A Different Drummer

"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away."
- Henry David Thoreau
1817-1862

When I was around 12 or 14 (the same age that I first began writing poetry) I copied this quote onto a small piece of note paper. I folded it carefully and slid it into my wallet. I don’t know for sure when the piece of paper was finally lost, the creases worn to pinpoint holes from repeated folding and unfolding. The back of the paper was stained a burnt umber from the raw suede of my wallet and the edges were dog eared from my reading it over and over. I know I carried it to college. Perhaps it was lost during some grim years after graduation. During those same years the message of the quote was muted, but deep inside I was still stepping to that other music.
When I first read Thoreau’s words I felt a deep resonance. I felt someone brilliant and well respected understood me, at an age when I barely understood myself.
These photos are of little things I saw today. Little things that caused me to slow down, listen to that different drummer and feel grateful.