my new website.  Starting off with some of my favorite shots that I have taken over the years.  Some flowers, some beaches, some cool lighting, some cool structures, some faces, etc; however my absolute favorite thing to photograph are paths and roads.  You’ll see a lot of these.  Maybe I wonder about the path not taken?