Waking at seven, I had the feeling that my throat was dry like a cold piece of toast. I reached for my glass but found it was drunk. I stumbled up. Cycling to work in minus-one degrees was hard on the hands. I thought to get some gloves again. When I arrived at work, the fat one called Paul stopped me and said, do you remember the day I was born? And wasn’t it, just, such a wonderful day? I asked him how his weekend was. He told me that he had found a car from the 1950s, in South America, on Google maps. But that was two years ago. He smiled, thinking of the car. I understand, I said. I like Google maps too.
In fact it was only the night before I had been looking at the northernmost villages in Greenland and comparing prices on flights. I was never going to go. But I stared for an inordinate amount of time at this picture, uploaded by Lt. Col. Horus Ruiseco Jacobo of the US Navy.
I was extremely moved by this image. For someone to have stood in this place, perhaps reflecting on life, so far from civilisation, is a very moving thought for me, and it brought tears to my eyes. I clicked on Lt. Col. Horus Ruiseco Jacobo’s profile. It turns out he is something of a maverick in the art of surreal photography.
This image is from the US Navy Museum in Washington D.C. I believe that at least some, if not all of the men in this picture, are wax models, but that does little towards explaining the perfect composition of the four planes flying overhead.
This next image is from the pyramids of Meroë in Sudan, which in total contain over one thousand graves.
And this picture, below, is of the world beyond that.
See you tomorrow Paul, I said, and walked to my classroom.
oh to be in the navy
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