It’s been a different kind of week for me with all that has taken place.
It started with a walk where I saw something on a tree here unlike any I had seen since seeing Acacia trees in South Africa - huge spikes that I would not want to fall into. The week also had a gorgeous sunrise on Wednesday that was immediately followed up by my dog slipping on ice and breaking off one of her claws which then led to having to walk her with a baby sock on that foot covered up by a plastic bag wrapped with an ACE bandage. There was also a funeral of a dear woman from the congregation I serve and being reminded of the fragility of life but also the fullness of a live well lived and then Friday going with one of my kids to Mansfield, Ohio and going on the Hollywood tour of the Mansfield Reformatory / Prison, which is where The Shawshank Redemption was filmed. At the prison, I was reminded of the brutality of our prison systems (and the injustice of much of it) but then also the message of the movie of finding hope no matter what. Oh, and my daughter’s college library was shut down most of the week because of an owl that got in through a chimney and led to an epic amount of memes and jokes. It’s been a different kind of week.









Remember, Red. Hope is a good thing. Maybe the best of things and no good thing ever dies… (Andy Dufresne, The Shawshank Redemption)
PS - A reminder that my first Substack Contemplative Photography group will start on Sunday, February 26. Jump up to a paid subscription if you want to join in! (if the cost is prohibitive, let me know and we’ll get it worked out!)