Rainy Richmond

By Whitney Cole

This Wednesday began a bit differently than the Wednesdays which I’ve experienced recently. I woke without the artificial cold front which the air conditioning has lately conjured up to greet me. Instead, a gloom lingered from this week’s earlier stormy weather, and I deemed it appropriate to make a mug of hot chocolate. I spent some of the morning editing photos and practicing writing with my fountain pen, things that I actually enjoy doing now that they aren’t bound by class assignments. I glanced over at the medium format filmed camera collecting dust on the window sill, realizing that today was a perfect day to become acquainted with it. 

Lou the tiny dog whined at me for not being more interesting to her, so we left the confines of the

studio apartment, various cameras and poop bags in tow. I drove to the running store in Carytown, where my tall human companion works, and Lou ran around the tiny track and gazed longingly at passerby on the sidewalks. We ran a few errands, one involving pizza consumption, and then went for a stroll through the Fan. It was cooler out, a bit rainy, but nothing Lou and I couldn’t handle. I fastened her leash to my belt loop so that I could stop for a photo without satisfying any of her devious plots to escape me.  

Side Note: Upon picking up my order, Lou met the employees of Goulet Pen Company who are now all members of her tiny fan club. 

After running a few more errands, which resulted in more fountain pen ink, we met up with a good friend of mine for some additional strolling. She particularly is a fan of a rainy day and is a fellow enthusiast of flowers, and all generally lovely things. She introduced me to a back alley filled with an amazing variety of plants, both floral and edible, overflowing in their garden's planters. We had the pleasure of meeting the “flower magician” behind it all, who happily claimed gardening as his passion. He returned to his backyard, which despite a fence of tall wooden planks, held purple flowers beckoning from above the partition.

Behind the scenes: Lou the dog and Boosh the cat have their first, long overdue encounter.

  

We

We continued to walk around pointing out different flowers, fruits, and vegetables we could 

recognize growing.

 We carried on the tiny adventure walking and catching up, stopping to take a photo here and there.  

All in all, today has been a lesson in taking on rainy days. Here’s to satisfied puppies, a warm bed, and waiting to see if the film will come out.

Behind the scenes: lonely camera totes awaiting their owners' return.

Whitney Cole is a tiny Southern firecracker from small-town Virginia  She graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2015 with a B.F.A. in Photography. Her work to date has been an investigation of her Southern heritage. Follow her on Instagram for lots of pictures of her dog and trees.  

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