Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Photo 20: Pool Time
ISO: 200
Shutter Speed: 1/200
F-Stop: 7.1

sI wonder about how long I'll remember May 4th. This little blurb isn't going to provide a lot of specificity for why, but I question if and how I'll remember it.

Two months and two days ago, the day this photo was taken, I graduated with a Masters in Environmental Journalism. I celebrated with one of my top five favorite beers, a Bell's Pool Time Wheat Ale. As one of the only beers with hints of fruit that I'll admit to enjoying, it's a drink that can only be enjoyed in the summer. 

For as happy as a day this was for me, it was a mentally and emotionally draining one. Because on the cusp of my final weekend spent in Michigan, I was experiencing a lot of things for the last time, even if I didn't realize it. My last residency in East Lansing had come to a close. I had just sat through my final lecture. I had even enjoyed the green ubiquity that Michigan State University offered to me as a college student for the last time. Whether it was my decision or someone else's, I was also leaving the state with very few strings still tied to the individuals that I knew there.

While that epiphany only came to me later, my subconscious certainly bore the weight of that life change the night of this photo. Granted, there were certain elements of that evening that only pushed my inevitable emotional breakdown to the tipping point, it was months later before I had truly digested why it was such an exhausting evening.

I continue to reflect on May 4th. Like the two trees that flank that beer can in this photo, those 24 hours catered to a dichotomy of elation and joy, coupled with sadness and dejection that tugged at me, and continue to do so.

So yes, I'll remember May 4th. I'll remember it for a long time.