My parents stay in North Carolina twice year on the land of a family friend, who has become part of the family. I have taken hundreds of photographs on David’s property. There is just so much beauty on the land. Even this simple photograph of one of the two cabins on the property turned out well.
I took it simply is a documentary photograph, to remind Kemper in years to come where we had stayed the Christmas when he was five, but its simple elegance made me keep it in the collection of photographs that I consider to have made the artistic “cut.” The cabin is surrounded by black pines, hemlocks, and huge magnolias. It overlooks a large pond that is stocked with large trout, and it is just a brief walk up to the two large fields on the property.
As I’ve said many times in the past, North Carolina holds a special place in my heart. I loved it before I went to Wake Forest, I loved it my four years I spent at Wake, and I love it every time I get a chance to come back. A part of me will always consider North Carolina home. These cabins on David’s property have become a home away from home, and I look forward to returning every chance we get.
They say home is where the heart is, and I know this to be true. I have left a part of my heart in North Carolina, Yorkshire, and even Carmel. Thus, it is no wonder that I have Nostalgia to return. As I’ve explained in an earlier post, the word nostalgia comes from the Greek meaning an aching for home. North Carolina is unique in that I have spent every phase of my life there. I spent the waning days of my childhood at college there; I learned love and loss and melancholy there; I became independent there; I met Anna there; I left, cracked like a dinner plate; and I returned whole, almost reborn, a few years ago. North Carolina has molded me, and I will continue to return – one day, perhaps for good.
ST. AMAND PHOTOGRAPHY 