The Grace of a Glimpse

Perhaps we are too small and near, too brief-lived ever to graps the eternal sweep of this land, the comings and goings of mountain ranges and rivers, forests and animals. But moments of illumination will forever surprise us, like a wolf glimpsed as he glides silently across a clearing, or a sudden shaft of light on a tundra ridge—the truth of everything caught in an instant of clarity and focus. All we can hope is to be there, and to be looking in the right direction.

~Nick James

Focus: Part II- Straight from the Horse's Mouth

Boogie says, "Winners focus ON the spray!"

All around me...

All around me I witnessed the cycle of life and death-- with deer becoming wolves, bones becoming soil, lichens eating rocks, herons stalking fish. Irate wolves chased ravens, who in turn chased indifferent eagles, while I wandered in the knowledge that my quiet contemplation would lead me to them so that I might paint them on film.

--Jim Brandendurg, Chased by the Light

Browsing Brandenburg before I lend him out, I come across this passage which really hits home for a number of reasons. I dig out this photo I shot down by down by the ford, which was a redneck hotspot and favorite dumping ground for broken appliances and poached deer carci. A recent flood had washed the garbage downstream, but this doe was just above the waterline, and continued her quiet return to the elements undisturbed.