I love taking pictures through the seasons as I walk each day, looking back on them later to see the changes in scenery – ice along the river, dormant trees in the foreground of snow and cloud covered mountains in January, and then in May the river rushing along, covering logs and gravel bars exposed all winter, green trees appearing before mountains clear and bright in warm sunlight.  Or in the fall with calm water, ducks paddling lazily through water reflecting unbelievable autumn colors.  In one year’s time so much can change. Here’s some spring versus winter scenes:

Sometimes two times can coexist.  I recently camped in a 100-year-old mining town with a dozen cabins in ruins in a forest that has continued to fill in and ignore the old human debris.  And there was my van by the remains of someone’s home. What would those pioneers think of the changes?  Are they sorry they left?

On the same trip I visited Garnet, a same-age ghost town that has escaped some of the ravages of time, receiving a bit of TLC over the years.  What would the people who lived there think?  Now people poke through their homes and a few of their left-over possessions, marveling at that way of life, the fortitude and adventure those folks ventured into.  I sat at a nearby bench and worked on a story.  What would those miners think about a woman sitting at a lighted box overlooking their main street?  Why would she do that? 

Having recently moved, I’ve been re-setting my collection of photos that have, for years, decorated entry tables, end tables, book shelves and dressers.  In the process, I have recognized a similar pattern with astonishing changes – me at age 25 in California, me at 35 with my favorite dog in Arizona, me with two dogs at 45 in Washington, and me all the time changing, getting older, with backgrounds of ocean, desert, snow-covered peaks and forests, time-changing places I’d never have imagined.  I’m not going to include then-and-now pictures of me 😊  It’s amazing how quickly things can change. Comforting to know some things never do.  Would I change things?  Maybe. Do I count blessings?  Look back and recognize mistakes?  Wonder about a road less traveled?  Of course.  The choices I made are recorded in my many pictures but now is the time to be thankful for my many experiences that got me where I am now, which is a fine place, where I walk daily along a scenic river taking pictures at my leisure!