inspiration – Page 6 – LLOYD'S LENS PHOTOGRAPHY LLC

The Waterfall at The Old Mill Restaurant in Pigeon Forge Tennessee

By special request of my dear friend Sophia Ismaa I’m going to share with you the waterfall at the Old Mill in Pigeon Forge Tennessee.

I was asked to describe the atmosphere of the scene.

As the late fall sun eases it’s way West the crystal clear blue sky fades into a soft purple in the Eastern direction and a golden band on the Western skyline. The shadows of the Great Smokey Mountains began to grow long as the crowd makes it’s way from shop to shop in the little tourist village. Pigeon Forge is a showcase for Appalachian artists. Paintings, pottery and woodworking can be found in almost every shop. The breeze carries wonderful aromas wafting from the Old Mill which is now a restaurant. As we make our way down to the Pigeon River below the mill the sound of falling water overcomes the clamor of crowd in the streets above. The golden sun is now disappearing behind the mountains and the streetlights are starting to come to life. This is magic hour and I have the power to freeze time.

Lifecycle

Color Photography, encouragement, travel, West Virginia

From the first warm Spring rain you awoke to the life giving glow of solar affection.

For a season you bathed in radiance and grew strong enough to withstand the violence of the summer storms.

Strength has now faded and your tasks are complete. All that is left is to carry your golden glow to the forest floor and sleep until the time of rebirth when the sparrow sings and glory awakens you once more.

– Lloyd A Dempsey II

I have always observed that God’s Word is written first on nature. The life cycle of the deciduous trees of Appalachia teaches me that a Christian is conceived in Grace. The leaves don’t go and pull down the light from the sun. It is freely available for them to receive. We as humans don’t call down grace. It’s already here and freely available to anyone. In order to receive the life giving light of the sun the leaves must both awaken and open to receive the light. The Christian must also be awakened and open to receiving the grace of God. It’s the light that makes leaves strong enough to withstand the storms. Our strength is in Christ. At the end of the season the energy collected by the leaves stays in the leaf and is added to the fertility of the forest floor which is taken up by the roots of the tree and used to produce a new leaf. The Grace of God is carried into death by the believer until the day that Christ returns and wakes us from mortal slumber and we are made new.

Quite Time

Church, Color Photography

I have come to the conclusion that being healthy and happy requires that we take a few moments every day to just release all of the daily demands and experience peace and quiet. For me that means wandering down a quiet path and leaving the world behind. If you don’t do some mental and emotional housecleaning the concerned spirit soon becomes cluttered and disorganized. One of my church elders once told me that “if we don’t come apart then we’ll fall apart. ” He was referring to times when Jesus would take the apostles aside and rest. It was in these times He would reveal things to them because they were in a mental and emotional place where they could focus on the revelation and fully absorb what was being taught.

Our modern world is a place of wonder. But all of the distraction can be overwhelming. Take proper care of yourself and find a place where you can just get some peace and be recharged.

Making Your Mark

Back and White Photography

I stumbled across this cairn last year. I knew that people would stack up rocks as a way of marking that they had been there but I didn’t know that it was called a cairn. I had always thought that a cairn a Celtic tomb. It’s a much nicer way to leave you mark than tagging. I guess it’s human nature to want a marker to say “I have been here. ” I was at the end of the Kilroy fad. I never knew why we did it and the origin of the mark is… well, “lost to urban legend “. I just knew that he was a funny little guy with a big nose and he likes to peak over the walls. Below is a poorly scrawled example. ( There’s a reason why I do photography instead of drawing )

No matter if it’s a stack of rocks or a poorly scrawled cartoon we seem to want to be remembered. Even if it’s anonymous. We have an instinct to not be forgotten. I have also picked up a small stone from my land and made a mark on it to leave behind on a trail.

(One of my abstract marks . It’s a stylized representation of my initials)

I wouldn’t recommend defacing public or private property thought. But, if you leave something that’s not litter and just enough to make someone curious I consider it a gray area. There’s a local group who paints stones and leaves them where it’s not obvious but it can still be found. If you write a word of encouragement on the stone it might be found by the right person at the right time to change their day. And wouldn’t that be a good way to leave your mark on the world? Not written in stone but transferred to a heart through the stone.

Warm weather is upon us and people will be out enjoying the fresh air. If you can do so without breaking any laws or damaging property let me encourage you to find a way to anonymously leave something behind to make someone smile.

Mysterious Mountains, Ancient Walls and New Eyes

Color Photography, West Virginia

As I look at peaks and ridges of my Appalachian Mountains I have an overwhelming urge to go explore each of them. Somewhere in this group of hills and valleys is the hidden remains of an ancient empire. Long ago a stone wall was built here that stretched out for miles. The big mystery to me is what were they protecting themselves from? There’s legends of giants in the mountains. I have always had this fantasy of finding a hidden cave entrance and stepping inside to find ancient treasures and stone artworks. At one point we would walk along and find lithics. Stone age tools and points that made life possible turn up here often. The worked stone comes from all over North America. It was often used as a barter when tribes traded with each other.

There’s also the story of a scuttled brass cannon from the “War of Northern Aggression “. (American Civil War) as well as rumors of Confederate gold.

More than likely one might find old overgrown farms. When I was a kid we could find old mason jars on almost any given day of exploration. It was probably left behind by a family who canned their garden produce but in my eyes it was always an abandoned moonshine still. Not all treasures are golden. Sometimes they are rusty tin, glass or ceramic.

Whatever is out there it’s bound to be interesting. There’s a story in everything we leave behind. Old walls, broken glass or rusty barbed wire it doesn’t matter. It’s all about the lives that filled these mountains and the stories that they left behind.