Seasons of change

Hello!

Day 21 of my 365 day photography journey.

"There is a time for everything...A time to be born and a time to die, ... a time to dance and a time to morn." Eccl 3

So many tend to think life should always be fun, exciting, positive and free from pain. Thinking along these lines tends to set one up for failure because when hit with times of pain, negativity, and confusion they aren't prepared to handle it and are crushed by life's real experiences. A better approach to life is to realize we are going to go through seasons of change just like so many other things in nature.

One example, the Red Bud tree, goes through such extreme changes it makes a great example for us.

I was reminded of this today when I went up to Lake Arrowhead and passed a tree I remember passing earlier in the year, during the spring. The tree was dramatically different. I did a double take it was so different. I told myself I would stop on the way back to look at the tree again and grab some images.

Below is the tree I photographed in it's spring brilliance. It's beautiful. Full of blossoms and looking radiant.

While I was photographing this tree, cars were slowing to catch a glimpse of this beautiful tree. Imagine driving through the forest of nothing but pines and Cyprus, rounding the turn and seeing this rich pink piece of natures art.

This Red Bud was full of bees, drinking some delicious nectar. The tree was literally humming and buzzing as I captured images. It was a very exciting experience.






Here below is the tree as it appears in the summer. What a transformation between seasons, dull spurring green leaves and clumps of brown seed pods. Definitely not as attractive as it once was. It's a necessary change, that needs to take place for the tree to grow, thrive and look beautiful in the spring. The blossoms though beautiful don't in this case serve a purpose, apart from helping bees grow their colony. There is no fruit on this tree. Without the formation of leaves the tree has no way of making food for itself through photosynthesis.

All the brown on this tree are seed pods.

It's a neccessary transformation but it so shockingly different. In the winter all you'll see is bare branches that'll look dead. The tree doesn't have to lose it's appeal during these not so radiant times. An expert looks at this tree and says, "Ah a Red Bud, wait till this spring it's going to be such a show." An expert understands changes in seasons and realizes the different stages involved in producing such a product. We'd do well to become experts at life. By this I don't mean we have the answer to all life's mysteries but I do mean we realize we are not immune to changes of seasons. We will have times in our life when things don't go as we'd expect. It's at these times we can look at our circumstances as failings and quit or opportunities to grow and demonstrate the true magic humans poses.

Unfortunately life for mankind isn't so predictable and set to the rotation of the earth. We don't know were we'll be and what circumstances we'll be facing in the spring of 2013. We do know we'll have a choice on how we approach that time in our life. A POW during the Vietnam war made it through with the simple conviction that no matter what they enemy did they couldn't take his will to hope and overcome. We have that same opportunity.

How are we going to handle the hard, trying and challenging times of now or the future? We will see them as necessarily times of growth or will we see them as opportunities to quit? Will we see the potential beauty in our hard earned efforts realized?

Make a Great Day!!!