Wonderment

   There is a website, Celebrate what's right with the world, one that I look at occasionally to see and read about what others find in photography. It is here:

   http://celebratewhatsright.com

   Last night I came across a blog post on this site that had this quotation from Sigurd Olsen:

“When you lose the power of wonderment, you become old. No matter how old you are. If you have the power of wonderment, you are forever young. The whole world is pristine and new and exciting. That, I think, is the secret to any artistic endeavor - as long as you can be excited, as long as you can wonder about the magnificence of the world and of the whole universe, you'll stay forever young.”

   Wonderment

   We don't live in a static, sterile environment. It is constantly changing, evolving if you will. I can pass by a spot many times and not see anything, but one day there is a change. I see a flash of color and stop to investigate.

   Sometimes the water is different, the light shines on it in a different way. Animals come and go, not that I see their wanderings, it is just that one time they are there and the next gone. Maybe the birds are in a different spot or feeding or looking for food, or just resting (seemingly), or absent altogether.

   Maybe the call to look at the spot again comes later, and I go back. I know it will not be the same, but it is a place that called me once, and I want to see it in a new time frame.

   There is a sense that, what was just a marshy pond of little account, has become a more special place, a spot that I see with different eyes now, and, even if I am in a hurry, when I pass that opening in the bushes, I take a look.

   Perhaps my friend from the other evening will be there, waiting to share some quality time.

   This morning as I walked, I thought about that place. It was only a little out of the way on my usual stroll, so I detoured that way. From down the road I saw that telltale white through the opening.

   Three wood storks, all in a row on that fallen branch, waiting for me I guess.

   So I moved into the soggy ground and watched them for a few minutes. Just them watching me and me watching them. And being glad to be there.

   But I forgot my camera.

   Shucks...