# What do you see?



## Laura Zone 5 (Jan 13, 2010)

I went to the internet seeking a photo of a lightning strike; particularly lightning within a volcanic eruption. 

I came across the below photo, and the INSTANT I saw it, 'it spoke' to me....
The more I looked at it, the more it spoke......

I showed it to 3 different people; 1 author, 1 artist, 1 local business owner.
I received 3 very different types of feedback......

So now, I am asking ya'all.....

Does this photo 'speak to you'?
What does it say?
What do you see?


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

To quote a famous German soldier... I see nothing...


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## Laura Zone 5 (Jan 13, 2010)

.......


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## Laura (May 10, 2002)

The words this picture speaks to me:

Remember, the highest place on the horizon is not where you want to be in a storm. Then I must ask, did the barn explode and did you get a pic of that!??!


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

I don't think the barn got hit.


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## thestartupman (Jul 25, 2010)

Sorry I see nothing that is speaking. Just a old barn being hit by lightning.


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## newfieannie (Dec 24, 2006)

Zeus playing with his staff? did Zeus even have a staff? honest to god I'm weird but what else is new. ~Georgia


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

For some reason. it makes me think of the movie Frankenstein..


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## Bret (Oct 3, 2003)

Stand strong in every storm.


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## no really (Aug 7, 2013)

If you take time to really look around, there are incredible things going on. 

OK I've had my quota of for the month of looking for meanings.:heh:


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## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

simi, I kinda agree with you. It seems spooky


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## frogmammy (Dec 8, 2004)

Makes me think you don't know what a volcanic eruption looks like.

Mon


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## Laura Zone 5 (Jan 13, 2010)

As I was scrolling past the photos, this odd ball showed up. 
I stopped, because it didn't 'belong' with the others (all volcanic lightning).

I opened it up (full screen) and it spoke to me.
This barn, is me.

This weathered old barn, in a lightning storm.........she's still standing.

Many moons ago, someone (many someones) took the time and care to construct her from the ground up. 
Board by board, beam by beam, shingle upon shingle she was built to last.
This barn was a home, shelter, place of refuge.
It protected the feed, hay, animals, equipment.
In her hay day (no pun intended) she was the anchor on the farm; her tasks were many, and she handled them all.

But no one took the time to do the maintenance on her. 

Her paint chipped and fell to the ground, boards rotted and were not replaced, shingles blew away. 
The animals no long reside, the hay is gone, tractors are sold......
She's empty. Heck, you can see the lightning right through her.
Everyone has left the farm, she's on her own, in disrepair.
Is this the end of the story? This old barn just serves her purpose and is left to fall to the ground?

What do you do with an old barn anyway.....

There's a new trend today; folks moving out in the country, homesteading, refurbishing old forgotten farm houses, old forgotten barns. 
There's a buyer for every home.
And those crafty sustainable, recycle reuse reduce types; they are out there buying these old barns, taking that tattered and weathered wood and turning it into something new; Tables, chairs, fireplace mantles, door frames, cabinets.....and they are beautiful; they have a story, they have character.

That old barn sure could use some help.
The beauty is there, it just needs someone to see it!!


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

Sound like you've eaten a lot of psychedelics too...


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## Laura Zone 5 (Jan 13, 2010)

Nope, never dropped acid, never did schrooms.
Never stuck a needle in my arm.
No meth, crank, crack or heroin. 
No paint huffing or any of the other stupidness kids do today.


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## vicker (Jul 11, 2003)

I waited till I was in my mid-late 30s, then dropped acid three times in two years. It worked and I'm glad I did it.  I probably ought to do it again, now that you mentioned it.


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

I see lightning striking a mile or two behind an old dilapidated barn. Not much else.


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## Fennick (Apr 16, 2013)

It's not real.

I see a photo-shopped picture composed out of two pictures. One picture is of a lightning strike hitting the earth and the other is the picture of the decrepit old barn which has been cut out and superimposed in front of the picture of the lightning strike.

If it had been a real picture of a barn with lightning behind it then it would not be possible to see any light or shading or details of all of the boards and small windows and other structure on the front of the barn, and you would not see the faint light limning the edges of the side and roof of the barn (on your left). If it was real all you'd see is a solid, stark black silhouette in the shape of a barn against the lightning. Like the fore-ground is solid black, that ground is part of the original picture of the lightning before it got photo-shopped.

So .... the message I get off it is that it's a phoney presentation.

Sorry. :shrug:


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

Fennick said:


> It's not real.
> 
> I see a photo-shopped picture composed out of two pictures. One picture is of a lightning strike hitting the earth and the other is the picture of the decrepit old barn which has been cut out and superimposed in front of the picture of the lightning strike.
> 
> ...


Now that you mention all that.. It's also pretty hard to imagine such a well placed lightning bolt, and that someone would be even camped out there with a camera during a storm expecting a shot like that... 

But it's still pretty cool looking..


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## Tommyice (Dec 5, 2010)

Fennick said:


> It's not real.
> 
> I see a photo-shopped picture composed out of two pictures. One picture is of a lightning strike hitting the earth and the other is the picture of the decrepit old barn which has been cut out and superimposed in front of the picture of the lightning strike.
> 
> ...


I had seen the same as Fennick--I used to work in marketing and my job was to alter images. 

What I see is proof that you can't believe everything you see


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## Laura Zone 5 (Jan 13, 2010)

Fennick said:


> It's not real.
> 
> I see a photo-shopped picture composed out of two pictures. One picture is of a lightning strike hitting the earth and the other is the picture of the decrepit old barn which has been cut out and superimposed in front of the picture of the lightning strike.
> 
> ...


