A Rockwell Moment

Siblings at Play in Store
Southlake, TX

"The soul is healed by being with children"

― Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Spent some time browsing at a local store. It's the tail end of the shopping season. All I am sure are weary of the commotion. I happened to glance over in a nook of this beautiful warm store when I saw a composition which seemed to me straight from a Norman Rockwell painting; two children, a brother and sister transfixed with a game on their iPhone, entertaining themselves while mom shopped.

My day changed after that moment. I knew I had captured something ; a piece of life that I had forgotten about. Spent some time wondering how to be render this image while preserving its simplicity and message. Think I nailed it. Sometimes you just have to keep your eyes wide open.

www.photographybyalhernandez.com

Abandoned Dreams

Abandoned Dreams
Keller, TX

There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why… 

I dream of things that never, were and ask why not?

Robert F. Kennedy

We' ve actually had a bit of premature winter this month in north Texas: some snow, ice, and rain. Morning temperatures have dipped into the low 20's and days remained chilly, hard to stay comfortably warm even indoors. 

During one of my morning walks accompanied by our one hundred pound black lab, Grady, I stumbled across this abandoned doll. It quickly caught my attention and made me think in terms of its symbolism. Did the child who owned this know it was missing? Did the parent eventually return to search for this doll? Do we do the same, or do we give up pursuing our babies and dreams?

It would be easy at this stage of my life to succumb to the cynicism which encompasses my world. However, I choose not to let go of my idealism and remain steadfast to changing the world and making my life mean something for me. Can't say I am ready to abandon yet any of my dreams. For me its a constant struggle between following the conventions of my world or the convictions of my heart.

www.photographybyalhernandez.com

Practice Faith & Charity

Suerte y Sin Suerte: La Limosna
San Miguel de Allende, GTO, Mx

“Live simply so others may simply live.” 
― Mother Teresa

Yesterday was an extraordinary day, it was the culmination of very stressful and arduous week. My week included trying to close on my father's house (in Florida) while trying to catch a standby flight to El Paso and then crossover into Juarez all on the heels of an ice storm (not something I would recommend). At last moment, my first standby cancelled and my chances of catching the second were diminished; the clock was working also against me. 

Then it happened, the phone call I dreaded, "Mr. Hernandez we don't have the original Power of Attorney document to close on the deal".  There was not one more drop that could be added to my cup it was full. Everything that I could have possibly done was already done. All I could think of was that the document had the attorney's address and they could call him. Fortunately, the realtor decided to call my niece who was also her friend to check to see if my sister had the original document. The only hitch was that my sister was also on a flight home. Fortunately, my sister arrived home in time to turn around and drive two hours from Jacksonville to Orlando and deliver the document in time.

The day had already turned into a year and still I was on the ground at DFW. Finally made the second standby flight to El Paso and caught a cab and crossed over to Juarez where I caught my flight to Chihuahua. Rested up that evening with two banderas (a drink of three separate jiggers of lime, sangrita, and white tequila, representing the colors of the Mexican flag.) I felt very patriotic by the evening's end.

On Friday, when I finally rested up in the afternoon back home at Starbucks. I met a man very much down on his luck and nearly crippled with arthritis. He gave me the typical homeless pitch about needing money for gas…and that he was stuck in Keller. Had come down from Tulsa and was on his way just outside of Weatherford. For whatever reason, I didn't care if it was true or not. 

"Where is your truck? I asked. He pointed at a beat up Nissan pickup. "How many gallons does it take? "I quizzed. "It takes 15 gallons." He replied.

For a moment I thought how foolish it  would be to give money. That it would be best to take him to the gas station myself and fill up the tank. Then I thought, it really didn't matter this could be me. Yes it could go for drugs or booze, but either way this man was human and down on his luck. I thought about the past three years of my own joblessness reached into my pocket and gave him $40 bucks. "Go get gas, go get gas." 

The man thanked and promised to pay it forward. He barely could walk to this truck and fell and needed someone else's help before he got into his truck and drove off. Don't know if he really needed gas money and perhaps will never know. All I know is that I am grateful to all of you for being there for me these past three years. 'Tis the season of faith and charity. Practice both please. 

www.photographybyalhernandez.com

Treasures: Midlife Discovery

Around Town
Keller, TX

Some of the best treasures may lie directly in front of you. We don't always see them but that doesn't mean that beneath the surface of where you stand they don't exist. The key to finding treasure is maintaining a curious mind and believing in the possibility that it exists. Curiosity and belief are qualities that many discard along the journey travails.

As a photographer, I focus on fractions of a second with the undying optimism that each contains some kind of treasure that requires my time to discover. We don't know what we will find until we try. The hope of finding something keeps us curious and eager to search.

There so many obstacles which we let get in the way of discovery. Often times we call them obligations. Sometimes its also a matter of how we think. Our thinking holds us back and we don't see the possibilities or fail to discover them. Yet each day that goes by without discovery becomes wasted; another day that we will never get back.

