Sunset Veil

Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly flow the days
Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers
Blossoming even as we gaze

Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly fly the years
One season following another
Laden with happiness and tears

So go the lyrics from Fiddler On The Roof and so goes another day. A veil of rain drifts by the setting sun over Caribou Lake as God seemed to be drawing the curtains closed on another day.

Today I was reminded how fast the days fly by and the seasons and the years when my wife reminded me that our oldest daughter would be turning 30 this year. It seems like only yesterday, when I held here tiny frame, until I realized that was 10950 sunsets ago. What happened, where did the time go? I've been so blessed and I've taken so little time to thank God.

I resolved to make each day count, to appreciate my family, my friends, the little things that make up a lifetime and especially to give glory to God who spins the planets and holds the stars in place so that we can know Him through His creation.

When I look at a sunset I realize how small I am and how big God is, and in knowing Him is rest for the soul, much like the sunset tonight.

Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly fly the years
One season following another
Laden with happiness and tears

The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens.
By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew. (Prov 3:20)

Crescent City

A Mid-April crescent moon slips quietly through the early morning sky above Duluth soon to be followed by the sunrise of another Superior day.
With the ice on Lake Superior slowing disappearing and the honking of geese overhead everything seemed to be welcoming the arrival of springtime

Gooseberry in White

In the 1989 movie "Fields of Dreams", as they stood near a baseball field in the middle of Iowa, John Kinsella (Dwier Brown) asked Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner), "is this heaven? Ray (Costner) replied "its Iowa". While Photographing Gooseberry Falls after a record April snowfall (13"), I though to myself the same question, "is this what heaven is like?

I arrived at the newly plowed parking lot early in the morning and headed quickly down the trail. The lack of any footprints in the fresh snow indicated that I was the first visitor of the day to the falls. As I made my way through the foot deep snow the sound of the distant waterfalls invited me into the white landscape with a muffled roar. Migrating hawks overhead were the only sign that summer was indeed approaching and that this mid-winter scene would soon be melted into the forest floor.

God uses the beauty and power of nature to help us understand who He is. This day at Gooseberry Falls State Park was one of those days where everywhere you looked, you were awed by the stunning work of a heavenly artist. Pine trees covered in soft white snow seemed to stand like enormous spectators, watching as the Gooseberry River swept down the valley, anxious to reach Lake Superior, a half mile downstream.

The cold north wind blew against the tops of the pine trees sending billows of snow floating over the park combining with the rising mist from the river below to form an occasional veil over the scenic valley. Auburn colored water, stained by tannin leaching from tree roots and peat moss tumbled down cliffs contrasting against the white snow in an unusual springtime display of ice and water making it look like a gigantic root beer float.

Climbing up the steep hillsides, I could feel my heart pounding, and I wasn't sure if it was the excitement of being out taking pictures on a day such as this, or, if I was soon to find out the answer to my question " is this what heaven is like". Since I'm writing this, I guess I'll have to wait and see.

Rev 22:1 And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

Spring Splash

Lake Superior has it's own beauty even on gray days. Every year, during late March, the anticipation of warm weather and the green colors of springtime make one a little depressed when the days are gray. We tend to want to stay inside on the inevitable cold overcast days of the transitioning seasons. Such was a day as this. Although the weather was not inviting, I found myself on the beach, observing the last of the shore ice and enjoying the fresh smell of the damp morning air.

There were no sightseers to be found and even the seagulls were grounded from their daily routines by the brisk easterly winds.

As I set up my tripod, digging the legs into the mushy shore ice, the cold pinched my hands, reminding me that even though it was 32 degrees, I still needed to wear the gloves, which I had left in the car. As I focused the camera on the rocks, waves, and ice, I was reminded why I love this Lake. It has a mood of it's own, and even the gray days have a wonderful beauty, you just need to look for it.

When I knelt down in the slush to focus the camera better, I was immediately slapped in the face with a cold spay, and ended up wearing a gallon of Lake Superior's 3,000,000,000,000,000 gallons of fresh water. It was the last picture of the day, and I drove home refreshed, in more ways than one.

As in life, it takes more effort to find beauty in the gray days. However, if we focus on what's good, we tend to forget about the not so good days of our lives.

All of God's creation points us to Him for rest in troubled times:
Psalm 91:1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall rest under the shadow of the Almighty.