Gray Sky Days
The light snow from last week has once again all melted off the ground. And with a cloud covered sky today, the world looks gray and bleak outside my windows. Still, I went for a walk at West Medicine Lake Park and found beauty even on a gray day.
We enter the world as strangers who all at once become heirs to a harvest of memory, spirit, and dream that has long preceded us and will now enfold, nourish, and sustain us. The gift of the world is our first blessing.”
― John O'Donohue, To Bless the Space Between Us
When I arrived at the park I saw two Plymouth Fire Engines and another fire department vehicle in the parking lot. Out on the lake the fire fighters were practicing cold water rescues. The fire fighteres had chopped a large hole in the ice, then had suited fire fighters jump in the lake and finally had other fire fighters pull the guys out of the lake. Though I was too late to see most of the action, I felt for the guys in the thin waterproof suits who had to jump in the lake. They looked very cold walking back to the fire engines.
At the park I stopped to chat with a group of dog walkers who are often at the park when I visit. And I threw a ball to one of their sweet dogs and had another dog come over to me for lots of pets and a big hug. It’s fun to stop and chat for a bit with these people whose faces I know (though I don’t know their names). As always they wondered what I was photographing today. And as usual, I told them, “Whatever I see that catches my eye.”
I could see several ice fishing houses out on the lake. And a pair of ice skaters glided to and fro on the far side of the lake. Though there is no snow on the ground now, more is expected later this week.
I’ve been hearing the weather forecasters on television salivating at the possibility of a white Christmas. It seems everyone except me is excited about the prospect of snow. When you live in Minnesota, you learn to love winter sports. So many are hoping for enough snow for a good cross country skiing season. Ice skaters are happy to be skating in outdoor rinks and lakes across the city. And downhill skiers are thrilled that the local ski slopes have been able to produce enough snow to open.
Personally, I enjoy getting out with my camera on days like today when the wind chill isn’t below zero. I like a mix of indoor photography with walks in nearby parks on days when I can get outside. Though winter is my least favorite season I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. Here in Minnesota I feel that God is in the trees and in the rich soil beneath my feet and in the star studded sky high above me. So I look for beauty even on gray sky days and through the cold winter that lasts so long here.
The dream of my life
Is to lie down by a slow river
And stare at the light in the trees —
To learn something by being nothing
A little while but the rich
Lens of attention.— Mary Oliver
Wishing you a warm week wherever you are.
May you walk in beauty.