What some people coin midlife crisis, I prefer to re-label as midlife discovery. We are ticking time bombs each with a preset clock. Dare we risk putting of discovery for an uncertain day in the future that may never come? How wise is having an ample 401K at age 80 when you  have such little time left or health to enjoy it?

www.photographybyalhernandez.com

Thanksgiving Thoughts

The Crossing
Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, MX

"Our greatest glory in life is not in never falling
but in rising every time we fall."
Confucius

A year ago marked the end of nearly three years of unemployment and the beginning of a new work adventure which led me to Tucson, AZ. While I was happy with the idea of having a job I was saddened by the thought of leaving my comfort zone, home, and family.

Within the first week, my new company was acquired and all the promises made broken. Yet I was required to move and commit to an apartment rental. To say the least, I was bitter, anxious, lonely, and angered by the emotional drama. My journey took a completely different twist and I was reluctant to embrace the change it brought.

Pima Canyon Sunset

The only and best way for me to handle the new job experience and change was to view it as a glorified part time job in a region of the country I longed to be in. After months of emotional struggles with the job, I found refuge within the nearby mountains and in the mornings of the high desert of Tucson and southeast Arizona. The adventure took a completely twist then and I was able to produce some of my best work. Some of it now resides at the Simon Gallery of Fine Art located in Steinway Piano Gallery in Tucson.

For that twist, I am truly grateful. Had it not been for extreme loneliness and the stimulus of mountains and desert, that work never would have happened. Just when I had given up hope that I would be back joining my family and soon to be born triplet grand babies, I discovered that I had landed a new job back home in Dallas/Fort Worth. This happened one week after the birth of beautiful triplets. This job would keep me home and take me back working in Mexico again.

For the second time in less than a year, I am starting over. This time I confess, I am happy about the opportunities, but I truly miss the desert which I grew fond of at the foothills of the Catalina Mountains and the open pastures of Patagonia. There will be different adventures to chronicle from the industrial border towns this time.

In the mean time, all of my work is for sale and I will be actively marketing it this coming year. My financial recovery is beginning but the huge deficits caused by the unemployment seem unsurmountable but I see some glimmer of hope. Now I need those interested in my work to buy or engage me and support my work. You can friend me on FB or reach me via my website or this blog.  My product offerings are all custom and range from 5x7 cards to 24x36 canvas prints. Truly there's more to my prints than meets the eye. There's a complete story. Go back and read my journey starting from March of 2010 to now…see the chronicled ups and downs. I've survived but still am struggling. Would appreciate you getting the word out about my work. Go ahead and share my blog with others.

www.photographybyalhernandez.com

Autumn Thoughts

Stroll in the Park
iPhone
Keller, TX
“No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace
as I have seen in one autumnal face.” 
― John Donne

We have had an unusual autumn here in north Texas. The kind I would have expected the likes of New England where I spent my youth. The mornings have been crisp and we've even had some early frost. All of this and I suppose moisture at the appropriate times has brought us an interesting array of yellows, ambers, and oranges that we normally don't receive.

Autumnal Author and Photographer:
Al Hernandez

It's all good and this autumn twist has lifted my spirits given that at this time of year I really get homesick for both my Berkshires and the hilly terrains of nearby Catskills. Although its neither the New England nor upstate New York, this year it will have to suffice.

A few years ago, I grew fond of an expression: "bloom where you are planted". Don't know who said it and for sure I would give them due credit. This I know that it makes perfect sense to enjoy what what you have at hand and can enjoy. It makes no sense wishing today away or wondering what the future would hold if only and only if.

While my mother claimed to have extraordinary insight, I can't say that I have the same vision. Instead Im learning through nature and the nurturing of friends to enjoy and live each day with what I have. Suppose in Texas our twist to the adage is simply "dance with the one who brung ya". Think I will keep enjoying our autumn the one I have and not the one I wish for. Both make me happy, dreaming of one and living the one I've got.

www.photographybyalhernandez.com

Autumn Selfie
iPhone
Keller, TX

We've had a delightful autumn here in North Texas. The temperatures have brought morning chills to the air and the other otherwise humid mornings have turned brisk and almost frosty. A few clouds have rolled in too softening the autumn afternoon lights subduing the contrast we always find in north texas arduous summer heat. Welcome change has hit us refreshing our souls and making us eager for fall festivities prior to the onset of winter.

Although not as obvious there's change going on within me too. As I hit my stride in the early autumn of my life, I am desperately seeking answers to questions about what I value and want. For years I had mastered the art of self flagellation and criticism and now I recognize that it served no purpose other than self mutilation and destruction. I am not this horrible person I once thought but rather a creative kind person who loves and values his friends and family.

Mid-life and the associated mid-life crisis is nothing more than mid-life discovery. My brain requires me to think about what is important to me. While I was in Tucson each day, I valued the strength which the mountain and the surround landscapes offered me. It became my duty to chronicle the changes I witnessed with both my camera and written word.

Life is more than work and even more than family. You can't have one in front of a television or at a desk working all the time. Life is meant to be interactive. You have to go out into it and experience it. To that extent my passion brings me out of my mind and into the reality of the universe itself. Live your life and engage it.

www.photographybyalhernandez.com