This post was originally published in June 2012 on my former blog, “Bettye Rainwater Photography.” I’m resharing it here as part of an archive series called Looking Back.


vacation started today. at 4:01. pm. not a minute too soon.

i have ten days to do anything. to do everything.

but tonight – the first night – is about doing nothing. just letting myself wind down. quietly. peacefully.

the heat came today. steamy hazy heat. so when we got home the air conditioners went on. the fans. the blinds pulled low blocking the sun. the apartment was dark cool peaceful. the child burrowed into a nest on the sofa and went to sleep.

the only movement and light was in the kitchen. the window with no blind. the lowering evening sun coming through the leaves outside and doing shadow dances on the kitchen cabinets.

tonight is about quiet gentleness. tomorrow we’ll start doing everything.

(A bit of context. I was living in a beautiful Bushwick, Brooklyn apartment at this time. It had the most gorgeous light. Little did I know at the time, that I would be forced to move out just three months later 🙁 )