gift of nature

In my blog on 9/19, I mentioned transforming photographs by manipulating variables. For some reason, I thought I would do that with some of my pictures from Egypt, however I found that making changes to what I shot does none of them justice, especially the ones of plants and vegetation which usually serves up a great palette for me to work with. Of the thousands of images I captured, I only found myself framing greenery of interest on rare occasions. I have to say that my favorites were found in Alexandria near the water.

I was lucky on that windy visit to the Montaza Gardens. It was maybe 30 minutes before sunset, I wanted to get some pictures of the lush surroundings before the light fell into the horizon. While in wait for the Mediterranean breeze to still itself so the leaves would too be still, I glanced down to behold one flawless shell resting at my feet. A rush passed through me; a thing I had hoped to find but felt was not to be had was secretly waiting for me as I patiently waited for nature to pause and pose.  As I picked up the gift, sand poured from its small opening, sprinkled gingerly over my foot. I stood in the twilight holding a tiny piece of nature far from shores where I had happily collected others like it during vacations past and felt a joyous connection to something that I still cannot convey in words.  

This morning, I read the following lines…

“Once the sun rises, it doesn't go backward but instead follows its path in one direction. It may appear to stand still for a moment in time, or to move more slowly at some point or another, but really it is steadily moving forward on its path. We are the same way, and once we have moved through something we can never really go back…in truth we are always taking the next important step forward on our path.” - DailyOM

I immediately recalled how enamored I was with the rising and setting Egyptian sun, how still it always seemed while all the time in motion. I felt the wind of the garden smelled the sea, remembered those moments inside temples buried within a mountain of stone. As my hand traced figures carved on the walls, I seemed to be swept back to a time when had these ancient burial grounds not survived there was no means to immortalize them on film. Each time I experienced one of these momentary transports, I felt a shift within and now understand that I was being moved forward on my journey with each glimpse of things that had been created long before my life as I know it began. In that September blog, I predicted that some sort of transformation would take place in me when I visited Egypt. There are more changes to come so...
 

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