The Start of It All

This is the one that started it all. I love this photo – It captures my best buddy soaking in the smells of the Black Hills. After I saw this photo, I was hooked on photography. I love playing with composition. I’ve been reading posts on Shuttersisters since it started, and I’m learning a lot. Today it’s all about framing the shot today. Go check it out: http://shuttersisters.com/home/

Listening for the Song


I find a certain peace when I am alone among the trees. Wendell Berry explains it perfectly:

“I go among the trees and sit still
All my stirring becomes quiet
around me like circles on water.
My tasks lie in their places
where I left them asleep like cattle.

Then what is afraid of me comes and lives a while in my sight.
What it fears in me leaves me,
and the fear of me leaves it.
It sings, and I hear its song.

Then what I am afraid of comes.
I live for a while in its sight.
What I fear in it leaves it,
and the fear of it leaves me.
It sings, and I hear its song.

After days of labor,
mute in my consternations,
I hear my song at last,
and I sing it. As we sing,
the day turns, the trees move.” Wendell Berry, A Timbered Choir: The Sabbath Poems 1979-1997

In the calm of the day, I am listening for the song. I’ve already started humming along…and I am at peace.


This Boy’s Life


When you see this face, what story do you tell yourself about this boy’s life? I’ve been thinking a lot about how I project stories onto people that I do not know. If I’m honest, my mind wanders to stereotypical projections. I hate that! Why can’t we listen for a story before we create one? As my husband and I prepare to welcome a new child, I am constantly evaluating how I interact with others. I know that others will meet our child and create a story that is far from the truth. How will our child be happy with his/her own story when so many other versions are thrust at him/her? I guess that’s our job as parents. Perhaps recognizing our tendencies will help us listen even closer before we start making up stories for others. What is this boy’s story? It’s his to tell.