This summer was very trying for me and my family. We unexpectedly lost my father. The morning we found out we were out camping and had to do a quick pack up and head back home. It was considerably early in the morning, and so, as we were heading out of the campground we were greeted by a sunrise but it was different from any sunrise I have experienced. The colors seemed to be magnified and contrasted so much with the dark tones of the trees and road I was on that I had to stop and try and capture it. Getting out of the truck just added to magic of this sunrise as it was completely quiet. There were no sounds of life continuing on; no vehicles with people going about their day, no sounds of people talking or children playing. Not even any sounds of nature; birds calling, water running, leaves moving. There was just silence and this sun rising on another day. It very much felt like my Dad was saying goodbye to me in a way he knew I would understand. I have since had this picture blown up and printed onto metal.  It hangs in our home and is lovingly referred to as Papa's picture.

L348A smokey sunrise captured along Nancy Lake Parkway.

 Grief is a unique feeling in that although everyone feels it no one experiences it in the same way. For me this picture is helping me through that process. The saying, "A picture is worth a thousand words." comes to mind every time I look at it because there are so many things I wish I could express, I just can't come up with the  right words but, for me, they all seem to be summed up in this one moment in time.