I think I owe the people of a century
ago an apology.
I've been taking a lot of pictures
recently, and for some reason, I have a whole batch of the statue of
Jacques Marquette in Lakeside Park like this one--
Over the years, I've always lamented
the fact that the statue is placed (facing north-northwest) so that
Father Marquette's face is never lit by the sun. No matter what time
of the year, no matter where you stand, you can never get a shot of
his face lit by the sun. The photographer side of me has always
silently (and jokingly) cursed the people who moved the statue from
its original location 100 years ago and placed it so that it's never
front-lit by the sun. Why did they put it that way? Didn't they
know that a century later photographers wouldn't be able to shoot it
exactly the way they wanted?
Didn't they think of ME when they put
it up?
(That's a joke, by the way).
Then as I was walking up Front Street
this past weekend, looking at the statue and once again lamenting the
fact that the sun never hits the face just so as to be able to take a
perfect picture, something dawned on me. It's something so simple
and so basic that I'm kinda shocked I hadn't noticed it before, and
all of a sudden, the placement of the statue makes perfect sense.
The Father Marquette statue is placed
that way because he's overlooking downtown. He's keeping watch over
the city that shares his name. And I am an idiot for A). not
noticing it and 2) silently (and jokingly) cursing the people who
placed it the way they placed it.
To them, I apologize. I'm just sorry I
can't break a few laws of physics and send my apology back one
century in time.
You guys are obviously much smarter
than me, and you may have figured out long ago why the statue is
placed the way it is. Or you guys are just much smarter than me in
that you know it's only a statue, and it really doesn't matter if it
was placed without an optimal photography angle in mind. Either way,
I'm sure you never devoted the amount of thought to the subject that
I did, and I'm sure your lives are much better for it, especially
when you consider that I was born here and have lived a large chunk
of my life here and never once in that life realized that the statue
of Father Marquette was placed the way it was placed for a reason.
I think History Jim is the most
embarrassed. After all, think of the time I've devoted to
researching that part of the city (the south part of Downtown,
perhaps my favorite) and the countless hours I've spent rummaging
around the park, the statue, and (especially) the lilac trees. Yet
do you think that even once I might have considered the placement of
the statue, and noticed why it is the way it is? Nope; all I did
was whine because the sun could never light up Jacques Marquette's
face.
Sometimes, I amaze even myself. And
usually not in a good way. So this may be 100 years late, and it may
go to show the depths of my stupidity, but to the people who moved
the statue to Lakeside Park a century ago, just let me say one
thing--
You nailed it. Good job. And I'll
stop my whining now.
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