Snowshoeing

So... Despite a mile-long to-do list on Saturday, I was still able to get out go snowshoeing (yes, that is the correct spelling...) with my good buddy Logan.   We saw some pretty scenery, listened to the creek, and enjoyed the fresh air. While enjoying the view at one particular spot Logan stated that he wasn't a very good photographer.  I said that was nonsense and he replied that it was true, he didn't know how to capture what he saw.   I remembered something I had learned about photography, sometimes you just can't capture everything you see. I would argue that Most of the time you can't capture everything you see. So you have to ask yourself, "why do I like this, what am I really trying to catch here" and then focus on that. I asked him that and he pointed out the shadows contrasting with the snow.  I hadn't even noticed those, but they were really neat. I was busy trying to capture the contrast between the white snow and the green moss. Both were parts of a bigger scene that we couldn't really capture, but we can see the beauty of it in the details.

Its been cold here... very, very, cold here... and its been a long time since I last wrote... a very, very, long time...  I guess there is all the usual excuses in life, school, work, sleep... mostly school for me. :) Well, this post actually begins at school, one morning it was snowing lightly while I walked to my chemistry lecture and a large, and perfectly shaped snowflake landed on my black glove. I just started at it, nearly bumping into a few pedestrians... I was impressed at how unique it was, and I started looking more closely at the ice, flakes, and other spectacular and minute beauties around us during the winter.

  

                

This morning I found a little time before breakfast and just see what I could find in our yard.  the ice was beautiful.   I'm definitely busier than I have ever been before, but being out in the cold and looking at how detailed and beautiful the world is helped me to remember to slow down and pay attention to the small things. In my opinion, God is in the details, something as small as a snowflake is created because of the laws of physics, chemistry, meteorology... all working together in the perfect order of things...

Fall 

Fall is an interesting time of year. There isn't much of a Fall in California, and I'd forgotten how much the trees really do change!  I love the color and smell of fall. I love the beauty of a street covered in flakes of yellow.    

I'd also forgotten how bold fall is... it has no reservations about what its bringing. Cold, snow, brown, wet... not really a list of my favorite things. Its easy for me to let these signs of winter distract me from the beauty of the season. 

Its in times of change like this that I've learned an important lesson. There is really nothing you can do about it. Accepting that doesn't make change easy and it doesn't make things better.  

Perspective can change the way we look at things though, and instead of seeing the death of summer we can see the birth of spring. The birth of spring really does begin in the fall. These berries aren't made in the dead of winter. The vine has labored the duration of spring, summer, and fall to produce these. They will bring new life in the spring. 

Change isn't easy. But it can be beautiful. It can even be disguising itself as something dying, when in reality it is bringing new life.  

325 Degrees

The fondest memories... what makes something stick in our minds, recorded there forever? I was gone from home for two years, with only occasional phone calls, email, and memories ...
Some cannot imagine a church "forcing" young boys away from home at a time in their life that they probably need it most.  I was asked why so many times.   My answer usually surprised people more than the fact that I left home.   My answer was this. "Over the last two years, even though I have been away from my family, I feel closer to them now than I ever did before."   This post examines this phenomena by looking at one specific memory forged week after week for all of my memorable lifetime.  Sunday Dinner.

    I believe that a memory needs to start from certain ingredients.  These ingredients usually include family or friends, with perhaps a pince of board games or travel.  Our Sunday dinner is nearly always roast, seasoned with onion and carrot, and potatoes.

 

The right tools help make things go smoothly... but a lack of them can create memories also... such as lacking a tire iron in the middle of wyoming...  At first sight there is nothing unique or special about a peeler or knives, but when we look at what these tools are making, the become something more. 

Now, when everything comes to the table. its just like that moment when everyone piles in the land-cruiser at some ghastly hour of the morning for the long drive to California... there is an excited feeling, anticipation perhaps of something seemingly ordinary, but actually extraordinary.   Now you have a memory beginning....

 

   

   

The ordinary events in our life, even the ones that seem to repeat themselves so often you could use them as a calendar are the ones that stick. Those memories last no matter the distance and no matter the time. What ingredients, tools and settings create your memories?  To find out you will probably need to learn to see the most "ordinary" things in your life. 

How exciting!  I'm posting on my blog.. which i've been meaning to do for a month now since i've been home... but i haven't known quite where to start, or where to find the time.... However, I'm posting this little blurb to make a commitment. by next Monday, there will be a REAL blog post up... hold me to it... :)  now i'm off to class...

Goodbye!

Well, everyone, its been fun!  I know I've been a lame blogger the last little while... but who knows, maybe I'll be extra good when I get back?   I suppose we'll see in two years right?  Thank you to all those who provided inspiration for my blog, as well as comments, and support, and all that jazz... as always, feel free to browse while I'm gone, and feel free to use any and all pictures for pretty much anything... :)   See ya'll later!

The Truck

For as long as I can remember this truck (belonging to my grandpa who lives in California) has been sitting at the edge of our property collecting rust... sometimes its an eyesore, sometimes its a landmark, but most of the time it is ignored.  Until today, I was standing in the field with the wind ripping around me and threatening to lift me into the sky... I had to grab my camera, but it wasn't dark enough and I didn't have a small enough aperture to make up for it to do a long exposure... long story short I ended up taking pictures of this mostly unnoticed piece of junk... I discovered that our truck was made to be photographed in black and white and I think they turned out kind of cool...