Hark

Well it is that time of year again, Christmas is coming fast. Each year it seems we rush more and more to purchase anything and everything we possibly can in recognition of the greatest gift man has been given. Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas, but just not the pushing and shoving at Walmart or other retailers. The image to your right is called Hark. It is Haitian metal art, and is hanging at Wings of Hope in Fermathe, Haiti. I titled the image Hark as it is an interesting word, an Old English word meaning to listen. I hope we all can take a moment and listen to the real meaning behind Christmas, and who knows, we may even enjoy ourselves.

http://www.heirloomcrafters.com/gallery/hark.html

Focus

All things happen for a reason, and so was our stay in Haiti. When we arrived, we were only supposed to be at Wings of Hope for a day and a night; however, our stay lasted longer. The 2008 spring food riots were in full swing. Cars burning, rocks pushed off the roads above to block the streets below and buildings having their windows smashed out. No one was moving anywhere, so we got an opportunity to spend more time with the Wings children, one on one. Renee had a quarterly mailing to do for the children's sponsors, so we decided to help with the mailing. We all divided up into groups and took children and traced their hands and feet. It was a lot of fun, we all had a great time doing it. Once I completed our groups, I grabbed my camera and started walking around. As I got to the second floor, I saw Josephine was getting her tracing done. Now understand, Josephine had me wrapped right around her little finger, so as I sat down to watch, I couldn't pass up this shot. Focus seemed to be the correct title as both Maya and Josephine seemed very intent on what was occurring. Once we were all completed we sat and folded them up to go to their sponsors. It was fun and fulfilling and allowed me a chance to focus on something positive, while chaos was happening all around us.

http://www.heirloomcrafters.com/gallery/focus.html

Decisions

One afternoon we were walking along the trail of Chinqua Penn where the stream trickles to the lake. We were stopped by a really colorful dragon fly just flitting around landing here and there along the stream. I was glad for the distraction, because when I looked down I saw this little orange frog. I had not seen one in years and was excited to see one again. I only had my telephoto lens with me, but I was able to play around with it for a bit, and capture this neat perspective. The lens kept the frog and directly in front of him in focus, but the rest out of focus. It creates an illusion of looking through an eye at frog. I called the image Decisions, because the lens gives the illusion of him either staying in place or hopping forward, so the decision is his to make. It reminds me of the decisions we all have each day, do we go forward or stand still.

http://www.heirloomcrafters.com/gallery/decisions.html