Sunday, March 6, 2011

This one hurts a bit





Haleakala for Andy. I was fortunate enough to see this stunning vista for about 3 minutes before the cloud cover said otherwise. Roots is yet another attempt to wrap my brain around what constitutes art photography. I am still unclear as to the definition but I fear that I already know the answer but am too dense to know. This brings us to the bottom 2 pictures.

These will forever hold great spiritual significance in my life. As we traveled down the road to Hana in Maui, the one thing that was foremost in my heart was to see the grave site of Charles Lindbergh. As most of you know, my father recently passed away this past year. He was my idol and the main influence in my life and of my photography. Also an avid stamp collector and aviation aficionado, Lucky Lindy was one of his favorites. By visiting the grave of one of his idols, I felt that I could possibly gain some sense of life and try to understand the eternal impact of my father's influence upon mine. It all came clear in a very personal and emotional way. To see this in person was one of the great spiritual events of my life. I felt that I gained some slight understanding of this life we have and the enormous responsibility and opportunity we all have been given. The many opportunities that we have to make a difference in the lives of others, the challenge to be the best you can every day, to rise to the challenges that life presents, to be there for your family and friends, to be the change you would like to see in the world. I sit here with tears flowing down my face remembering my hero and hoping one day to truly make him proud of his son and I am honored to have had him as my Father.

Selah,

R

1 comment:

Andy Ilachinski said...

Three minutes is a lifetime (carefully managed, an uncountable number of lifetimes! ;-) Gorgeous shot...wish the weather cooperated a bit more when Irene and I were there in 2006. As far as we could tell, it was just a place one goes to after getting up at 3:00am to have enough time to get there, stand around a bit freezing, look around a lot in anticipation of the great vista to unfold as the sun rises, then - eventually - realizing you're effectively standing in the mjiddle of a white soup that won't break for - oh - another day or so, then head back down the curvy road, giggle at the even *stranger* fellows who only went all the way up to unpack their bikes and then immediately go back down again on them, FAST (without even bothering to confirm they're surrounded by a white soup), grab a quick breakfast and coffee and climb back into the nice warm bed. You guys actually saw beyond the soup! I thank you kindly for the shot. (Though that CANNOT be with a cell phone camera!)