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The Journey

a bend in the road

Today was a good day for a drive through the country.  Snow melting. Sun shining.  Birds singing.  A feast for the eyes and soul.   

I chose my driver, my dear hubby who endures these little treks often, and naturally my camera wanted to go, too.  My photo “topic” today was roads. This winding road above was my favorite of the batch.

letting go

I had not set out to take photos of barns, but this one called to me.  She is falling apart, covered in vines, out in the middle of a field.  The old tree that used to give shade to the farm hands is all but gone, too.   

This kind of stuff inspires me, makes me think of where life takes us, and what we have to let go of along the way.  What have we learned?  How has it all changed us?  That’s just how my mind works.  

Today? I learned that what I may set out to do, thinking “I” know best, is not always (a.k.a. seldom) how it will go.  And this is okay.  Because it’s all about the journey and being open to those little lessons along the way.

 

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Paying tribute

Fred, having lunch with his friends, January 2012

This is Fred, the father of my dear friend, who passed away this week at the wonderful age of 85.  

We have had lots of Sunday lunches with Fred, his daughter, and two other great friends. I’m so glad I decided to take the camera along last winter.

Today we are giving Fred a good send off, filled with lovely memories, prayers for those left behind, and a celebration of his life.

Rest in peace, Fred.

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That old chair

No one knows what became of
her.
She was there. Then she was
not. 
There had been no suspicion
that she even wanted to be other than what they thought they saw.  How perfect she seemed to be, always doing
what was expected. 
A day came when all this
came to her awareness, along with the questions. Unrelenting questions that
stirred deep within her soul.
She grew weary of that old
chair with the worn out cushions, for it had come to represent all the things
of life that she despised; her position, her role in which she played the game
to keep the peace. It was too painful to sit there any longer.
She leaned into that window,
that thin, fragile barrier that was keeping her in…. leaned oh so carefully
until she thought she no longer had the strength.  To her surprise, that thin glass gave way,
and with it all her fears seemed to simply melt.
For a brief moment she sat
on that window sill, taking it all in, breathing that fresh air, feeling the
thrill of whatever was to come. 
And then she soared.
Sharing my photo and words today at Vision and Verb 
“….where a group of like-minded women from all over the world share their passion for photography and the written word.”
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Like a Leaf in Water

Last weekend I really tried to avoid blogging and being online, feeling the need to just pull back and do other things.  As a result, I did not participate in Scavenger Hunt Sunday (SHS) as I had been, and though it felt odd not to do that it also was nice to just relax and enjoy some normal daily activities.  Like…reading a book, cleaning house a bit, taking a nap…you get the idea.

I do like the photo “prompts” that SHS gives each week because it challenges us to be creative with those lenses.  This week the words for our photo ideas include “water”…so today My Camera and I decided to see what we could see and explored a local park for a while.  

As I walked around the park, I heard the scratchy sound of a single leaf scraping along on the sidewalk on this very windy day.  When I turned around to see where it was headed, maybe to see if I could get a photo of it in the air, I saw that it had suddenly and quietly landed in the water.  The water has it now, firmly yet gently in its grip, letting it float along until it will get caught along the side of the pond in a trash heap or simply get so saturated that it sinks.

If you are at all like me, or even if you are not, you probably know how hard it is to sometimes “let go” of Stuff in life, especially thoughts that do not lift us up. Especially wrongs done to us by someone else. Especially hurts from the past, anger, unmet expectations.  Can you hear them as they scratch, scratch along in your mind, pestering you and returning even though you’re tired of them? 

What if we could simply let those thoughts fall into the water? You know, acknowledge them for what they are and let them go. (Maybe the image of drowning that leaf would work better in some cases….you decide.) Just as the sound from that leaf fluttering along the sidewalk suddenly became silent when it hit the water, imagine the quiet in your mind, the peace, the calm of letting go of what no longer serves us.  

I can say the for me, the image of the water catching that leaf and consuming it over time is powerful.  Maybe you know of other ways, different rituals, or exercises that help you let go of a burden.

Never will I say that this is easy. It certainly isn’t for me.  Yet today’s image just gives me the inspiration to try, and I hope it will for you, too.