berry christmas!

berries + snow = "eye" delight {get it ... "I" delight"!!}

pic pix: berries from the trees around my house - December 22 '09

traditions

No other time of year really spotlights the phrase that "humans are creatures of habit". I mean, you take the same boxes out that hold the exact ornaments that you decorated with the year prior. A strange tree is bought and brought to your home to celebrate the holidays with you and your family. The consistent handful of songs are resung, remixed, and replayed each December ... And, it's not just one family, country, or race, it's a myriad of people everywhere, repeating actions over and over and over again!

I first started thinking about the 'why' of traditions the other day when I was driving with Matt and Colten, and none of us could figure out why we put trees in our houses! [see the link below!] I never really thought that I was one that "clung" to traditions, but something as simple as a Christmas tree ... hmmmm .... !!!

As much as I am one for adventure, searching for new ways to conquer the day with unique and daring elements .... familiarity and routine knit together a 'comfy' sweater I cozy up in as I face each new stimulation. When I was a kid, it didn't matter how much I craved to be living in someone else's shoes, in another era [I continually asked God why I wasn't born 200 years earlier as settler/explorer, 400 years earlier as a forest maiden, 1300 years earlier as ... etc!], or AT LEAST with a super power, my Mom & Dad's arms were what comforted me when I cried through such issues. Their warm hugs meant comfort, established and unreserved love. I think that feeling is we expect when we perform traditions and repeat 'what we did last year'. We forget the integral ingredients of relationship, love, peace are that "toastiness" which is trying to be recreated.

'why' a tree?!

pic pix: a tradition that our family holds ... my Dad lifting one of us kids up to put the angel on THE tree!! This year ... MY turn :) December '09

i love albrrrrrrrrta ... but ...

Was leafing through some older National Geographic Traveller's magazine (and taking pictures too!!) .... ooooo, I'm just itching to get to some place warm, exotic, adventurous ... somebody, get me there!

pic pix: taken a cold winter night ... Calgary, AB

foreground

fore-ground: noun [the part of the view that is nearest to the observer; the most prominent or important position or situation]

fore-ground: verb [make (something) the most prominent or important feature]

Isn't it funny, when something is on your mind, EVERYTHING seems to relate to that thought?! Say if it were someone ... reflections and faces remarkably resemble one of his/her features. If its a feeling or emotion (like being in love) ... you can be guaranteed that every song, photograph, and happy thing makes you want to smile because of its similarity to that which is on your mind.

I thought about this tunnel (there I go relating things again!) when my mind started to wonder and ponder on the thought above. When I am in a tunnel of thought/vision, everything casted beyond that tunnel is shadowed with a foreground of my current "tunnel". This very tunnel in Quito, apart of la Calle Ronda, had lights that would illuminate different colors every few minutes. After the sequence of colors was played, I knew I wanted to photograph the deep indigo blue hues because of the contrast and the 'vibe' that I felt - mysterious warmth.

Daily, I know I do the very same thing. Maybe not with varied colors brightening a tunnel, but with circumstance, emotion, and people we surround ourselves with. Creating a symptom, persay, known as being 'tunnel-visioned'. The dictionary describes "tunnel-vision" as a short-sightedness ... myopia ... focusing only what is immediately in front of you, blurring objects [life] that are farther ahead.

Rather than getting stuck within a concentration of myself (only my woes, joys, prospects, realities), I will change my foreground and REJOICE in ALL that is given to me in view today! I set out and advance with HOPE as my vanguard, pushing aside selfish sights, making "prominent" this beautiful panorama without limits.

pic pix : la Calle Ronda tunnel, Quito, Ecuador - '08