Fading light
London, ON, January 2009
About this photo: It's not too late to get in on the electric theme. Click here to see what everyone's talking about. Okay, maybe not everyone. Maybe just my kids and the three soon-to-be-ex-friends I've been harassing all week. Either way, you'll like the experience. New Thematic theme launches tomorrow. I think I'm leaning toward black and white.Sunset makes me think of the day that's about to end and that we'll never get back. As I stare at the deepening oranges and reds that paint the sky in a brilliant yet ephemeral display, I ask myself if I made the most of the day, if I made it count. Indeed, it's what I encourage the kids to do whenever I send them off to school, and it's what I ask them when they're done: Did they make it count?
Regardless of whether they - or we - do or don't, the sun will eventually slip below the horizon, the sky will darken and the day will slip, quietly, into history. We can't control the sun, nor can we change our planet's rotation. So while our closest celestial bodies do their thing, it's up to us do to ours.
For most of us, the sun will rise again in the morning, giving us an entirely new, fresh opportunity to make it count. Another chance to seize the day and make it our own. To make it count.
Your turn: How did you make your day count today?
I try to make my day count everyday, even if it's only by getting out of bed,or telling someone that I love them, or giving a friend a shoulder to cry on.
ReplyDeleteBig or small, good or bad, everyday counts. The trick is to keep breathing.
I packed miniature pumpkin pies in my daughter's lunch, complete with whipped cream (on the side). She and Chef Jeff made the pies last night, together, their whispered conspiracy of spices blending with gales of laughter at a random cream-cheese upset.
ReplyDeleteThis moment, this Now... this is what I am thankful for. Not a random future holiday, not a 'later' that never comes.
The things that make today count are things grounded in today, now, together. Like the scent of pumpkin pies baking, the fragrance of awareness, togetherness fills all the empty spaces.
I peeled a fairytale pumpkin, cut it up and put it on to cook for our Christmas pies. I cleaned out the freezer and made supper from the dregs, climbed up a ladder to clean a high fan, brushed the ragdoll cat that always has mats for the umpteenth time, collected the garbage, did the recycling and got everything to the curb for pick-up. And the day isn't over yet.
ReplyDeleteSometime... perhaps... maybe... the theme could be "candid" again. Though black and white sounds good too.
One of the things I love about teaching is that there rarely is a day that goes by where something that counts does not happen. Today I saved a kid from getting a detention for simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I gave him my fair share of detentions last year, but this will reinforce the idea that maybe I gave him those detentions because he deserved them, not because I just like to give them out.
ReplyDeleteI decided to split these to concepts into separate comments so:
ReplyDeleteI love sunsets! I've spent several evenings out on the shore of the Great Salt Lake watching (and photographing) the sun going down. It's a beautiful place for that.
I turned some time-lapse shots into videos, here's one., and here's a gallery of some I took looking away from the actual sunset.
Each day my eyes open..before I rise, I give thanks for having a new day to get right what I may not have the day before. My purpose on this planet is to live a life of humility, compassion towards others and to let everyone I encounter know they matter. That may be through a smile, eyes widening in recognition, holding a door, paying for someone's grocery bill if they run short, saying kind words.. While there may be days when I feel so low, by lifting others up, I too am lifted.
ReplyDeletePardon the long comment.. this is something I need to survive.. kindness to others.. if I ever lost that ability, I cease to be..
one thing i did today to make it count was spend a nice hour long chat at the table with my wife and daughter while we ate Brucemade cream of potato soup...
ReplyDeletesome days it is just the simple things that relaly make it all worth it...
some days it is jsut getting by and not taking all th enegative and become that which we see all around us...
waited till the transmission was at the end of the line to get this in under the wire...
ReplyDeletethematic Photography 122 elelctric part 3
http://bruceejohnsonjadip.blogspot.com/2010/11/thematic-photo-122-electric-part-3.html
I took the morning off to watch my son's program. Spent the evening with the other in my lap watching a movie. Those make the day count.
ReplyDeleteWork. Well, that's to pay the bills so that when I am in my home I can make every moment count.
I like sunset pics, those are some good ones. But why always sunset? I think I need to try to get some good sunrise pictures, the beginning, the rise of a new day.
-Mr
Beautiful colors and a nice exposure, Carmi. Most would allow the camera to increase the exposure, thus blowing out the highlights and losing some of the prettiest parts of this scene.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful colours and such serenity, Carmi. You have such a great eye for a shot. Mark's comment is a good observation.
ReplyDelete...
Tonight I attended our senior students' graduation ceremony and saw some absolutely stunning young people being recognised for their achievements.
I was so proud of my top students, especially the 'Dux' (highest academic of his year), as I have taught and mentored him for the last 4 years. When he hugged me afterwards and said that he "couldn't have done it" without me, I thought yep, I made it count!
Sorry, this sounds boastful - but there are times when it is fantastic to be a teacher!
:)
This is one of those pictures I'd consider taking for the beauty of the sunset and then not take because of the wires. Here, however, it works. Good for you, Carmi, in seeing the importance in the little things. And the big things.
ReplyDelete