Suburban lightning

January 3, 2010 / My brother, now on Flickr, shoots some iconic Australian subjects.

Electricity over Moggill (Image: Lockie Cooke)

My brother Lockie recently got himself a serious person’s camera and a tripod. (Lyds has been urging me for ages to get a good camera. I hem and haw, evaluate, etc. and finally, thanks to Elena, I now have a great little point and shoot. My little bro, on the other hand is a doer.) Anyhoo… after much nagging on the part of Yours Truly, with assists from other players, he now has his very own Flickr account and I urge you to check it out to get a taste of southeast Queensland in the summertime.

Golden cane (Image: Lockie Cooke)

Lockie and Elena have the following trait very much in common: they both focus intently, obsessively even, on a particular interest for a period of time, sometimes returning to it, sometime not. E with her garden, her drawing and painting, and of course the baking. Lockie with boats and fishing, cars, his own garden and now his photography. I am hoping (and intend to back this up with practical action such as nagging) that this particular pursuit will stick as a kind of meta-interest that can be applied to all subsequent obsessions. Otherwise I will be hitting him up for his camera if he should ever lose the bug…

Magpie (Image: Lockie Cooke)

These images mean a lot to me, especially today, as gusts of wind through up snow around the house and street, coating everything like sand. My last few trips to Australia have been in the cooler months (“winter,” such as it is in Brisbane), but right now it is wet and stormy and very hot there. I will confess to you that I have never liked the heat, but I suppose I can appreciate it. The photos of Kondalilla Falls, Maleny and the Glasshouse Mountains, the storms over Moggill, the birds, the hibiscus flower—Elena says, “you have those there?”—are not only signs of home, they are memories.

Thanks Lockie.