Choices

Definitely an odd holiday what with the sudden employment change in our life, but each new day is a new day. Our family was gathered at the cottage for Christmas and on one of the days we walked the beach. As always I had my camera with me. I've learned I never have to know what shots will become blog posts or what a shot may trigger for a post. I just need to be mindful and things will develop. I loaded the shots the other day into the computer and this is the one that became my trigger for today.

Its a rather unassuming shot, perhaps you might even say dull. But everything has a context, a frame of reference and today this became anything but dull to me. I know the history of these pilings pictured in the shot. They were once part of a pier that made loading logs from the nearby sawmill possible onto the great ships of the great lakes. All that lumber making the building of Chicago possible.

Today, only the pilings, the things that held up that docking system are all that remains. They could be viewed as just lonely abandoned sentinels to a past era. However, as I look at them today, I can see that view clearly, but this shot also gives me another vantage point from which to see them, if I choose. They can be viewed as stepping stones or a structure to assist in getting from here to there. From this angle they look like they can reach across the lake and into the future. I like this view of them today, its a hopeful filled view. I can conjure up the hustle and bustle that filled the dock years ago and I can also choose to see them supporting an invisible structure that leads outward and onward. I like that view, I need that view as we walk into a slightly less clear future than that of a few weeks back.

Instead of seeing cold, icy, lonely pilings, I'm choosing to see a path laid before me. I'm grateful for the calm water surrounding the path as we begin this new journey.