rain poured hard as we started to drive back to the city yesterday morning. we had it right when we decided to go back early because it had been raining overnight and the sky was heavy with dark clouds when we got up, hence no sunrise for me to photograph. we took the secondary road and not the main road to avoid idiotic drivers who didn't seem to know how to drive under wet conditions.
when we reached hamilton and a few kilometres before we would take the main highway, partner and i were talking about what objects start with the letter o. all the o's he suggested can only be found in the zoo. we did see an owl on a tree but we spooked it when the car's tire screeched in the wet pavement, what do you know!
so we were driving looking for letter o before hitting the highway. we got stopped when a flock of canadian geese decided to cross the road rather than fly, the lazy bastards. but when i looked ahead there was a large cemetery and what did i see? the following was the conversation that ensued:
"o! o! o! OBELISK!!!" i shouted, pointing to the direction of the cemetery to his left.
"what?" partner asked.
"an obelisk! it's there!"
"a novelist doesn't start with an o," he said.
"an obelisk! why didn't you wear your hearing aid, for god's sakes!!"
"i can't hear with them! i have to go back to the hearing aid clinic to have it checked!"
"what's the damn thing for if you're not friggin' using it!" i had raised my voice by this time.
"you do not have to shout, you know. i can hear you perfectly well!" [update: he said he said "yell" not "shout", pfft!]
i rolled my eyes and shook my arms up in exasperation. damn old man. i should've listened to my mother when she told me not to sing in front of the stove while cooking or i'd end up marrying an old man. hmmm...there's still time to correct the situation, methinks! but back to the darn obelisk, folks, we're diverting from the story here.
partner turned the car around and whilst driving towards the cemetery's entrance, he asked: "i've never heard of an obelisk. what is that?"
my eyes blazing in horror, then narrowing them, i said, "you don't know what an obelisk is?" i said it so deliberately slow and jagged if it was a knife it would have beheaded the both of us.
"no."
"god, i thought you were smart. what's all that schooling your parents spent on you for? besides your first language and only language is english. and you don't know what an obelisk is?"
"you either tell me what it is or you're walking home."
now, that's a warning i always heed. why? two tripods, a heavy camera bag and a small luggage - i don't travel light, mind you - would be too difficult to lug around, even by bus, let alone walking and we were a bit under a hundred kilometres from toronto. so i calmed down, albeit grudgingly.
"an obelisk is a thingamajigger that has four sides, mostly, and has a pointy or pyramid top. like that darn washington monument in one of your photos with your ugly ex-girlfriend."
he ignored the reference to the ugly ex-girlfriend, but pointed out, "you a writer and you use the word 'thingamajigger'."
"well, my native tongue is not english but it's better than yours methinks. and an obelisk is a long pointy shaft, like some phallic thing or whatever, usually with four sides like a square or rectangle and the top is pointy like a pyramid. like... this... here!" and i pointed to this tomb marker then started to shoot.
"come here and take a picture of that tree!"
the expletive that came out of my mouth was so vile i wouldn't dare type it here, but i assure you it was enough to raise the dead. although probably not because we left the cemetery and the graves were still undisturbed.
@bill_fe - you know what kills me with this man? i ask him to wear his hearing aid and he tells me he doesn't want to because he can't hear anything. or it ran out of battery. you men are impossible!
your write up has given me the giggles... i've always known what an obelisk is, but i expect that's from reading the "asterix and obelix" books whilst growing up ;p lovely obelisk shot :)
I saw "Oblisk" and thought, "Very Impressive!" Well done! Seems that style was quite de rigueur in the era! I've been shooting in the cemetery a lot here...it's where I can see the sunset. I know there's at least one oblisk because when I needed a place to set my camera, it was of no use what so ever! Oh...LOVED your story...your writing is always a delight!
Vikki you just crack me up. I was smiling and laughing while reading your account of the conversation between the two of you. At least you got your shot for the day
