It's All Black and White

Facebook has a black and white challenge going around. The challenge is to post seven black and white pictures of your life, one on each of seven consecutive days. There can be no words (or stories) accompanying these pictures, and there are to be no people in the pictures. Each day you are supposed to challenge someone new to participate.

I did this challenge, but I amended it to fit my style. I didn’t challenge anyone else, mostly because by the time I got around to doing it, many of my friends had already done it. I think I stuck to the rest of the rules. It was interesting to see how different people interpreted the challenge. Some took pictures of their daily life and posted those. Some went with a little less concrete representation of their lives. Some pictures were just plain hilarious, while others were more poignant. I enjoyed seeing a landscape of black and white in my newsfeed.

I admit it. I had a hard time following the rules. I wanted to include people, and I wanted to tell the stories of the pictures. Do you know what? I’m not on Facebook right now, so I can make my own rules! Here are the seven pictures I posted, with their stories.

 Day #1: The elephant in this picture was in a zoo in Cambodia. I’m not going to speak to the treatment of zoo animals or if a zoo is a fit place for an animal such as an elephant. Those are good topics, but not the reason I posted the picture. I posted this picture as a representation of my trip to Cambodia and how it changed my life. Almost all my pictures from Cambodia have people in them, because it was the people who drew me in and impacted me forever. I definitely wanted to post a black and white photo of some of them, but the challenge said “no people” so I chose this elephant. I simply could not complete a challenge that wanted pictures of my life without including a representation of my three week trip to Cambodia.

 Day #2: I chose the picture of this little bee hanging upside down on my bee balm plant for many reasons. First of all, I love taking nature pictures. It was so hard to choose which of my favorites to post in this series, because I have literally THOUSANDS of pictures to choose from. Secondly, bees and bee flies are an especial favorite of mine. They are so intricately made, so wonderfully focused, and so positively purposeful. Behold, the power of pollinators! And thirdly, this picture was taken in my own garden on my own flower, which makes me happy all over again. I don’t garden well. I don’t keep up once the summer hits. Even so, beauty still comes through. I love that, and I love the Creator God who thought of flowers and bees and, you know, ALL of the big beautiful world we live in.

 Day #3: This view of the rain coming across Lake Superior takes me right back to the spot it was taken. It makes me feel the electricity of summer. I love storms, and storms by the lake are extra powerful. This picture was taken on the beach across from The Outpost Motel, one of our favorite spots to stay when we go to the North Shore of Lake Superior. It speaks of family vacations, laughter, and togetherness. Those are some of my absolute favorite things.

 Day #4: This is probably the picture that needs the least explanation. The dinosaurs in the blocks are an obvious reference to my love for children, specifically my preschoolers. Every year for the past ten years, I have been blessed with a new group of little ones to fall in love with. They are precious to me, and their imaginative play just plain rocks. They inspire me to stay young at heart – and they give amazing hugs.

 Day #5: This is a picture of my favorite lighthouse (Covehead) on my favorite island (Prince Edward Island), and it reminds me of my favorite trip (our 30^th anniversary  adventure) with my favorite fella (my dear husband, R.J.). That’s a lot of favorites for one picture! The day it was taken, we had a long stretch of beach almost all to ourselves. We walked for half an hour and saw one other couple. The trip was a culmination of ten years of planning, and those moments on that beach were just about perfect.

 Day #6: If you live in Rochester, Minnesota, you deal with Canada Geese. Some people love them and some people, well, don’t – but we all put up with them. On this particular day, I just wanted to go for a short walk. I parked at Silver Lake and got out of my car, camera in hand, to go for a little stroll around the lake. The geese in this area are accustomed to being fed. I had no food, but they didn’t know that. As soon as I got out of the car, the all started heading my way, and there were a LOT of them! It was at once terrifying and hilarious. I had the good sense to take pictures. If my demise was to be “death by geese” at least there would be photographic evidence. In the end, I lived, and this is one of my favorite photos of all the hundreds of thousands I have taken.

 Day #7: This picture is my “grandkitty” Ada, relaxing on the windowsill of her new home. I think I took it the day they moved in. I find it reassuring, the way cats can settle into their spot and ignore the world. Ada is wonderful. She takes care of my daughter Emily and my son-in-law Eric beautifully. She talks to them and plays with them and loves them in the way only a cat can. While not technically a therapy cat, she is 100% a therapy cat for them. I love her for who she is, and for what she does for people I love.

Here are a few more black and white pictures that didn’t make the cut, but were definitely in the running. Thanks for walking with me through these treasured memories! You’re the best!

Birds of the air area always at work, and yet their songs bring rest to my soul.

Red squirrels think they own the world. You're on their turf, so move over.

Quarry Hill is one of my favorite spots for reflections, both physical and philosophical.

Winter. I love it! And raccoons in my neighborhood? Love that, too!

Shore birds remind me of trips to the ocean and the constant rhythm of life.