Reg had a dream. He bought this old freighter and anchored it in the mouth of the river that borders [and feeds] the pulp and paper mill in my area with the intention of fixing it up and sailing [chugging] the high seas. The idea appeals to us all [maybe mostly men?] . Maybe it was just the ‘fixing it up’ part that appealed to him. That lifelong urge to ‘make this a better world ‘ or just renew an old memory or some other ideal. Or maybe because he was a tradesman [electrician…me too] he liked working with his hands [the project].
We should have thanked Reg for so unabashedly sharing this dream of his, but of course, he suffered some derision for “wasting his time and money”.
It wasn’t my dream to sail the high seas [well, it once was, but I had conquered that mid life crisis thing. Had secured a loan to buy that 30 foot sailboat but never went through with it. Instead I bought some camera gear] but at the time I thought that “rustbucket” was the prettiest thing around that old decrepit mill.
So as a tradesman and a photographer and a dreamer I too loved this old scow. I loved the dream it implied and its mere presence constantly refreshed that dream and I liked to go down to the mouth of the river and look.
Just look
…at Reg’s dream
…at the horizon
…and beyond.
“Everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance. Everybody thinks it’s true”…Paul Simon
I thank Reg for helping keep my dreams alive and well. I hope his are too. In real life his freighter sank in an overnight storm but it’s still moored in this and other images I have.
I share his dream.
