December 2014 – In My Back Pocket

Watt Mountain, Hutch Lake, Alberta

On a spring day eighteen years ago, good friends had taken my son, my wife and I out exploring north from High Level; it was the spring of our first year in High Level and they had taken us to Hutch Lake for a Sunday afternoon picnic. We had done some hiking. Then, being at the base of Watt Mountain we decided to see if we could ascend the mountain’s mucky, dirt road through the twelve kilometre climb in our four-door, red Nissan Sentra. Higher and higher we climbed, the nimble, front wheel drive Nissan never losing traction.

First, we got to a lookout vista partway up Watt Mountain; we stopped, there, to view the world we had just travelled through. At that point, we opted to make the rest of climb to the crest of Watt Mountain where the local Alberta Fire Service fire tower is located. There, we met the wildfire lookout observer. We asked and received permission to climb the tower and to survey the world from there – my wife, my friend’s wife and my son stayed below.

What an experience making the climb! And what a view, something giving us a sense for the terrain comprising the Mackenzie Municipal District. The climb is one that I’ve made only that once – a never-done experience, one in which the opportunity of the moment was seized and paid dividends. That day, a photo was taken of my son, my wife and I along one of the Hutch Lake hiking trails. It has remained on our piano since that time. Besides the reminiscence of family and friends, that photo is a story holder of all that comprised that day.

Here, within this image, the same Watt Mountain fire tower is dormant, residing in winter’s weather.

Listening to – Haydn Symphony #76 in E Flat, H 1/76 – 2 Adagio, Ma Non Troppo.

Quote to Consider – “Strictly speaking, one never understands anything from a photograph … [only] that which narrates can make us understand.” – Susan Sontag, ‘On Photography’

Trapper’s Cabin – Near Indian Cabins, Ab 2

Slough Reflection – Near Indian Cabins, Ab

‘Come along, let’s do this’ – these words feature in the immensity that has been 2014. That there is room to help, here, or room to contribute there – the reality has been that others have had dreams to fulfill and realize, and, it would be wrong to not help others with skills, abilities and time if doing so could be managed. Francis Chan’s book ‘Crazy Love’ is about this dynamic. So, likewise, is Rick Warren’s ‘What On Earth Am I Here For?’ Both books have been the subject of small group study. The work of such work has often been about taking something a next step and to be consistent in offering others help with a next step. And, the real thing pulling forward has been seeing the value or function of a dream realized in another’s Life – what it means for them, what it allows them to do. Marko, down in El Tizate, Guatemala, captured the idea … ‘Be a blessing to these people.’ He wasn’t only talking about the people who live as squatters in the village of El Tizate; he was talking about blessing those who are around me daily. Much of the year has held a sense of being ‘time-starved’ … meaning that balance between endeavor and rest is absent – sacrifice is part of being a blessing to others.

In September, in early autumn, during moments away from endeavor, I took the following photos on a good long drive toward the Northwest Territories – a trapper’s shack along a trap line and a slough’s reflection.

Listening to – Chopin, 24 Preludes, Op 28 – 2 in A minor played by Rafal Blechacz.

Quote to Consider – “Instead of just recording reality, photographs have become the norm for the way things appear to us, thereby changing the very idea of reality, and of realism.” – Susan Sontag, ‘On Photography’