Choice

 

Warning: the following editorial may raise the dander of certain members of my audience. It is not intended to be provocatve, but rather thought-provoking, and it is not my intention to open a debate with my readers, merely to express a personal viewpoint which they may not have otherwise considered.

I am arguably one of the most apolitical beings on the planet, although I do hold strong opinions on matters of ecological importance and access to public lands. Indeed, I seldom know what is taking place in the political scene until it has come and gone, leaving me to deal with the consequences as they touch me on a personal level. That said, I vote in every election, despite the fact that I do not feel my nickel counts for much when stacked against the enormity of dollars which go into the process of selecting candidates whose names have been unknown to me until they appeared in print in the Voters' Pamphlets delivered in my mail. The issues which concern me never make those pages.

I read the pros and cons of each amendment, initiative and resolution, and diligently plow through the legalese of the full text so that I may be as informed as I might be without having been misled by proponents or opponents of one side or the other, and then I make my choice. Often as not, it seems to me that I am being asked what type of onion I want on my hamburger without the slightest consideration for the fact that I might not want onions at all.

Strength In Adversity

First inducted into the model pool in July, for the last month or more, this onion was supplanted by younger talent and went to a forgotten corner to sulk over its decline in status. It had a lot of time to think of a strategy whereby it could regain the limelight, hoping meanwhile to avoid the stew-kettle of ignominy, and today reappeared for an interview with a fresh perspective. One has to admire its commitment and determination, drawn clearly from the very core of its being, and must applaud its strength through the dark adversity inflicted upon it during its isolation. There is courage bursting forth here, deserving of accolade. Perhaps it counsels us to emulate it, to survive even the dreariest of times. Without words, the humble and forgotten onion speaks volumes with its one quiet utterance of green.

Onion Rock

Honest, I do not ride around in the car with an onion in the passenger seat. Or a rock, for that matter, but immediately upon spotting this sign, I went in search of both. Some things are just too good to pass up, y'know? Actually, there were two versions of the sign at either end of a half-mile stretch of road. Even standing on the seat of my car, I could barely reach up high enough to get the onion and the rock in the photo. I still had to stretch at the second sign, but it was a good two feet shorter than the first one. That said, there is an ironic twist to this tale. There is no rock outcrop...not even a large boulder...in the area which might bear the appellation "Onion Rock." Perhaps the sign's manufacturer just thought an onion (singular) was really cool. Onion, you rock!

Skinny Girl

People tell me I'm too skinny.

You know what I tell them?

Bite me.

The Odd Onion resurfaces in a surrealistic self-portrait which the photographer swears contains no consciously executed abstruse meaning. If the Freudians and Jungians among my readers care to wade in, I am certain the pool is deep with revelations applicable only to themselves.

Still Life With Feather And Onion

If there is hidden symbolism in this image, I will leave it to my viewers to discern as suits their personal psychologies. Perhaps my choice of objects was id-driven, or perhaps it was only a random gathering of bits and bobs. I seldom know where I'm headed when I begin setting up for a still life. I begin with a chosen subject (in this case two), and allow other props to suggest themselves as I wander from room to room. Here you see the Onion and Feather of the title (the feather once belonged to an owl), a blank singed parchment, curtains purloined from the back bedroom window, a candle and candlestick, a faux inkwell filled with fake ink (tole paint in water) and a biography of my lifetime hero, Salvador Dali. How'd he get in there? It must have been a subconscious suggestion from the Onion. I may lose sleep trying to sort this one out.

Framed By Four

Still Life With Onion

Syzygy

Whistler's Onion

Alas, Poor Onion

Still Life Solitaire

Odd Onion