Mist with Cloud
Northern Russia 2009
I first noticed the word “chimera” when my middle daughter came home from college and somehow found a way to work the word into our conversation. I had been accustomed to being the one who introduced new words and I realized, sadly, that those days were past. As a result, I never could fix the meaning of chimera, an imaginary monster, or chimerical, existing only in the imagination, in my mind no matter how many times I looked it up. Oh, I hope this helps!
This shot is one of many seascapes of Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega that I shot while on a river cruise of Northern Russia. For variety, I decided to add a touch of the chimerical by reducing clarity, increasing the magenta and highlighting the cute little cloud.
I thought of the novel, “Dreams in Polar Fog”, as I worked on this. It’s the story of a sailor who is abandoned by his ship and is taken in by the Chukchi people. He describes his life with them and how living with them changed his life…saved it, really. While the story isn’t true, the author, Yuri Rylkheu, is Chukchi and is considered the father of Chukchi literature. The story is an adventure story, a survival story, and a love story, but not a romance. I recommend it.