Tag: inflection

The Light At The End Of The Tunnel

Thoughts and Musing

The mountains of Appalachia provide a lot surprises.  Common sense told me that there are tunnels here and there but I had never spotted one until the day I took this picture.   As I look at the image the obvious thought is about the light at the end of the tunnel.   It’s a phrase that we use when encouraging a friend who’s having a tough time.  But,  we never really think about what the tunnel represents.  The tunnel at Kimberly West Virginia was put in this spot to ease the efforts of traveling through the steep landscape.  The  tunnel made the path straight and eliminated a grueling climb.   

The times in life when it seems like we’re in the proverbial tunnel just trying to make it to the light at the end it helps to remember that it’s a shortcut.   Just stay on the tracks and keep moving forward. 

Forest Dweller

Color Photography, Thoughts and Musing

Mankind is a wild animal. We hide it with technology, office buildings and fashionable clothes but in our hearts we instinctively know we must be free to roam. We crave the fresh air and sunshine. We need to find that special spot where we can center our thoughts and breathe. There’s something refreshing about the the smell of the stones and the trees along some fern covered forest floor. If you can sit still enough for long enough nature begins to welcome you home. More than once I’ve had small birds get curious enough to land just out of reach. Sometimes I have fallen asleep only to wake up at the sound of footsteps creeping ever closer. I open one eye and slowly turn my head to see a deer nervously trying to figure out who is on the path.

We live in a age and wonder. The technology in my phone was only science fiction when I got my first job. It has allowed me to share my perspective with the world. Even the pictures taken by the camera can be instantly sent across the planet. Yet with all this access there’s still a drive to be free from it all and just quietly exist.

Entwined 

Back and White Photography, Thoughts and Musing

We grow as one.  

We live as one. 

We strive together ever upwards.  

I will carry you to the sky, you will keep me rooted in the earth.  

We are more than friends. 

We are more than lovers. 

We are one life,  one path, one determination. 

We are entwined. 

Wounded 

black and white photography, Thoughts and Musing

We seem to have a tendency to do one of two things when we encounter a person who has been wounded either physically or emotionally.  We either ignore the scar totally or we focus on it completely.  Old wounds ache with a dull throbbing pain as a constant reminder that we messed up somewhere along the way.  I  was a rough child. I seemed to collect scars like merit badges. The stitches in the palm of my hand from a broken jar of fireflies,  the scars on my knees from falling out of a moving pickup truck.  I  even have a  couple of scars from a sword. ( only superficial and skin deep) I have numerous scrapes and scratches from briars and brambles.  All of are a roadmap of my life.  But the only scars I feared to collect were the scars on my soul. Broken bones and torn flesh heals so much faster than a wound of heart. As I approach a half of a century of earthly experience I have observed that to some people it’s the emotional scar that carries the badge of honor. Where I have lived life to it’s fullest and carry the physical marks of my adventures others have loved life and bear the honor of those adventures.  

The image used in this post is a chestnut tree on my old home place. Years ago the metal fencepost was leaned against the trunk temporarily and then we got busy. The wound to the tree was one of neglect.  When I think about the emotional wounds and scars of this world I have to believe that the majority are caused by neglect.  We simply forget to go back and relieve a burden. The person wounded carries that burden until it works it’s way into the soul and becomes a part of them.  It’s okay to remind a person of the burden that they left behind. It’s okay to simply cast off something that’s not supposed to be a part of your life.  It’s wise to avoid the wound.  But if you carry no scars have you really lived? One day this tree will be cut down.  All that will remain will be the wood.  As is a tradition in many rural areas someone will use the wood and the inclusion of  scars will make for a beautiful end product.  So it is with the scars we carry  in the soul. They say that beauty is only skin deep but they are wrong. Beauty comes up from the very depth of the soul. It’s the scars and inclusions that make that beauty unique.