How the Good morning photos began…

there’s this joke between my mom and me… about time, and how i most easily remember my life by the relationships i’ve been in…

years? dates? forget it.

too hard for this brain to keep organized.

but people?  no problem.

…o yeah, it was when i was with so-&-so…

how the Good morning photos began is not so different, it’s just that i actually remember the year, but i think that’s because i was farming at the time…

it was 2009

and i was dating a man who lived nearly 700 miles away

it began in early Spring

and i was living in a sweet studio apartment on a small dairy farm

it was built into a metal barn.  (read:  tin can)

and so the only cell reception was near, and by near i mean VERY NEAR the window, and by VERY NEAR i mean i had to stand AT the window in order to catch any cell reception.

and that’s where i would keep my dinky flip-phone

there it sat, perched on it’s very fancy holder (that would be two drywall screws set into the window sash), attached to the charger where it sat through the night.

every morning, when i woke up, i’d pad over to the window, (not far from the bed… it was a studio apartment, and for the record, i loved it – though it was cold, but that’s another story…)

so i’d look out at the beautiful view, and then i’d send a simple text…

Good morning

(capital G thanks to the automatic setting)

then i’d move into my day.

time goes on, lots happens (more other stories), and eventually, we break up.

now i still wanted to say good morning

even if i didn’t receive a good morning back any more

but i’m fortunate to have dear friends, and they made it abundantly clear that it would be best to not send him ANY MORE TEXTS

(or calls.  or anything.)

so one morning

still wanting to say good morning (even if it were only a text…  call it ‘crumb communication’)

as i stood at the window, looking out at the gorgeous view, feeling something in my chest (probably fresh heartbreak) and with that ache of wanting to share, i took a photo of what i saw

and sent it to Facebook

(i had just learned how to ‘upload’ that summer – insert: techno-dork happy dance)

so that’s how it began

the 6th of November 2009, (date provided by Facebook date stamp thankyouverymuch) in that studio apartment, at the window, with that gorgeous view.

and since then, every morning, when i’m awake and ready enough to go outside, i go to roughly the same spot, (even if i’ve since moved, or i’m house sitting or wherever) and take a photo.

Good morning.