Tag: Freedom

Veterans Day Thoughts 2019.

Color Photography
Hello friends! Normally this where I give you the image title and how to purchase a copy but tonight’s post is simple a thank you to all of those who served in the armed forces.

Old Glory. The name invokes thoughts of the destiny God has planned for free people.

As children we bought cardboard drums full of green plastic soldiers and toy tanks. The exposed roots of the big yellow poplar in the front yard made a perfect landscape in which the fate of the world was decided.

Image Titled “Toy Soldiers In Silhouette” & is a studio recreation of a childhood memory.

We made little forts and buildings from rocks and sticks found under the tree and wild clay that we harvested from the edge of field. Paper airplanes made bombing runs across the field of battle and the good guys always won. At the end of the day all of the men on both sides were carefully gathered up and returned to cardboard drum to be put away until the next time they were needed to save the world. But plastic doesn’t bleed. At the time that I was playing these games men and women were coming home from Vietnam. Some with all their scars on the inside. My grandfather was a veteran of World War Two who lived the rest of his days with the shrapnel that sent him home still embedded deep in his body. Looking back I remember that far away look on his face as he watched us play with the toys.

One day out of the year our culture asks those of who are civilians to thank our veterans for their service and give them a well deserved handshake. Perhaps buy a cup of coffee and have conversation. But what about tomorrow? Or six months from now? When I consider the sacrifice made by our nation’s finest I have to believe that it deserves more recognition than one day out of the year. There are plenty of veterans who just need a buddy to check on them from time to time and talk about fishing or sports or anything. The World War Two generation is swiftly marching into eternity with Korean and Vietnam vets bringing up the rear. If you truly want to thank a vet then become a part of their life. I believe that you’ll find out that a relationship with a true friend is the best form of thanks. Our finest citizens deserve more than to be put away into a box until the next holiday.

Image Titled “The Silent Cannon”. A reminder that peace has returned.

The last thought is concerning retired cannons. The long and the short of it is that the tradition comes from a time when warriors signaled peaceful intentions by placing their weapons in a way that rendered them useless. When the cannon was developed it was only capable of one shot and so emptying the bore by firing a shot into the air signalled peace since it makes the cannon useless. Today we’ll find artillery in parks and memorials that usually filled with concrete transforming a weapon of war into a symbol of peace.

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Forging Yesterday

black and white photography, Thoughts and Musing, West Virginia

It’s said that photographers work with two main elements. Light and Time. I suppose that’s why so many of my writings emphasizes the observation of time. Tonight I’m looking at another version of my favorite old barn and I began to think about how quickly all of our tomorrows become yesterdays. It seems that I was just blogging about how much I was looking forward to Springtime and this morning I saw the leaves falling on my lawn. When I was a kid summer seemed to last a lifetime and today I blink my eyes and it’s almost gone. Sure we’ve had some unseasonably warm weather but the light is fading fast. A few years ago I was in a gym and one of the other men in the locker room made the same observation about how fast the summer went by. His friend answered that when they were only six years old summer was 1/6 of their lives. Now they’re sixty years old and summer was only 1/60 of their lives. The passage of time was relative to the age of the observer.

We live in the moment but moments pass so quickly and we are left with a collection of yesterdays. We can plan what we want tomorrow to become but we only have now to bend time and forge the now into a yesterday worth collecting. Mistakes will be made. It’s inevitable. Many of us are trying so hard to go back and fix the errors that we are losing the now and the opportunity for a new and better yesterday. You see, the old cliche about building a better tomorrow is just that. A cliche. All we can really do is use our now in the best way possible and hope that when we are finished with it that it matures into a better yesterday. A yesterday that is captured by the lens of memory and added to a fine collection which can be shared with those we love.

