Wash My Eyes

Wash my eyes that I may see

The yellow return to the willow tree

Open my ears that I may hear

The river running swift and clear

And please

Wash my eyes

And please

Open my ears

Wash this world that is one place

But wears a mad and a fearful face

Let the cruel, raging seas

Let the children sleep in peace

And please

Wash this world

And please

Let the children

sleep

In peace

Copyright Greg Brown

I finally finished the kick-sled and then I had to figure out how video cameras work.  Apparently, it's mostly through black magic and alchemy.  Anyway, my first effort and the twins were happy with a belated Christmas present.

Self portrait of photographing the Roaring Fork River in January during a snow flurry that turns everything gray and white.

Western Alabama's exploration into affordable, sustainable and nurturing housing by Auburn's architectural students.

http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/2008/ruralstudio/

     Susan#1 and I have been talking about her new camera(!) and sunsets.  Bryan Peterson has one of the nicest and simplest books on understanding the basics of exposure.  He talks about capturing sunsets and I like what he has to say.
     He mentions that sunsets and sunrises are great as they don't mind being photographed and there will be another one tomorrow!  How nice is that, eh?
     Anyway, here is what he says, in essence.  I like what the effects can be, as evidenced by the sunset over Cape Cod Bay here.
     This is assuming your camera has an aperture setting as found in most SLR's and DSLR's.
     Set your camera to Aperture Priority, so that you can manually set the aperture.  This is usually denoted by AV, or Aperture Value.  Then, set your aperture to around a setting of f/9 as this is typically the sweet spot in most lenses.  It still gives you pretty good depth of field ( the stuff that is in focus ) and still fast enough for handheld shots.
     Then, find the sun.  If you are a graveyard or night shift worker like me, it will be that big, yellowy thingy hanging in the sky, very creepy, I know, but it's OK, it's just the sun.
     Having found the sun, move the camera to the left or right keeping the sun just out of the frame and push the camera's shutter button half way down.  This will set the exposure.  Keep holding the shutter button half way down and move back so the sun is in the frame and recompose.  Then, push the shutter button all the way down.  Poof!  A nice exposure where the water isn't too dark and you still get great colors in both the water and sky.
      What fun, eh?
     OK, kiddies, stay tuned for Uncle Geo's next pontification on Light and Exposure!

A short look at the place that Farland, Dawn and I call home.
McLain Flats looking towards Snowmass Village.  That's Mount Daley looming in the early morning light.   And, a ubuiquitous private jet zooming off somewhere. 
Sorry about the shake, I need to get another tripod!  Yikes!

      I love this little clip from The Incredibles as it so describes the males
( at least in my family ) as we want to swoop in to fix the problems our families and friends experience.

     "I am your wife!  I am the greatest good you're ever going to get!!"

Stop and Hear the Music

A Violinist in the Metro

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousand of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.



Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.



A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.



A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.



The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.



In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.



No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.



Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.



This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?



One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?

How delightful and synchronous!
I was just poking around our funny little valley trying to get a new view, or at least renew my view of why I live where I live.  It's been gray and snowy for many a day, 21 out of 31 in December with 100 inches of snow up on Highlands Peak just for December. 
But, I am first and foremost a Sun Child and delight in the warm rays of Old Sol as they do more for me than most natural things I find.
So, there I was, minding my own business (as all my reports start) when I thought I would drive up to mile post 47 on highway 82.  This is where the highway is closed for most of the year.  But, I prefer to think of it as, this is where the road is truly open for most of the year!  Come!  Hike!  Ski!  Snowshoe!  Run!  Walk!
I got of my truck and took in the view that you see here.  It's not been tampered with, retouched, Photoshopped or anything else.
Yes, the skies here are really that blue.
Yes, the snow is really that high on the shed that you see in the lower right-hand corner.
Yes, the trees hang onto the snow like cotton balls for days on end.
And, yes, the mountains here are shrouded in clouds as the storms clears.
That's Mount Shimer, or, as we call it, Sunshine Peak sticking up through the clouds as our latest storms clears out of our valley.  That's also the Continental Divide at around 12,000 feet above our oceans.
So, this is where I go to to find the sacred in my life.  The sacred wilderness and the great out of doors.
I believe it was one of the Blacklocks, a father/son team of photographers from Minnesota that published a great photo book simply entitled, "Meet My Psychiatrist" that was one of the greatest photo journeys through the wilderness I have seen.
It gives me a bit of scale in my life and where I fit in.  I am that tiny speck of red, most times, hiking along, stopping every now and again to snap a shot, then puttering on.  The silliness of the day slip away, the drudgery of dismal days drip off my form as sweat from my brow.  I am refilled to the brim with the glory of this Earth and return to the valley floor a renewed and recharged person.

     Well, I would hope that eventually I could actually perform it, rather than just practice it.  After all, one should get good at something, right?
I think it might be the delightful practice of appreciating trees and sun.  Whether the sun and trees are in the summer, fall, winter or spring, there is a lot to be learned from both.
     For one thing, trees outlive us, for the most part.  There are some people that plant trees for their family and tend them as dearly as their loved ones.  There is a strange rumor around concerning this that when, or if the tree gets sick, so does the person that the tree was planted for.
      But, it reminds us to care for not only the tree, but the soil it grows in, the land in the valley, the river that flows through that valley and the seas and oceans that river flows into.
     This is my favorite tree, an old aspen tree in the Hunter Creek valley that every now and again, catches the only sun beam that is offered up on a fall's afternoon.
     Sun Tree has much to teach me in practicing my new-found sacraments.

     Well, my little cheeky monkeys, it's Gay Ski Week here in good old Sodom and Gomorrah.  Lots of very flamboyant characters about town and on the slopes.  Yesterday was the annual Downhill Fashion Contest and it lived up to it's name, going downhill quickly.
     Sister Helen Holy from the Southern Fried Baptist Church held forth for her eighth year ov MC'ing said event and she was as sharp as ever.
     She warmly welcomed all the Homoseculars and Lesbaterians in the crowd and even the straights, too.
     Working the crowd she tore into everyones wardrobe, hairstyle or gender persuasion.  She even let Carolyne Roehm have a little good fun as she was seated front and center.
     Anyway, here are a few photo of said event!
     Top to bottom- Sister Helen Holy, The Crowd, The Judges, Third Place Winner, who we all hoped the prize was a Lady Schick, Second Place Winner who we all hoped for pants and the First Place Winner, who only made me think, man, do I need to get to the gym.  Sheesh.

I rather liked today's reading from Hazelden as it speaks to the procrastinator in me. 

Today's thought from Hazelden is:

Say when it's time to begin.

I have a friend who is always planning to start a writing project "as soon as she gets organized." She has read nearly every book, attended every seminar, and bought all the tapes on the subject. She has closets full of organizers, drawers stuffed with folders, and several related computer programs. There's only one problem. Instead of starting, she hides behind a mask of "firsts." "I'll start writing, but first I've got to learn this program." "I'll listen to that tape, but first I've got to read this book."

Are you hiding behind a mask of firsts? Is there always something that keeps you from beginning? Take off the mask. Start the project. Ask that special person for a date. Do that Fourth and Fifth Step. Stop making excuses. Eliminate them.

Learn to say when it's time to begin.

God, please help me eliminate excuses from my life. Show me how full my life can be when I pursue my dreams.

You are reading from the book:

More Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie