An encounter

Absorbed as I was in photography on the early morning walk a couple of weeks ago, I didn't hear the elderly man's approach and was not aware of him until he spoke. Tall and white-haired, with his upper middle-class accent and casual country clothes, and accompanied by a dog, he could have been a retired accountant, or maybe a former solicitor or GP.

"Wonderful morning", he said.

"Yes, isn't it", I responded and then, partly to make conversation, added: "I'm just trying to figure out how my new camera works".

"Ah", he said. "Well, when you come to look at your photographs later on, somewhere in there, in one of them, I guarantee you're going to find God. He lives here, you know".

This totally threw me. I didn't know if he was joking or not. "Really?", I said. Did he mean in this area exclusively? Or here, but also everywhere else?

Then I decided to go with the flow and follow my instincts. I felt I wanted to make a connection with him, and wherever he was coming from I admired his lack of small talk and willingness to tackle the big subjects.

"Yes, I'm sure you're right", I replied.

He said something else I couldn't catch but his tone remained cheerful. I wished him a good day and we both moved on. He took the path to the shore and I headed back across the fields, clutching the camera.

The photographs I took that morning are here.