May It Be a Light To You in Dark Places

"May it be a light to you in dark places, when all other lights go out." - J.R.R. Tolkien.

With a glorious couple of really nice days ahead of us, my husband and I faced the tough decision of whether to backpack overnight, or simply go out for long day hikes. With the darkness falling so early now, and the nights being so long, we decided on the day hike approach. On this day, our adventures took us to Sproul State Forest.

We parked my car in a parking lot below a hill covered in milkweed. The plants have gone to seed and the white milkweed floss is just gorgeous. In the late afternoon, the light hits it and lights it up like beacons. They really SHINE. The floss is so fine that it separates the light into rainbows, as you can see above!

We walked and we walked and we walked some more, but I never saw anything prettier along the way than that milkweed, so this is the picture I have to share for this day: floss so fine and lovely that it makes the world into rainbows. (Did you also know that milkweed floss is very buoyant, and so it is used in making life jackets that can float, while supporting as much as 30 times its own weight!?)

Now, I find I have a story to tell you about making pictures. I share a lot of photos on Facebook, and I have many friends there that I've never met in real life. There is a woman who likes many of my pictures, and about two weeks ago, she told me a story, so here it is. I hope she won't mind.

She said that she shares my photos with her sister and friends who are not on Facebook. She does this by taking photos of my pictures with her cell phone (essentially, making alternative media that is accessible to them, which as a former manager of access, fills my heart with glee). She then sends the pics to THEIR phones, and they very much look forward to them!

Now, here is the part that broke my heart, and fixed it again. In a message, she told me that one of her friends has an adult son who recently committed suicide. "She said that your pics were a reminder that there is still beauty and goodness out there." And she finished it up with this: "You never know when you share beauty, how many people it helps."

So. I share this story with tears and with humility, and also with great joy. I am so happy to take these pictures. I am happier still when I find they remind people that heaven is beneath our feet; that the world is a beautiful, wonderful, glorious place; and that it is well worth living in and celebrating, despite all of the darkness and pain.

May they be a light to you in dark places,
when all other lights have gone out.

Here is my soundtrack song: Sugarland, with Shine the Light.