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 •

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!  

Currently

Learning: I'm currently (re)learning the consequences of procrastination...This five-page paper is a struggle. And this little post has become a "break".

Eating: At this exact moment, nothing because it is 11:46pm. But today (and lately) I've really been enjoying Tazo mint tea (not a food I know, but it goes along with food). I love mint tea. It doesn't have caffeine and it's soothing.

Watching: Lately, lots of YouTube. My brother's latest camping video and other miscellaneous stuff.

Wanting: To be finished with this spring semester. This one has been a tough one and I'm ready to be done with it. And it doesn't help that I've got some exciting travel trips coming up. But I need to keep going and get back to work...Hence the procrastination. Spring break was tough to come back from (and that was two weeks ago). I'm trying to re-focus on the projects and work I need to do now.

Reading: I'm reading God's Big Picture. It's a required book to read for my Old Testament class which is what my five-page paper is based on.

Listening: As I think about what I'm listening to, I realized a lot. Maybe too much. There are so many voices that speak to us everyday - the news, social media, peers and family, ourselves, etc. While each of those can be good in their own right. I think I need to take a step back and listen to the one voice that matters above all else to me, God's.

Happy Saturday. Thanks for reading!

the top photo is from my family's thanksgiving trip to St. Augustine.