I watched closely…

Nature inspires, destroys, and sustains life;

Unimaginably kind yet dangerous-

All at once

I could capture these mixed feelings

I could understand…

I want to understand…

All that beauty-

Greens, reds, violets

A variety of shapes and sizes

With the push of a button-

A tiny camera, held in my boney hands,

My sole companion,

The only witness other than myself-

Could capture

Time.

Miniscule moments are made permanent-

Moments of tranquility-

And I am the collector, it is my job

Droplets of rain sprinkling themselves on to the Amazonian Rainforest…

A fawn stumbling as it takes its first steps…

Grizzlies yawning as they wake from a long winter of hibernation…

I was there to witness

I was there to learn

I was there to encase those moments on film

My photographs will convey the life captured

For generations after generations

Never allowing my clumsy brain to forget

I learned to respect nature

I learned that there is a world outside of humanity

I learned to love nature

I examine the images on my camera

Enchanting, tranquil, liberating…

Nature brings peace whenever the stresses of civilization overwhelms me.