Monday, April 21, 2008

The Battle of Waterloo


The name of this post was thought of by Kody 
(my brother), because he says the valley looks like part of his video 
game where they fight at Waterloo.
One of my favorite places to take pictures is a valley down the road from my house. The photo on the top is the beginning. Going down the hill and to the left takes you through a forest and past a creek. Eventually it comes up to a small field. Through the field and into another part of the forest are a few trails, leading in different directions. 
My favorite path is the one that goes straight down the valley, and up the hill. It wanders a bit through some bushes and trees, and heads through a small gate adorned with blackberry bushes. Then it comes up to the picture on the bottom. Another large field, completely open and empty except for four trees. The top of that hill looks out over a part of Abbotsford that isn't fully developed yet. And on a clear day, (even a not-so-clear day) there stands Baker, big as anything, backed on all sides by more mountains. Blue and green and grey, often with white tips. The kind of mountains that look like they came straight out of a painting.
All of these places have one thing in common: They allow me to be in the quiet and truly focus on praying. Praying has always been hard for me, there's always something around to distract me. People, music, the TV, the computer; all man-made things. But when the distractions are God-made, it's so much easier to relax and let the thoughts flow, while still remaining on track.

"I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in." - George Washington Carver

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

I only went out for a walk

Hellooooo there.
(Am I supposed to use a greeting? I guess it doesn't matter. If you can't tell... I'm new at this. I apologize for the lack of flow. Also, I typed this all out once already and lost it. So if I seem brief, it's because in my mind I said this already.) Well, I thought I'd start by telling a bit about myself and the meaning of my Blog title.

Over the last couple of years, I have found myself often with a camera in my hand. If you look through my computer, you will find more than a few pictures of rocks, trees, flowers, and the like. I'm not quite sure how this interest developed. Perhaps I was bored once, and saw the camera looking quite lonesome on a sunny day. As it were, photography became my "thing". Apparently I have a good eye. 
After awhile of proving my salt with an incompetent photographic device (a bulky, old digital camera with a tiny screen and short battery-life), my parents decided to buy me my own for Grad. Nothing too fancy. A semi-slim HP, with a wonderfully large screen (albeit a slightly infuriating delay on night-time pictures). I started to carry it in my purse, and in jacket pockets. Often when I'd whip out my camera, someone would say something like "why would you take a picture of THAT?". Later on, they would see the picture and comment on how nice it is.
One of the beautiful things about nature photography, is that you have to be outside! I love the outdoors; the smell of the air, the feel of the ground, the warmth of the sun (the chill of the rain?). But I occasionally have trouble being motivated enough to go outside, unless for some important purpose. Having a camera in hand gets me out there. A walk down the road, a wander into the bush, even a drive down a back road; it sets me in motion and gets me thinking. Most of the time, I'll take the picture, then stand for quite some time praising God. It is SO amazing. It is unbelievable. It blows my mind. I am learning to find beauty in things that most people pass by without a thought.
The description of my Blog title (and also a bit of a description of myself), is one of my new favorite quotes. "I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in." - John Muir.

I only went out for a walk, and I've returned with a camera full of God's artwork. 
Tomorrow, I'll go out again.