the blank page stares
watching me
confused
wondering if i could ever start
or if i'll stay there sitting
on my hands. <<<

I was visiting Vancouver some years after having lived there, and was retracing the walk I used to take near my old house off Commercial Drive. It was all at hand again, though illuminated in that peculiar light that falls in a place one reenters as a former dwelling. Present, no longer tacit. There at the intersection by the bus stop, just as before, I recognized a man I had never known but had often passed. The same white hair, granite face, work shirt. And out of some habit that had no real origin I began to raise my arm and utter a greeting, but faltered. What does one say? Hey, we were strangers once. Remember? 

• christopher yates •

a night in the country

Back in September - (oh September where did you go!) - I went on a retreat with my campus's RUF to a red barn on a farm at the end of a windy dirt road. It was perched on a little, green, mound of a hill out in the middle of some nowhere fields dotted with cows.

Leading up to the weekend I knew I had tons and tons of work I should do, but I was determined to go and enjoy the little time away because it was only one evening. 

The past few months there's been a severe drought in the slow, deep-south state and as we began to roll down the rocky red-dirt road the loose dirt billowed up behind us catching the light in a way that made us all turn around and watch it rise and float in the setting sunlight. It was a beautiful moment.

We arrived around 6pm breathing in the open air, soaking up the wide spaces and God-made views. It was so refreshing to get away for a bit.

The evening was spent lying under the stars, chatting about life, listening to a session on justification, and later poking the gentle glowing fire with a long spindly stick. Fires just have such a calming, hypnotizing effect (...when they're contained...). Everyone just sits round, chatting softly, gazing into it.

Well it was a lovely evening and the morning went much the same. Quiet morning light. Creeping over people and out the door and down the steps to sit on the early, cool, dew-covered grass. Soaking in the crisp air and refreshing light spilling through the cracks in the trees. Ahhhhh, sometimes I wish I was better at getting up in the morning to soak in those early, peaceful, quiet moments. It's such a lovely part of day.

We sat around sketching, eventually grabbing some coffee and a bagel (and maybe a couple m&m's...), and chatted about routine's, likes and dislikes, and dreams for our futures.

A little later as the sun rose higher, making us to peel off our top layers of sweaters and flannels, we headed in for the second session about sanctification. These two words - justification and sanctification - were the theme of the retreat. They're big "church-y" words. I've heard them so often that generally I've blocked them out or skimmed over them, but these session's were good, down-to-earth, simplified, bringing it back to reality even though the terms may seem large and intimidating.


On the way home - window's down, music playing, wind-blown hair - I began to write out everything I needed to do, wondering if I would be able to get it all done. It's so quick - the transition from retreat back to life. Retreat's are needed, even if they're only one night. One night of good conversation, solid teaching, fresh open air. It was needed. One night was a good time to take a deep breath, refocus and prepare to dive back in. 

re·treat

/rəˈtrēt/

verb

- move back or withdraw. 

- withdraw to a quiet or secluded place.

 noun

- an act of moving back or withdrawing.

- a quiet or secluded place in which one can rest and relax.

 

 

 

 

JXN

Well, I'm already halfway through the semester and the work load hasn't really slowed . I've started my junior year here and now only have three semesters left...whaattt. The busyness has been a good busy. Although, I'm not getting much sleep, but such is life...

This year I've been working on developing and creating a solid foundation for my photography business (hopefully I'll have a website up by the end of the year!). One way I've been doing that is working through Christina Dizon's CRAFT bootcamp for photographers. I'm behind since I started school, but it's really helped me to gain confidence and she's given me many resources and ideas for my business.

All my classes have been good in a challenging way. Most of this semester's classes are reading and writing heavy, which has been a challenge.

My two studio classes - window lighting photography and design 2 - have both been great. I've been learning a lot. Design 2 is about color and I don't know much about color, so it has been helpful and interesting.

I'm looking forward to fall break this weekend. My family is coming into town and we'll go to the state fair and enjoy some things in the area. I'm so looking forward to slowing down a bit!