Sunday Drive

(double click to enlarge)

This is the view of a pasture just up the road from my place. I drove by it on Sunday. On a whim, I captured this picture from the front seat of my car with the camera on my phone. The birds were wheeling. The sun was shining. Color was just beginning to touch the trees. It was gorgeous. I wish I could just freeze time for a brief interval when I'm hit with a moment like this. 

I have that feeling a lot, actually. I guess I'm just greedy and want to hold on to those brief moments of contentment for a while longer. And really, that's what my photography is all about. I try to capture those fleeting moments as life races by. I know that my over-tired, stressed self will soon forget that second of bliss and I'll be bogged down in the mire of daily life. So I unobtrusively capture what I can and savor it later, marveling at and enjoying the moments again.  

We've added a new tradition to our family's evening prayers. Instead of wrapping up in our usual way with each of us adding a petition, we now add an petition AND a thanksgiving. We're trying to foster grateful hearts in order to combat the naturally demanding natures of our children. It's been very good for us to focus each night on the things that we (and those we come into contact with) have been blessed with. It's amazing how hard it is to narrow it down to just one thing a day that I'm thankful for. Right now my heart is overflowing with gratitude for the tremendous gift of living in a place of natural beauty.