“I Have a Vision!”

I looked back, and all I saw was an empty road… No Amy riding her bici Luigi, no Quang riding his bici Princess Porcini.  I pulled over in the searing mid-day sun, no shade in sight, straddling my bike to wait for them to appear on the horizon.  Nothing.  So I dismounted, stood beside Mario and drank some water, and waited.  Nothing.  So I sat, stretched my legs, pondered the meaning of life and waited.  Nothing. 

I was pretty sure that one of my artist companions had had another ‘vision’.  I’d ridden by some large hay rolls enticingly close to the side of the road, and I figured they would be too tempting for Quang and Amy to pass up.  But there was always a chance that someone had fallen, or had a mechanical problem, or – worse – some kind of more serious accident or injury.  So I turned Mario around, saddled up, and retraced my route.  Yep, about a kilometer and a half back… there was Quang, dancing on top of some hay, and there was Amy, camera in hand, directing this impromptu photo shoot. 



I knew the hay would prove to be too enticing...




Uh oh... someone had another 'vision'...



This time, apparently, it was Amy’s vision.  Quang and Amy take turns with their ‘artistic visions’.  They come with surprising frequency. 

Quang and Amy both have a lot of 'visions'...

We’ve taken a lot of beautiful photos on our three-part honeymoon.  And I admit:  Amy is definitely the driving force behind a lot of our photography.  I’ve gotten much better as we’ve gone along at remembering to capture some of our favorite moments, and Amy and I tend to complement each other well with the different kinds of shots we prefer.  I’m good with the sweeping landscapes and some of the angled architecture, and Amy’s really good with the detail shots, anything with our zoom lens, and our ‘artistic’ shots.  

But I’d like to take this opportunity to publicly apologize to my lovely wife… for I have apparently, unknowingly, unintentionally been stifling her creative genius and oppressing her artistic soul.

This only became clear to me after Q arrived. For those of you who don’t know Quang, he is – without exaggeration – a professional-class photographer.  Many of our favorite shots from our wedding are shots that Quang took as our unofficial second photographer.  He’s catalogued our various endurance athletic feats (and the training building up to them), and he’s just got a great photographic eye.

Apparently, as complete as our relationship often feels, I cannot be all things to my wife.  Amy needed the companionship of a fellow artist to really unleash her artistic potential.  Since Q’s arrival, Amy’s productivity as an artistic photographer has grown exponentially.  Whereas before we might have 20-25 nice photo-worthy moments in a day, now we have as many as 500 or more.  Whereas before we were content to take one or two shots of something we liked, now we take 20-30 shots, from every imaginable angle, with every possible configuration of camera settings.  Whereas before we might just shoot the scene as it appears, now we have full-on photo-shoots, where as subjects we are instructed to ‘do something interesting’.  

And yes, it is sometimes difficult to fit all those bike kilometers in between photo shoots. 


This is one of my favorite 'visions'...

 

This is how I prefer to pass the time while my artistic colleagues realize their creative potential...

Proof that not all artistic visions bear fruit...
I was told to 'do something' so Amy could capture my shadow...
Alas, no shadow.



And so, while I might cringe when I now hear those infamous words, “Wait, I have a vision”, from either of my artistic traveling companions… I will forever be grateful for all of those beautiful photos we have of our Luna de Miel con Amici. 

Ciao bicis!

Our favorite Italian vehicles...

Sunflowers...

Haayy...

Our favorite city, Pitigliano, by night...
And yes, this is the view from our B&B