Monday, March 22, 2021

When a whim turns into tradition

If you've been following this page for any length of time, 
you're probably aware that every Lenten season,
just as winter seems to drag on and on,
one of the harbingers of spring for my family
was the arrival in the stores of bright yellow:
favorite flowers (daffodils)
AND bright yellow candy 
known as PEEPS. 
 
Bright yellow in the midst of midwinter dreary gray
always bring me joy.

 
I'm not even sure what the appeal was about the Peeps;
it's actually just a bedazzled marshmallow;
but I'm here to tell you that 8 years ago,
when I was getting more serious about photography -
and actually caring about focus, depth and light readings,
Peeps were the perfect 'models'.
 
They rarely moved, 
you could put them in all sorts of situations and not hear any complaints
and they could be frozen, taken out and re-used 
so they were available whenever inspiration struck.

I photographed PEEPS in various situations 
in ways that generally have revealed 
my bizarre sense of humor.
Oddly enough, when I posted them on Facebook,
they were enjoyed by friends who share the same humor -
born from working on the front lines of child abuse.
 
It was a wonderful after work outlet 
and I looked forward to it every year.
(here and here and here)

One year, I even branched out and did 'Lenten' peeps 
at Christmas time -
(here)
but, for some friends that was a bridge too far,
so I re-committed to Lent -
40 days of concentrated sugar madness.

However, with all the changes in the world this past year,
and in my life in particular,
I hadn't even thought of doing Lenten Peeps 
until Lent was upon us -
and I received an inquiry from a friend on Facebook 
asking me where they were.
Essentially saying I wasn't up for it was not well received.
 
My people pleasing side kicked into gear,
the ideas started coming
and when I went to Dollar Tree for solar light sticks,
there were Peeps, right at the checkout!

SO, without further ado, here are some Pandemic Peeps.




Hope you're enjoying the coming of spring as much as I am.

Happy Lent!


No comments: