Baroness of Bread

"A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow."
(William Shakespeare)

East Coast Dash, Day 6 - Breakfast at Deb's

Techno Girl. Blip Girl. Princess-in-Waiting. Queen of the Domino. Travel Girl. Bird Girl. Cat Woman. Hostess with the Mostest. Baroness of Bread.

These are just a few of the monikers I've placed on my pal Deb through the years! This shot of her, snapped with my Iphone on her deck over breakfast before I headed into the city today, sums up her latest title: Camera Girl or Big Daddy's Mama, whichever you prefer! (For those of you who haven't been following Deb's blips, Big Daddy is Deb's name for probably the biggest and most impressive lens I've ever seen; clearly, Deb's photography, as well as her upper body strength, have benefited greatly from her acquisition of Big Daddy, and I'm considering buying one myself just to do bicep curls!)

Whether she's got Big Daddy in the saddle or another one of her many lenses, these days it's hard to find Deb very far away from her camera. After many years away, she's gotten back into her photography with a vengeance that's inspiring. No bird, squirrel, chipmunk, raccoon, bear, deer, bug, bee, flower, herb, dog or cat is safe from her speedy shutter, and her shots of various meals she's either prepared, or is prepared to consume, are mouthwatering, to say the least. (We won't even address the numerous shots of wine and various cool draft quaffs in which she and Willie occasionally imbibe - they make you want to drop everything and take the first bus to NJ!)

The walls throughout Deb's home are lined with pictures taken over the years; various shots of friends and family, as well as an impressive array of the ports-o-call she's visited through the years, beckon you from their frames to escape for a moment and relive a moment in time. Her eye is enviably accurate, and the way she frames a shot directs you to exactly what she intends you to see. Her shots of Europe, in particular those taken in Italy, are both breathtaking and intriguing; clearly, she has a way of capturing nuance that's inspiring and educational to a fledging photog like myself. (All that being said, one of my favorite shots in Deb's house wasn't taken by her at all: it's a snapshot of the two of us standing at an ice-cream vending machine on a train platform in Germany that begs an immediate explanation and makes both of us smile every time we look at it!)

Many years ago she did some snapping around Chinatown in NYC, and I remember being envious that she could still see the city with a fresh eye, bringing places like Soho, Tribeca and Greenwich Village into a crisp new focus. By the time Deb and I met in NY, I had already lived there over ten years, and my focus was firmly on daily survival rather than capturing what was going on around me. Although we both have albums full of candid snapshots of friends at various restaurants, parties and events through the years, I still regret not documenting more of what was actually happening (changing and evolving) in NYC over the 20+ years I lived there. Perhaps that's why I especially enjoy Deb's photos of NYC neighborhoods and the freshness she was able to capture even after living there for several years. Despite having a storage vault of memories from my years in the city, Deb's shots represent many enviable opportunities that eluded me along the way.

Today I'm off to the city for a few days of doctor and dentist appointments, hopefully interspersed with a little fun. The freshness and green of Deb's backyard and her deck, lined with beautiful flowers and an impressive array of bird feeders, will send me on my way into the heat and asphalt of the city. This morning a new family of chickadees was dining on a block of suet just behind me as I sipped my tea, and I think Deb was able to grab a shot or two. Although NYC has many wonderful things to offer, the sound of hungry baby chickadees is certainly not one of them, and I'll take that image along on the ride with me today!