Dear Friend,
Imagine that you have collected one colorful marble for every day of your life, and you’ve placed them all in a clear glass container. What do you feel and think when you look at it?
Maybe you are thinking, “I need to get a bigger container.”
“I’m used to climbing trees,” said the younger monkey. “I used to climb trees,” said the older monkey. “I’m used to climb trees,” said the ladder. I think that ‘used’ is one of those pivotal, elastic words that must make it tricky to learn English. But when comparing ‘then and now,’ ‘used to’ seems to be a naturally useful expression.
You’ve probably heard a 6-year-old say something like, “When I was a little kid, I used to scribble in my coloring book.” A 6-year-old also will tell you things like, “When I was a little kid, I used to fit in the Amazon box.” This person that has 2200 marbles in his jar is aware of changes without bemoaning them. Think of what you ‘used to be able to do’ but then also think of ‘what you are able to do now.’ Look at that jar of beautiful marbles. Thank goodness!
Frank has been taking photographs of nature for decades. He used to use a film camera. He’s used to hiking for miles in all sorts of weather to wait a long time for the right light. And he’s used as an example of a fine art nature photographer. The following video, Off The Western Trail, is a culmination of nature images that Frank photographed from 2016 through 2019. We’re sharing this project today, not as a review of the past, but as a celebration of the beauty of the world; this planet, earth, one truly precious marble for which we are so grateful!
Please contact us and let us know how you are doing today, another pretty marble in your jar, we always love to hear from you!
Wishing you a peaceful week, leaning in to what you can do now, nurture goodness!
Gently Be,
Leslie and Frank
