In July 2019 my husband and I went to a cooking school at a villa in Tuscany that was hosted by Naomi Pomeroy, a well-known Portland OR chef. It was very hot so we would often retreat to our room in the afternoon for a nap. I took this picture of the light coming from the window into our darkened room and kind of forgot about it until this challenge came up.
Naomi Pomeroy died in July 2024 in an accident on the Willamette River here in Portland. I immediately thought of the time we spent with her and how she tried to teach me proper "whisking technique"...let's just say that I'm better at eating food than cooking it! She was an amazing talent and a lovely person. So now when I look at this photo I think not only of literal light and shadow but also of the happy time in Italy and the sadness that came after.
I'm not usually into symbolism but in this case the bird represents Naomi's spirit and the whisk represents my attempt to be a good student