the Heavenly GODs spoke, but I took NO heed

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it was a strange morning…

I had to jump out of bed and beat the traffic. The seminar was smacked in one of the worse parts of the city … but the reward for the congestion was good. Real coffee. Not the typical burnt diluted hotel brews that gives me a splitting headache 20 minutes after greedily gulping the first cup down.

Strange.

I am not a coffee addict.

I am not dependent on caffeine.

It’s psychological. I know this as I used to be an analyst in my early days for the likes of Bloomberg and ‘survived’ the nights drinking coffee. One day I decided to try decaf. It felt and taste just the same to me with the only difference being the bits that did not dissolved floating at the top of more foam with the decaf. 

But I laze in bed looking at the junior version of me who had insisted on wriggling her way into my bed the night before.

No… NOOOO… She’s not a splitting image of me.

In fact she has taken on her father’s look, which …

…...ONE  He’s my brother in law and no {of course} I am not the mother!!!

…..TWO Despite the dominant male genes, she does look rather adorable.

I had decided to catch another 40 winks of so, forgoing the breakfast spread and the coffee …possibly risking the need to slip in through the back door quietly and praying an empty chair at the back of the room is vacant. Interestingly in the most important of seminars and conferences, often the back are filled to the brim … thereby embarrassing folks like me.

My thoughts wandered to the late honourable “Lord” Rover – my dog.

Noting that he hadn’t been strong and well for a few days now and had stopped eating for the past 24 hours. I promptly jumped into the bathroom, did the morning rituals and hurried downstairs armed with my Nikon d700 and 24mm 1.4f lens which I had whisked out of the fairly new dry-cabinet and mechanically attaching the two separate black objects as I made my way down the stairs, through the kitchen and to where his was.

Mom had moved the late honourable “Lord” Rover and his {plastic} basket to the kitchen courtyard area and placed a large golf umbrella above him, secured firmly to the compost bin.

I held him for a while… talked to him, then, started taking some shots of him with blurry sight as I was holding back tears that had brimmed my eyes.

This ritual continued again and again as I returned to my dry cabinet and exchanged the lenses … 50mm 1.4f, 85mm 1.4f and even the 60mm macro. The little one joined me sometime in between looking confused and yet fighting sleep off.

As I placed the final glass back into the cabinet a thought struck me which caught me off guard:

Should I lock it? Just in case thieves came in.

hmmmmmmm… but what difference is it going to make? They’ll just break the glass door or yank it open. And if they cleared my ‘babies’ {camera and lenses} out, at least my cabinet is still intact.

With that I shrugged the thought off, looked at the keys one last time and walked away to get dressed. Typically on days when I have my seminars and conferences, I don some of my favourite pieces of jewelry and toss on the choice of if I should wear a bracelet or a watch while chewing on my lips. And if either choice was made, which one from their respective selection to wear.

That morning, I decided it was going to be my Jaegar leCoultre Lady Reverso with the emu leatherette straps {uh huh, I have an affinity for emu leather for some reasons} and the Diamani ring I hardly ever wear as it’s well, a Diamani, and hence ostentatious.  

Looking at my hand, wrist downwards, I thought:

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gosh! Why do I need all these?!????

The Jaegar leCoultre Lady Reverso is hardly a month old – so let’s not scratch it. And well, let’s attempt to be ‘normal’ and use the Tiffany & Co. instead.

And with that, I removed the watch and left it on my tallboy and replaced the Diamani back into the safe … my gaze lingering at all the pieces I had collected over the years; a relatively poor substitute for not being able to pursue my passion in gemology or jewelry design.

I shut the door and hear the bolts interlocking; feeling less contented and at peace than I usually do. Dismissing it as being occupied with the late honourable “Lord” Rover‘s condition, I stood up and open the carved marble mini jewelry storage that contained my daily office-wear jewelry pieces.

I looked at the choices of Tiffany & Co. I had and thought they were so passé and opted for a chunky handmade silver ring that looks like a miniature version of a fallen palm leaf that I had procured for 44 Euros in Florence last year. Unable to decide on the watches, I decided not to wear any.

I stepped back and looked at my dry cabinet the last time and walked out of my bedroom.

Hardly reaching the landing of my stairs, I retreated back to the room and took the Nikon d700 out and removed the compact flash card and slipped it into my handbag. I return the ‘body’ back onto the top tray of the dry cabinet slowly, careful not to come into contact with either the Nikon d3 or the Nikon d80 that was sharing the same cramp space. 

I glanced longingly at the bottom shelf where the two Leica bodies ‘sat’ alongside the Hasselblad. I felt a tug in my heart, urging me to put them into the camera bag and bring them along…

But to where?

Why would I need it today? I am going to a seminar and work later.

Plus I can’t be leaving the Nikons behind. That’s just discrimination and double standards!

I love them all … just differently.

The thought of stuffing them into my Lowepro was just impossible and impractical. I hastily scolded myself for my foolishness and decided to replace a new Compact Flash card into the Nikon d700 and fixed a small and light lens for Val to photograph the late honourable “Lord” Rover later in the evening. As I was making my way out, I left the unit on dining table, stopped by to hold  the late honourable “Lord” Rover for what I had thought was the last time that morning.

Little did I know it would have been the LAST TIME …

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I held and saw late honourable “Lord” Rover 

I held and saw ALL my ‘babies’ – cameras and lenses

I held and saw ALL my watches and jewelry

… the last time I saw my safe.

..
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Sure, the Heavenly GODs spoke … the signs were all there: 
Me feeling strange and unnecessarily nostalgic. Me acting abnormally.
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I just took no heed!
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