thoughts and musings – Page 21 – LLOYD'S LENS PHOTOGRAPHY LLC

Sunrise On the Gauley River

There are spots on this Earth that seem to carry a spirit of their own.

This spot on the Gauley River is such a place. I stood on banks in this spot and a sense of peace washed over me. It was as if the mist rose up front the water and carried my cares and worries downstream. I could visit this place every day.

It’s not a sin to make time for yourself. If you let yourself be completely drained there’s nobody else who can cover all your obligations. One of my church elders told me that a person can be mentally/emotionally drained and be okay. One can be physically drained and be okay… But, if you let yourself become mentally/emotionally drained and physically drained at the same time it’s a recipe for disaster.

Your first responsibility is to make sure that you are capable of handling all your other obligations. That means being fully charged and well rested.

Let The Light In

Color Photography, encouragement, Thoughts and Musing

Sometimes when I’m talking to friends about things like fear of the unknown or just fear and doubt in general I’ll pose a riddle.

“I was afraid of the dark, but then I became the darkness “.

For the first time ever I’m going to publicly give you the answer.

When you are in a dark place there is fear and anxiety. You can’t perceive the world around you. What’s out there could be bad. It might even be very bad. You’re fear comes from your mind filling in the unknown with projections of worse case scenarios. The flight or fight response kicks in. Adrenaline surges through your blood and your ready for the unknown.

But why become the darkness? It sounds scary. Doesn’t that make you evil? No, not at all. Because a person who is in darkness casts no shadow! In order to become darkness one must become a shadow. In order to become a shadow one must leave the darkness and move into the light. If a person who is in the light is casting light, the the light is being reflected instead of absorbed. The truth will set you free but only if you drink it in make it a part of you.

The Light shines for everyone but not everyone steps out of darkness to let the light in.

Wanderlust

Color Photography, Uncategorized, West Virginia

My lifetime has been lived between mountains and rivers. One of the things I love most is that the hills and ridges always seem to have some secret just waiting for us to discover. I eventually found the time to head across the river and explore only to find more questions on the other side. There are days when I wish I could just load a good ATV up with supplies and see how far down the tracks I can go.

The mountains in the background were once occupied by the Adena. Our local history says that there was a huge wall that stretched for miles. I have daydreams about what the landscape would have been in those times. What were they keeping out? What were protecting? Surely a culture that built a huge stone wall would also have buildings. Is there abandoned temple hidden somewhere in the deep forests? The Adena had copper tools. Is there also a golden idol tucked away just waiting for Indiana Jones to find? Maybe and maybe not. But I would love to find out.

Glade Creek Grist Mill at Babcock State Park

Color Photography, West Virginia

The Glade Creek Grist Mill at Babcock State Park in West Virginia is one of our most popular places. It’s especially popular with artists and photographers. I think the reason why we’re so atracted to it. The mill harkens us back to a simpler time when life was more organic. The days when water and horses powered our technology. This allowed for a life that was less micro managed. There was time for friends and family to meet beside a steam and enjoy life. Small stones accumulated in a pool near the bank hold an entire world of colors and shapes. Insects and crayfish dart around in the pool like waterborne fairies performing a dance. This is what real life is.

The mill is still in operation certain times of the year. We have friends who still take grain to the mill and grind it flour. Home baked bread from home raised grain has a smell and a flavor not found in the bleached out over processed chunks of starchy foam that comes in a plastic bag. Real bread is a wonderful experience.

Today the subject of automation is discussed at length. There are doubts and fears as well as hopes and dreams. I look at the image here that represents the automation of the past and I’m reminded that before the mill all that flour had to be ground by hand. There would have been no time for observation of life in the water. No time for pleasant conversations about life. I have hope that automation of the future will provide the same benefits if we are wise with it’s use.

If you’re interested in visiting the Glade Creek Grist Mill at Babcock State Park in West Virginia you might want to check out the link below.

Glade Creek Grist Mill at Babcock State Park

Beneath Dreaming Tree

black and white photography

There is a place in my dreams where a lone tree stands bridging heaven and earth.

As nighttime falls and the land sleeps the clouds come dancing by.

Stars sing in chorus to the nightbird’s lonely cry.

A maiden enters my dreams. Her green eyes pierce the night and she takes my hand.

Rise up you sleeper she whispers softly.

This dream is short and our time has come.

Our thoughts and hearts are one.

But all too soon will come the dawn.

And our dreamworld will too soon be gone.

For sunbeams shatter dreams and the life that will be.

We loved and laughed with warm embrace beneath that single tree.

Til golden light erased the night and stole my dreams from me.

Beneath the sun I toil, the dream still in my head.

With hopes that my dream returns to me, when tonight I go to bed.