The Primeval Adventures Of My Youth.

black and white photography, West Virginia

The deep forests are an easy place to get lost. You start out on a dirt road and you just keep walking when you run out of gravel. Eventually the mud transitions into leaf litter. The moss grows thick and the gnarled undergrowth fills every available space. Just beyond these trees are the cliffs I used to play on as a kid. There’s a rocky ledge with a large overhang that one can sit on and observe the forest floor below. I’m guessing that it’s only about twenty or maybe thirty feet in hight but to a young man in his early teens it may as well had been the edge of the world. I would get all garbed up to the point where it looked like I was going on a major expedition down the Amazon. I carried a large Bowie Knife on my belt for survival. The only thing I ever used it for was to mark trees by cutting out a patch of the outer bark and being careful not to damage the live bark underneath. (If done right it in no way harms the tree). I would sometimes take a slingshot along. ( called a catapult by many of my international friends). I would try to pick off individual leaves with a small stone. The stones are not nice and consistent like the fancy ammo in the stores today. That made hitting anything consistently quite a challenge. Sometimes I would pick up acorns or hickory nuts for slingshot ammo which was better for accuracy but didn’t really impart much impact to the target. I’d bet that if I made my way to the ledge today I’d find a pile of small stones in the back of ledge waiting to be used during the zombie apocalypse. Other days I would trek down into the valley below. I would pick out a sapling to craft into spear. There was a particular rotten stump below the cliff that was just the right consistency to allow the spear to stick. I was actually better at throwing the spear than I was with the slingshot.

The road in the feature image was one of my favorite childhood memories and a way of escape from the mundane world and a gateway to a primeval adventure.

Taking In The View From Carnifex Ferry Battlefield State Park.

Color Photography, travel, West Virginia

As I stand on the overlook at Carnifex Ferry Battlefield State Park the storm clouds begin to thicken and turn dark. In spite of the history made here this is a beautiful place where you can enjoy a sense of peace. (I am hoping to get some good photos of the reenactment of the Battle this year. There will be more about the Battle at that time). Behind me a family is playing on the swings but the wind blowing in my ears drowns out the rhythmic squeaking of the playground.

In just a few short weeks they will start draining the lake for winter. That signals the beginning of the rafting season. The Gauley River below will be full of brightly colored kayaks and rafts navigating the Class IV rapids. Mother Nature’s rollercoaster! I have been told bottom of the trail that goes down to the river. In a few places you’ll find virgin timber. I remember seeing the massive stump of an American Chestnut in one of those spots. It was at least ten feet thick when it was alive. Today I just needed to absorb the view and let the wind blow in my face. As I breathe in the peace and tranquility of the mountains the storm clouds offer me the courtesy of a warning shot. The first few large drops of rain land at my feet and I know that it’s time to aim my big blue truck for home.

Little But Mighty

Color Photography, Thoughts and Musing, West Virginia

Today is a busy day on the Kanawha River. The coal barges were all over the water moving massive amounts of coal up and down the river. The little tug in tonight’s feature image was pushing three barges and all three are the size of office buildings. The ones here are riding high on the water which means that they are empty but I’ve seen these little boats move full barges and more than three of them at once. I’m told that the men who work the river live on the boat for months at a time and are home for a couple of weeks before embarking on another journey. In a previous post I remarked that electricity is delivered by train but it travels by boats too! It impressive to see the little tugs at work moving huge amounts of mass with ease. And that brings me to the point of tonight’s post. Never judge anyone by their size. Especially yourself. When a person pushes their limits they might fail the first time. And the second and third and so on. But eventually something happens and the weight budges. That’s when you really dig in and push with all your might. Once the weight is moving it’s easy to keep it moving. Once it’s been done it’s easier to do it again. And it’s all in the heart. Not the muscle but the spirit. The core of our being that empowers us to never give up. What’s more is when two tugs team up and work in synchronicity. They don’t just move twice as much but three or maybe even four times the mass. Like the little tugs we are capable literally moving mountains when we’re equally yoked. Two people who are in sync compound their strengths. They can cheer each other on and keep that spirit energized. I was encouraged to watch the little tugs at work today and I hope you are too.