I had set up for a shot of the sunset at a forest preserve near my home, and, while waiting for things to develop, took some shots of some objects around the spot I had selected. A worn tree stump was providing a table for some of my equipment and I cleared it off to get a better look at the pattern of rings in the late afternoon light.Doing my best to count the rings, which my boy scout training told me would reveal the age of the tree when it succumbed, I arrived at the number 80. For eight decades this tree stood, drinking from a nearby marsh, providing food, shelter and shade for a host of creatures before either disease or disaster brought about the need to cut it down.
The tree was unperturbed by the stock market crash in 1929 and the ensuing depression. It ignored several wars, a slew of scientific discoveries, exploration of the moon and scores of natural and man-made disasters. It just served its purpose until it could no longer do so.
Not saying we should ignore the things going on around us, but maybe not allow those things to distract us from discovering and performing our purpose.
Click on picture to enlarge. Photograph © 2007 James Jordan.
Photography news: Is it illegal to photograph public art? A city in Canada thinks so and photographers beg to differ.
Photo find of the day: Got some time to kill? Explore some of the best photos on Flickr. Flickr Explore features some of the most interesting photos of the moment and offers an archive of the most interesting photos from days past. Here’s one that I grabbed because, well, it grabbed me.
1 comment:
A wonderful bit of wisdom. Very true.
I learned this when I was younger and heard someone read newspaper headlines. I was thinking in my early twenties mind that I lived in a wonderful and a fearful time. Then the reader on the radio told us the headlines were from a paper in the 19-teens. I was stunned. It was a perspective changer for me.
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