Reflections from the Journey

10 years ago I had a 3 week old baby and was wondering into what kind of world I would be raising a kid. I didn’t want anything to do with God, or, especially, religion. I watched the coverage of NY, DC, and PA on Fox News. I was filled with hate and wanted revenge. I was so conservative that I disliked W. for not retaliating fast enough or hard enough. I was readying my guns and making sure I had an evacuation plan together.

But today is a new day and I am a new man. I am thankful to God for opening my eyes and my heart and changing the way I see the world over these last 10 years. I have found a better way. Though, I often fail miserably, I try to seek peace and understanding. I realize that hate only begets hate. I have learned that might does not make right. I see much more of the bigger picture, fuzzy though it may be. And though I still wonder what kind of world my kids are inheriting, it is because I still see too many people who still think the way I used to. Today I shed tears for all the lives that were lost on 9-11-01 and the lives that continue to be lost because of hate, pride, intolerance, imperialism, misunderstanding, etc. I shed tears for lives that are lost, but I am joyful for the life I am gaining and for the hope of a less polarized and more understanding, cooperative, peaceful world. After all, if I can undergo a deep shift in my view of this world, anyone can. May we bless God and all of His Creation with our open eyes, open minds, open hearts, and open hands.

Not long ago I was much like most Americans fueling up my vehicles with gasoline, taking my kids to the fast food drive-thru’s,  buying my food at the grocery store, spray fertilizing & weeding my lawn, etc. without much of a second thought.  I did want to conserve energy a bit (& save $$$ a lot!) so I grew a few tomatoes & cucumbers in the summer, kept the thermostat set cooler in the winter and warmer in the summer, watched the “green” shows on HGTV, went hiking and photographing in the woods, fed the birds (& squirrels!) in my yard, I joined the National Wildlife Federation.  Heck, I was even using CFL’s in many of my lamps!  I was “going green” like most folks.  I was no “tree huggin’ environmental wacko,” but I was doing my part.

Now, I’m not saying that any of those things I did to “go green” was wrong, in fact I encourage people to do them.  Please don’t think that I am standing up on some pedestal or sitting up on a “high horse” looking down on anyone.  What I am is a person on a journey that just may be a little bit further along the trail than many, but still lagging behind many others.  I’m here to offer what little guidance and insight I can to what lies ahead if you decide to undertake a similar journey.

Though I would say that God has been preparing the trail for me throughout my life , we can take a look at where I began to tread this particular section of trail:

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So last night I got you up to speed a bit on what has happened since I 1st told you about the vision/mission  God has given me.  I realized as I was composing that post that I really haven’t given a very clear picture of my vision.  That is what I hope to rectify now.

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Well, it’s been a little over 8 months since I wrote about my dream for the future so I thought I would post an update on what’s been going on.

While I have been learning a LOT, the whole process feels like taking baby steps.  You know the shaky, unsure, off balance kind of steps I’m talking about.  They are cute and part of the learning process, but they don’t cover much distance.   Here is a sampling of some of the baby steps I (along with my family) have taken:

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Getting up early and going to bed late caught up with me.  I had wanted to get up early to get more sunrise image but I woke up with a splitting headache.  I couldn’t seem to shake it even after going back to sleep for an hour.  I almost packed everything up and head home, but I new that I should go out and shoot here while I could.  Headache or not I was in the mountains and that is better than being in Charlotte.

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After getting back to my camp at Roan Mt. State Park in TN, cooked myself a VERY tasty omelette and tried to decide on where to shoot next.  The combination of my early rising, hiking with a 30-ish pound pack, and full belly, however, made me quite sleepy so I opted to take a nap before making any decisions.  Yep, that’s just what I needed, a nice relaxing nap.

Ever try taking a nap in a campground in the middle of the day?

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Day 2 of my trip to Roan Mt.  came really early.  4:00am is not the time that I generally enjoy getting up in the morning, but the sun (& the other CNPA members) weren’t going to wait.   Wisely, I had laid out all my clothes and gear the night before, so I was out of my tent and ready to roll within minutes.

It’s a good thing I had those extra minutes, because I spotted a few deer as I was leaving the campground & slowed down a bit for safety’s sake.  Let me just say that driving in the dark at 4 in the morning on a strange winding road is difficult enough without the prospect of  deer in the road adding to it.  Anyway, I got to Carver’s Gap met up with my fellow nature photographers and headed up the Appalachian Trail toward Round Bald.

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Friday, the first full day of my trip was pretty much open since I wasn’t meeting the other folks from CNPA until Saturday morning.  There were so many trails to check out that I didn’t know where to start!   I decided to check out a trail that I thought I had read about earlier in the week:  The Cloudland Trail.  I quikly consulted a trail guide provided by the State Park and headed down to the Visitor’s Center to find the trailhead.  As I approached the trailhead which is behind the Visitor’s Center I saw a sign that read something like “Cloudland Nature Trail a service project of the Cloudland Nature Club.”  That and the relatively short length of the trail was beginning to make me suspect I has made a mistake.

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This last weekend I finally took a trip to a place in the mountains that I have been wanting to photograph for a few years.  I’d seen photos from friends and other photographers of the Roan Mt. area and they always made my mouth water, but for some reason or other I never made it up there.   An outing with the Charlotte chapter of the Carolina Nature Photographers Association (CNPA) gave me just the “excuse” I needed.

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A picture may tell a 1,000 words but it still never tells the whole story.  I’m going to take you on a journey back through the lens and out the viewfinder to tell you the story of the making of the image.

This is the 1st of what I plan on being a weekly feature on the blog.   We’ll start with one of my favorites and my 1st “real” digital photograph:

Crabtree Falls

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