That is so perfect! OF COURSE it's photoshopped!!
Of course it's phoney!
It's amazing how one can see something and think it's beautiful, and real; when in reality it's just a fake, an illusion, a lie.......


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## oneraddad (Jul 20, 2010)

I watch Barnwood Builders so I see Mark, Johnny Jett and crew taking this old barn before it falls over and making into something that'll last another 200 years.


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## roadless (Sep 9, 2006)

I would love to live in a much smaller version, it is beautiful!


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## WolfWalksSoftly (Aug 13, 2004)

A Rainbow in the Dark.


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## joejeep92 (Oct 11, 2010)

But does it hurt to believe that it is something cool that happened? Probably not.


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## Fennick (Apr 16, 2013)

joejeep92 said:


> But does it hurt to believe that it is something cool that happened? Probably not.


It doesn't hurt. Even though the picture has been edited it is still a beautiful creation. For thousands of years artists have been dreaming up and creating all manner of imagery to inspire fantasy, imagination and flights of fancy and wonder in the viewers that gives the viewers a break and escape from reality for awhile. That is a quality that makes us human.


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## Laura Zone 5 (Jan 13, 2010)

joejeep92 said:


> But does it hurt to believe that it is something cool that happened? Probably not.


I personally prefer the real thing, the real deal, always.
I do not like to be tricked, deceived, manipulated.......

Kinda like the difference (for me) between a handful of wild flowers that were hand picked (not on someone's private property) and a handful of artificial flowers that 'look like' wild flowers that were bought at the dollar store and presented as "real wild flowers that were hand picked".

They look pretty, but they are not the real deal, so don't try to pass them off as real, when they are not.
Yes, it does hurt to believe something is cool, when in reality, it is not.:teehee:


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## oneraddad (Jul 20, 2010)

It's the thought that counts


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

I see very little art , love and romance in many of the souls here. 
Even though I can't see the picture.


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## sweinodinsson (Dec 27, 2015)

I see the screenname of a lady who would probably be interesting to hang out with.


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## Fennick (Apr 16, 2013)

> ..... I can't see the picture.


If you're logged in you should be able to see it. 

But if you can't see it that's too bad. The barn has an interesting old face full of stark contrasts, weathered with character lines and wrinkles, age spots, freckles and shadows, laugh lines around blind eyes that no longer see and an open generous mouth that no longer has teeth.

The barn was probably in a location that was overgrown and forgotten or surrounded by old trash that would distract and draw the eye away from the personality and history that the barn alone speaks of. So I can understand why the photographer decided to display the barn by itself against a stark background that is empty except for a lightning strike. It keeps the focus on the barn and its story, not on its surroundings.



> I personally prefer the real thing, the real deal, always.
> I do not like to be tricked, deceived, manipulated.......


LauraZ5 - The barn is no less real for its placement, it is the real deal. Just because the photographer "relocated" it away from its real home to a different setting to show off its character does not mean the barn has become a false, deceptive thing with no history and no personality. It's still the same barn that it's always been.

When you relocated yourself from your real home setting to a different state for a few months did you cease to be the real deal and become a manipulative trickster and deceiver while you were displaying yourself in a false setting that wasn't your real home? No, of course not, you remained the same person and it was only the setting that changed. Likewise with the barn.

A word to the wise. When you get to be a very decrepit, weak and doddering old woman who can no longer care for an outdoor garden or grow houseplants or water flowers in a vase in your own home, let alone care for your own self, you will come to appreciate the beauty and functionality of artificial silk flowers that have been created by some human artist rather than mother nature.


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## newfieannie (Dec 24, 2006)

well I'm not a decrepit doddering old woman by any means but I appreciate my silk flowers. I use them in wreaths and crafts quite often and right now I'm getting ready to root some tulips from my stash and stick in my 5ft snowbanks. winter is only just started and I can't wait until spring. ~Georgia


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## Laura (May 10, 2002)

I think we can be glad the image was a superimposed illusion to provoke emotion and the barn was never under threat of harm from the lightning.


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## Laura Zone 5 (Jan 13, 2010)

You totally took what I said, completely out of context........


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## vicker (Jul 11, 2003)

Actually, I now see that it is y'all who should.


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## Sumatra (Dec 5, 2013)

Fennick said:


> LauraZ5 - The barn is no less real for its placement, it is the real deal. Just because the photographer "relocated" it away from its real home to a different setting to show off its character does not mean the barn has become a false, deceptive thing with no history and no personality. It's still the same barn that it's always been.
> 
> When you relocated yourself from your real home setting to a different state for a few months did you cease to be the real deal and become a manipulative trickster and deceiver while you were displaying yourself in a false setting that wasn't your real home? No, of course not, you remained the same person and it was only the setting that changed. Likewise with the barn.
> 
> A word to the wise. When you get to be a very decrepit, weak and doddering old woman who can no longer care for an outdoor garden or grow houseplants or water flowers in a vase in your own home, let alone care for your own self, you will come to appreciate the beauty and functionality of artificial silk flowers that have been created by some human artist rather than mother nature.


I believe the point was, no matter how beautiful it is, if it's fake, the entire thing is worth less. This applies to so many things other than flowers. It's not about the relocation of the barn or person, it's about the basis of the image. Like how a store-bought card can rarely hold a candle to a homemade one, no matter how much sleeker or digitally enhanced it is. And just as how although the old woman can appreciate the beauty of silk flowers, I'm sure she wishes she could still get out and grow her own arrangements again. 

It's also about the principle. However beautiful it might be, the disillusion of finding out the artist's deceit is frustrating, and depending on the level we're talking about, hurts. That's contrary to say the woman who knows silk flowers aren't real.


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