Lens-Artists PC: Different & Day Nine: Irreversible Things

Today twelve years will go by as in a dream. And they won’t come back.

I thought for a while what it would be, different from me. Nothing came to mind. I didn’t wish to come up with something that would be spectacular but not me, for a change. 😉 Then I thought to provide evidence of the passage of time and acquisition of… experience. Yes. And so the irreversible theme of today was born.

First, the photos. I believe it’s called belly(button)gazing. I have never done it this precisely in this public photo way so it’s certainly different.

Every summer I organise a garden card tournament with my parents in their garden in Ljubljana, my former city. This year will be the 17th already. The game is tarok (Tarock in Austria), a local game played in threes (or fours), a bit similar to bridge. The three flags in the featured photo are, from left: of Slovenia, of the city of Ljubljana, and of Italy which had to be added after I moved there.

Here is a look at the last twelve summers as represented by two photos of me for each year. You can observe all kinds of things: when I stopped smoking (in 2007, three months after the first photo), when I dyed or cut my hair, which outfits were more flattering than others, when I moved to Italy (in 2013 when I look the youngest), when I was the winner (three times: in 2007, 2011 when I won that green mirror, and 2017 when I danced in the rain), when I was working out more (in 2010 when I hit 40) and when I stopped (all the years since).

I don’t grin all the time though. It’s like choosing bestia photos yesterday: I cheat. 😀 I wish to thank everybody else for these photos: father, mostly, but also various friends. We always have a good time, even though with age one participant has started to bitch. I guess he doesn’t win often enough.

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  2007: Boooo!

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  See Roman numerals? Important cards!

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  2008: Green on green.

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  Mom is rapping. Really.

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  2009: What? Cockta is traditional Slovenian drink.

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  With the happy winner of the day.

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  2010: In the zen. First dog Žak in the back!

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  And muscles! The dress is ancient from Greece.

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  2011: With moja moja Taja.

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  Happy winner with the mirror and uncle, our host.

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  2012: Bundle of joy.

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  Happy dad came third.

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  2013: First year of Italy and it shows.

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  With brand new bestia!

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  2014: A bit short…

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  Crazy mom was not the winner.

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  2015: Happy people.

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  This dress was bought for a wedding.

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  2016: Long skirt.

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  That year dad was the winner!

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  2017: Food photos.

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  Victory dance in the first rain after months.

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  2018: Shamanja.

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  You know this photo.

After this the poem wrote itself. I loved this challenge.

Challenge 9: “Today, I’d like to challenge you to write your own Sei Shonagon-style list of ‘things.’ What things? Well, that’s for you to decide!”

Things that are irreversible  
 
That terrible film of the same name  
 that makes you queasy  
 by way of wild camera rides,  
 the story told backwards,
 and that terrible terrible thing 
 in the underground passage.  
 Here we have one just like it.

 The ageing process.  

 The fattening process,  
 after you stop smoking
 or move to Italy.
 Especially after both,
 with a strict sitting down regime
 that helps you connect
 instead of exercise. 

 That ugly  
 infected  
 spreading  
 black spot on his arm
 from Requiem for a dream.

 Our life is that spot.
 Human destruction.
 Not only not reversible,
 it cannot be halted.

 The plastic is not leaving the ocean.
 The icebergs are not growing back.

 Is Homo Sapiens  
 on the endangered species list yet?

 Because look at him:
 there he is,
 about to turn into  
 that underground passage.  

 ***

 It doesn’t end there.
 More irreversible things:

 The ripening process.
 The smartening process.
 The emboldening.  
 The consolidation of
 the me-ne-frega stance.

 Self-esteem blossomed.
 Knowledge of all sorts gained.
 Lands visited.
 Poems read.
 Books read.
 People encountered.
 Maybe even made.
 Plants sown, planted.

 Poems written.
 Books written.

 And that paste out of the tube,
 that too. 

For Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, hosted by Tina of travelsandtrifles.wordpress.com: Something Different

and for Day 9 of NaPoWriMo