July 27, 2005

“5:30,” Opal said. “In front of the overgrown clock.” The afternoon sun was gleaming brightly on our reality-manipulation devices when the three of us (Opal, Martin, and I) approached the clock tower in Victoria Park from different directions.

For a second, reality itself almost exploded — I’ve been reading Opal’s blog for a while but I’ve never actually met her. This is the summer for meeting wonderful strangers. It took a couple of handshakes to stabilize things. “Hi, I’m Tudor and I like toddler hockey.”

For the next hour, the three of us ran around Victoria Park chasing ducks and toddlers with our cameras and photographing shiny things. We even met the duck man. “Take more photos of the ducks,” he encouraged us when he saw our cameras reality-manipulation devices. “The ducklings were still tiny a week ago, but my how they’ve grown!”

After he left, we talked behind his back. “He knows the ways of the ducks,” I said. “We should listen to him.”

“Yes, the force is strong with that one,” Martin agreed. In the evenings, parks are full of lovers making out on benches, children splashing in the sunset and goslings. And if you look, you’ll also find orange pylons neatly stacked near the road.

Without hesitation, Opal grabbed two pylons in her hands and attached them to her chest. “This is the only time people will be able to say, ‘Wow, check out Opal’s tits.’”

She’s funny, that Opal. And next Monday at 5:30 we’re going on another photo romp. Until then, I’ll be shining my little picture machine.

Links:

• Opal’s blog entry: Photoroam Week 2
• Opal’s photos
• Martin’s photos
• My photos