There’s a good story behind this photo.
We were in the early stages of the COVID shutdown and the gravity of the situation was beginning to sink in. The shutdown had already gone on longer than the initial two-week estimate. The uncertainty itself was emotionally taxing - and that was before the politics of the situation ramped up! That made matters infinitely more stressful, especially in our little town of Aylmer, which became the centre of attention and controversy.
I had been in need of a sabbatical from pastoring for quite a while and intended to take that sabbatical in 2020, but when the world turned upside down, we found ourselves grappling with new realities that required a lot of effort in one way or another. So the sabbatical wasn’t going to happen early in 2020. I eventually found time in May 2021 for that much-needed rest.
The rest would have to come in smaller doses until then. I had graduated from cellphone-only photography to a more professional approach in December 2019 with the purchase of a Sony A7ii full-frame mirrorless camera. That turned out to be a godsend as it provided me with a good way to set my “focus” (haha) on a stress-free pursuit by learning a new skill.
April 18, 2020 was a brisk morning. It was an in-between season; the green was showing through but the snow wasn’t yet ready to leave. I headed out with my camera and decided to try what is, ironically, the conservation area that is closest to where I live - Archie Coulter Conservation Area. I had tried it once before. I walked in about 100 meters and decided it wasn’t worth walking or taking any pictures there. This time, I pressed on to see if my previous hunch had been correct.
It was not; I had been badly mistaken.
I walked beyond the first 100 meters. I saw a winding creek. I crossed a beautiful steel bridge. I chose a trail and came through an area thick with evergreens and emerged to find this…
This was my first time ever laying eyes on this scene and I was in awe.
The slightly muddy path at my feet winding its way up a small hill between sections of grass. The evergreen boughs on the left still holding their snow. The distant pencil-thin pine pillars offering an unnaturally orderly background for the less linear foreground. The brownish V-shaped treetrunks on the right. And the frost that covered everything.
I can assure you that every particle of stress I’d been holding was non-existent in those moments, and that was a wonderful gift of grace.
I’ve been back to Archie Coulter Conversation Area many dozens of times since then and I’ve never seen this scene look as beautiful as it did that day. I had this picture printed as a 30”x40” canvas and it hangs in our living room today. Although I have often taken more pictures at this spot, I’ve never taken another one that I’ve printed or hung.
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