…so between friday morning and saturday afternoon, it snowed…and snowed…and snowed. I was tempted to just stay in the warmth of my room, edit some videos, and get over my cold. But like the branches of trees weighed down by the accumulating snow, I bent to the pressure of the kid in me calling me outside to play.

As a young teen, my “play” used to consist of snowball fights and sledding down hills; today, on this snowy day at least, it consisted of exploring and photographing my outside surroundings. I bundled up like the little brother in ‘A Christmas Story’, got my camera and ipod, and proceeded to trudge around and document the snow’s affect on the parking lots, streets, and woods near my complex. Along the way, I met some new folks, caught up w/ my old friend Teri (who was also taking pics), and got some pretty cool images in the process.  Near the end of evening, I found myself telling Teri, “just a few more pics, just a few more pics.” When dusk arrived and we were heading back home, I pointed out the change in colors along the horizon. Though my feet were cold and my fingers near frozen, I had to explore a little more. Teri had had enough so she went back to her sisters while I walked towards a spot that I thought might provide some good photo opps.  When my fingers got so numb that I couldn’t turn the settings on my camera, I knew it was time to head home. I thought about singer Dub El and his “art hurts” saying. I was definitely hurting. But I couldn’t wait to get home and look at the images I had captured.

While time, tastes and priorities have changed the way I “play”, it feels good to know that there are still things in my “adult” life that make time stop for me; still things that make wet feet and painfully cold fingers things I “fight through” just so I can see what beauty lies beyond.