I am grateful. Grateful for the provisions of this day and for those of the past. At least, the provisions that I can remember! I rarely forget faces, but I am not that great when it comes to remembering things and places. Fortunately, I have a camera to record the events and can relive it later. When I look at the images, I can recall what I was feeling, what the weather was like, and the picture brings back memories. One Thanksgiving (about 15 years ago), we had the opportunity to visit some friends who had moved to Wales. Once I looked on a map and saw how close we were to Ireland, we left our friends after a short visit, then took a ferry over to Ireland.

We did not have that much time, but headed over to the western coast near Galway. As we got close to the Cliffs of Moher, this rock structure was in the middle of a field. I had never seen a dolman before and found this “mini Stonehenge” fascinating. As I began to set up the tripod and the panoramic view camera, a storm began to blow in. The skies grew dark and took on a dramatic appearance. That moment was such a gift and I will never forget it. The adrenaline was really pumping!

I love the writings of John Ortberg and read this selection earlier today after a friend emailed it to me. “Gratitude is the ability to experience life as a gift. It opens us up to wonder, delight and humility. It makes our hearts generous. It liberates us from the prison of self-preoccupation. Gratitude is not something we give to God so we make sure He knows, that we know, how much trouble He went to over us. Gratitude is more than that. It's the gift God gives us that enables us to be blessed by all His other gifts, the way our taste buds enable us to enjoy the gift of food. Without gratitude, our lives degenerate into envy, dissatisfaction, and complaints, taking what we have for granted and always wanting more."

May God richly bless you this Thanksgiving.

This image of Portal Dolman was created with a tripod mounted 6x17 panoramic view camera and medium format color transparency film.

One of those days...

It had been one of those days. Nothing particularly exciting or noteworthy, but just being able to spend time together was such a treat. We were in the panhandle of Florida, celebrating our wedding anniversary where we had exchanged vows just one year earlier. The day was spent enjoying the simplest of things; hot cups of tea in the morning and just easing into the day, taking a long walk on the beach and being able to read with the beautiful white noise of the ocean’s waves in the background.

Daylight savings time had just kicked in so the sunset would be at 4:45pm EST. We arrived with little time to spare and pulled off the road overlooking a popular area called Grayton Beach State Park. There were a few clouds in the sky, which reinforced our hopes that it would be a pretty sunset.

Most people go home or turn their attention away the moment the sun drops below the horizon. But, seasoned photographers know that the real show is still a few minutes away. So, we waited. The air was still and we just soaked up the quiet, giving us time to reflect on the gifts of a day void of busyness. As you can see, our efforts were rewarded with a beautiful display of the Creator’s palette across the sky.

“Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.”

Psalms 36:5

Do you prefer sunrises or sunsets? Why? Tell me about it!

This image was created with a tripod mounted, Nikon D300 camera and a 18-200VR lens.