There IS a bigger picture……

Thursday July 2nd, 2015………it’s around 4-4:30 and Fran and I are the only ones left at the shop…..we have heard lots of sirens from our local firehall and, as any small town dweller will admit to, we were wondering where the boys are going in such a rush. You pray it’s nobody you know and pray for whomever it is. It didn’t take long for us to see the plume of smoke……and didn’t take much for us to realize it wasn’t small……our prayers shifted to our town as a whole.

Now I have Pictures……lots actually……and for the most part I haven’t published most of them. I have been trying to piece together “Why?”…….I had to get the shots, I went out everyday of the fire to get a visual of what progress was being made. I marvelled in how fantastic this little town is and how proud I am to be part of the collective……but yet the photographs sit on my card…..unedited, unseen. Why?……

I couldn’t catch the reality. The truth could not be translated in one solid shot. How do you depict Fear, crazy panic, death, nurturing, humbleness, support, acceptance, love and loss in ONE single photo? You can’t.

There are to many parties that this effected, in and out of community. 

Death makes angels of us all and gives us wings where we had shoulders round as ravens claws.

~Jim Morrison

The collective changed…..solidified if you will……as the news of John Phare passing reached people. It wasn’t just “news” it was reality snapping everyone back ….and if that wasn’t enough, Mother Nature reminded us by sitting breathless long enough for us to choke on the bi product of our own doing….. 

As I sat in the smoke fog with all of the lower mainland, with fires burning up our back yard and family and friends mourning a Solid Sunshine Coast man…I wondered how many around me were awaken to the fact that this is daily living for others? 

We are spoiled here on the coast…..our rain forests are not typically this active. For those North of us, that is not the case. They pray for smoke to clear to see sun…..for weeks, MONTHS sometimes….not days. 

Yet I heard so many people complaining and bitching. All I could think was “Hello, I’m standing right here beside you. It effects all of us, not JUST you”

But then again maybe the fire would never have started in the first place if “it effects ALL of us, not JUST you” was applied to begin with…….

Will I ever do anything with the pictures I have taken? I don’t know, I think the lessons I have learned through this experience just can’t be formed in This format……..you have to SEE the bigger picture…..you can’t SHOW it…….

 

So Proud of you Son!

It has been an incredible journey indeed!! From the moment I first took Bailey to Kindergarten I have been in Awe of this kind, loving, caring and bright Soul. No matter what has been thrown at him he has absorbed the information, put a smile on his face, put his chin up and moved forward. Our Son….you can not even imagine how hard it is to steady a camera and focus a clear shot when your chest is about explode with the pride you have for the Brave and Strong young man you are trying to get a picture of. You did it! YOUR hard work and refusal to give up is paying off! All above and all around is so proud of you!

Life’s just BETTER when your fishing!

There is no story here that the pictures can’t tell 😉❤️ 

    
     

                

  

Even the dragonflies are exhausted!

“Until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned everything is war”
-Bob Marley

Not a topic you would generally have for Father’s Day dinner……but alas with our family it is not out of the norm. 
There is a lot of racial/political currents that are swirling in our local waters right now. I don’t wish to dive into them because I find it exhausting watching humans as a whole continuously ripping each other apart because of their colour or ancestral background. 

Jon Stewart hit the nail on the head! It rings solid and true here in Canada too. Here’s the link….watch it my friends. Jon Stewart Charleston shooting

Our troubles we face no matter if they are personal day to day or larger picture society/cultural issues are to be dealt with on a humanitarian level. They must always be faced with balance and without fear. Fear of difference will forever lock us in repeating the same mistakes that history keeps showing us has very little gain.  

When we are willing to accept our differences then maybe one will not feel superior and others will know they are not perceived as inferior.  I am a firm believer that education and understanding of all cultures is key. You do not have to agree completely with the culture but at least being able to understand what the beliefs and history is, you can better stand in their space to see from their point of view and vice versa.

Until humanity can do this as a whole and discredit the fears that have been driven by the generations before hand, political gains and money hungry investors it will always continue towards war….

Our only hope is the next generation. Letting them know the truth of the good and bad of our past so they can make educated decisions on what they want their world to represent when they pass it off to their kids. That first and most important lesson should be respect and value life…..no matter what colour or form it takes.   Through a very intense debate that involved very negative outlooks on my daughters biological background she kept her calm and walked away. You see the shame of dividing by race means you will inevitably divide your own house. The intent is never to insult or to make someone feel inferior, but the risk is always there. This topic could not have been discussed in any other manner then racial, because as Jon Steward made clear in his clip…..it IS a racial divide.

After dinner we decided to go up to the lake to see if they could get a night bite. As my daughter hit the edge of the lake she noticed a dragonfly struggling in the water. True to her earthly being she gently plucked it from the water and allowed it to flap and dry its wings off, on her. Then she placed it on the leaves to regain its strength so it could fly off when it needed too.
As scared and frustrated as I had been while we were driving too the lake after such a negative outlook on the future…..it all washed away when I saw the example in front of me of our future….There is a shift happening, there is hope!
   
  

  

  

  

  

  

  

The unplanned moment

One of the perks of living in such a beautiful coastal town is the beach front. There is always something exciting and beautiful to photograph. So on a mission to play with my new lense I talked Chad into us going down to the beach to eat our dinner. As I delighted in the view of the barge and tug that was out front, Chad went treasure hunting for his usual bounty of sea-glass. 

As I sat and enjoyed a few moments of watching him eagle eye the minute pieces of glass off the beach while the light of the sunset changed a bit, a Blue Heron decided to join us. He stood there as if to say “hello?!……you have not taken MY picture yet!!” I swear the bugger was actually posing!! Not wanting to be rude, I obliged. I hope he is happy with the out come, I know I am 😉 

           

A date with Fran

We are always saying “We Should” but life always stops us from doing…..or at least that’s the lie we tell ourselves when we are washed with regret of not doing and finding out it is to late to do now.

In the spirit of “Doing” instead of just saying “we should” Fran and I finally just grabbed our cameras and headed out for have an evening of camera play. We were going to go to the duck pond and get shots there but life threw a curve at us and we were losing light. We were about to give up and call it a night with no play but at least we tried when in the last minute I remembered Syb offering her view to be used when ever we wanted and I figured “why not?!” If we think we “should” we SHOULD! So we ran through Starbucks, grabbed some beverages and went Syb’s. How could we go wrong? A beautiful inlet view with Mother Nature painting a new picture every few minutes!!

It was a wonderful evening that we all enjoyed and I can’t wait for us to do it again!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/128548753@N05/sets/72157654764059296