Red

Funny how things come to be........

Went to the netball courts for the first time in a very long time.....

I took my camera with my new lens.....not really a sports lens though.

Milk supplier is close by so after I'd finished at the courts I drove there and refilled a couple of litres.......

For reasons unbeknown, I then sat in the car and idled away around 15 minutes.......vaguely watching a nearby football match until it ended, contemplating the shopping I needed to do, trying to figure my phone's settings and simply enjoying being away from home and away from work.

Had I not sat there and idled for 15 minutes I wouldn't then have driven past a ute-load of wood with 2 guys standing alongside chatting.  

Had I not then pulled to a halt just down the road, thrown a U-turn and returned to the guys to see if the wood was for sale I woudn't have met Red.

And if I hadn't met Red, this image wouldn't be.

I asked about the wood (remebering M & J had said they needed a top-up) - it wasn't for sale.  We chatted some and as we did so, I noticed that the elder of the 2 guys had a very characterful presence.  I took the plunge and asked if he minded if I took some pictures of him.

"Nah.....I used to be a hippie ya' know........never wore shoes......always had long hair."

The younger of the guys asked if I liked photographing sheds.....?

Red (we'd introdudced ourselves by this time) took me to the back of his section to his shed...........a real man-cave with heaps of collectibles, bits and pieces, tools and an old wood burner.  He sat down and lit up.......not great lighting but great atmosphere.

Red told me he'd recently returned from a long-ish stay in hospital - probably cancer, he thought, though nothing definite.  I'm not sure if he didn't know or he didn't want to know.  Lovely staff though, but he got sick of having to repeat everything to every new doctor that came by.  He was pleased to be home now in his shed.

Red - real name William ("I hated that name!  I've been called Red all my life") was the impetus I've needed.

Serendipity.

Thank you so much Red.  With no internet I know you'll never read this, so I send my thanks to via the heart-waves.

See extras below for a couple more shots of Red.