A perceptive therapist told me once that Maria was the reason I came upstate, bought a farm, left my world behind. She said I was looking for her all of the time, I think that is true. When you meet someone who sees the world as you do, it is not only less lonely, but you feel less crazy and estranged. It is curiously affirming and empowering.

Maria doesn’t think it strange that I’m running around in the rain with my camera, she sips her tea and watches. I was never sure there was a Maria for me in the world, I don’t know why it took me so long to find me, yet I imagine I might not have recognized her in another time.