A week ago I was on my way home from Norfolk when I ran into a huge traffic backup. Since there is only one direct way on to the Outer Banks from the north, my GPS had no helpful options for me except to sit.
For a long time.
Surrounded by hundreds of other long-time sitters.
And so sit I did. I turned on an audio book and settled myself in for the long process of going nowhere fast. That lasted about ten minutes.
And then all of a sudden, I emerged from my sitting-in-traffic stupor and noticed that the golden hour was slowly emerging from its daytime hiding place, busily painting everything around me in the warmest, most inviting tones of amber and bronze.
And there I was, cooped up in a car on a highway. What an awful waste of all that was golden.
There was only one thing to.
I started up the car, did a U-turn and headed merrily in the opposite direction of all the stuck-in-place car-sitters. I was on a mission. I had a Nikon beside me, a golden hour to chase and no special place I needed to be. It didn’t take long at all for me to go from being semi-crabby because of the delay to being all-the-way happy because of the delay.
The first road that meandered off the highway called my name and so I took the turn, searching for someplace special that would catch the eye of both me and Mr. Nikon. And it wasn’t long before that someplace special arrived.
I happened to catch a view out of it out of the corner of my eye just as I whizzed past.
I immediately turned around and settled in for some seriously happy shooting.
There was a fence in front of the scene to block cars from going in but I made use of the fence in my pictures.
I even did a little study of the different kinds of focus.
Here’s regular ol’ focus.
Here is focusing on the fence and de-focusing the background.
And here is the opposite effect.
After I had been entertained sufficiently by the focus and the fence and the trees, I took off again to see what else I could discover .
I stumbled upon this little treasure.
That little road and all that surrounded it were being embraced by the final lingerings of the sunset.
And to think I could have been sitting in traffic.
A few days later when I loaded the pictures to my computer, I added some artistic effects to one of them.
Four different ways to meld a guitar with a landscape.
Such fun taking the photos; such fun editing them.
Although a delay is never what I head out of the house hoping to encounter, I was glad that on that particular day, I had the eyes to see the promise of what lay beyond my delay, the promise of what lay beyond my windshield—golden, happy hours.
Very nice pictures. I prefer the photographer.
Steve,
Well, I’m glad to know that! 🙂
it is comments like these that have molded you all into the couple you are today. both of you are so blessed
Becky,
You are absolutely right–I am blessed to be married to that man! Thanks for your encouragement to us.
Hey, I made the top commenters list–yay! I figured I’d better hurry up and comment again so I can stay on it. 🙂 Loved your creative pictures, always. Whenever I see the light turning to the Golden Hour, I think of you and wish you could be right there with your camera….
love deb
Deb,
Yay for you being on The List!
I was just telling Sarah yesterday that I miss being in Wisconsin, the golden hour, the barns, the fields, the country roads. Big sigh. She brought me back to reality quickly by saying, “Well, you don’t want to be there right now, do you?” And I had to admit that snow and cold temps didn’t quite fit into my idyllic dream. 🙂 But I do miss you all.
You make the best of the yuk. I’m gonna try that!
Lesley,
Well, I’ve never thought about making the “best of the yuk” but that’s a great way to put it and when you think about it, a great goal for ALL of us. (Since I don’t succeed in doing that as often as I should.)
Awesome!
I would have gotten so lost. Lol.
I’m very directionally- challenged.
Love this post.
Kim,
I actually LOVE getting lost. One of my favorite things to do (and which I don’t get to do often enough) is to just drive aimlessly out in the country for a couple hours. (With the GPS OFF.) When I’m ready to go home, the GPS gets turned back on and I’m good to go! But even back in the pre-GPS days, I would still go out and try to get lost. Great fun. 🙂
I agree with Jenna Hoff. You really have such a positive and inspiring view of life and just everything in general. Gorgeous pictures Becky! 🙂
LeeAnne,
Well, my mother has always been a great example of positivism to me. She can find the good in anything, a place at which I haven’t yet arrived. But i’m working on it!
What a beautiful post. It really seems representative of the way you live your life and face challenges. You could have let what you have gone through with your health and Sarah’s cancer crush your spirit or steal your joy but instead have continuously taken beautiful detours to live well and with joy. You inspire me. The past few months my health has been worse and I chose for a while to feel sorry for myself and get depressed. But I have realized that that helps no one including myself and so I am again choosing to face each day with joy, hope, beauty and peace.
Jenna,
Thanks for your sweet, encouraging words. That’s what this journey is about, isn’t it? Encouraging each other through the hard times. I’m sorry you’re continuing to struggle with worsening health–such a very hard thing to face and not get discouraged over. Sending you bundles of encouragement today!