Magic Mirror

The weather around here has turned cold again, and I had to get my big winter coat back out. We got a skiff of snow overnight Thursday into Friday out in the country where we live, and I got very excited about the wintry pictures I'd be taking.

However, when I got to town, I was sad to find almost no snow there at all! That didn't stop me from making my way around campus for some photos, though they weren't the snow photos I had imagined in my mind.

One of the things about working at a big University is that there are always renovations going on somewhere. And for the past few years, they've been working on Burrowes Building, below Pattee Library. They're nearly done.

At each end of the building is a huge winding stairwell, surrounded by marvelous new glass windows that (so I discovered) are awfully fine for making reflections, not unlike magic fun-house mirrors. So I stopped for a few minutes to play.

I was delighted to note that there were purple balloons strung from the fence railings along the mall on this morning. It seemed a special bonus for me, as purple is my favorite color. It was windy, and the purple balloons were flailing around as though they were possessed of independent thought and motion.

I stood by one of my favorite elm trees and realized that I could capture myself, the tree, and a purple balloon in one shot, and so I did. So let me present this strange self-portrait: the photographer as a lover of tall trees and purple balloons, all reflected back to me via a magic mirror.

The song to accompany this bit of whimsy is Carlos Santana, with Black Magic Woman.