Winter Drives

I have pondered extensively what I am here on this planet to do. What difference do I hope to make. What is the point of this blog? My paintings? My love of nature? I am studying Geology, with less a year to go in my degree before I graduate. Yet, I feel stuck, directionless. To be expected to know what direction I want to go in my life seems so overwhelming. Is it grad school next? Or perhaps I choose instead to spend my days in the hills and mountains searching for meaning and expressing that search through my chosen mediums. Of course those aren't my only two options. I tend to look at the polar extremes of life with little regard to the middle ground. Light and Dark, the only options right? Clearly not. As seen below in these pictures from the last couple of weeks, there is a whole lot of grey in between, accented by and contrasted with the extreme lights and darks. Then there is the color! The unexpected passions of life; the joy, pain, desire, tragedy, hope, fear, etc. The wrenches to our expectations and assumptions of how life will be for us. So then, what next? I don't know the answer to that question. I have my ideas, hopes, and dreams. Opinion of such a question is abundant on this planet. It is so easy to get lost in it all. The more I think I know and understand, the more I realize just how untrue that is.

I have come face to face with the darkness within me over the years. Startling experiences to say the least when you realize just how much you have the capacity to do evil as you do good. Have you ever experienced that type of self-evaluation or self-awareness before? I suppose this isn't the place to talk about this sort of stuff. You are likely here for a blog about great places to visit in Idaho. Well, I would recommend anywhere there is water nearby! Water has a tendency to draw life unto itself. A powerful substance really. Not just in biology, geology too and so much more! These photos were taken near Kelly Canyon, Cress Creek, and Wolf Flats. All locations along the Snake River, home to a wide variety of mesmerizing creatures. Especially bald eagles, moose, deer, swans, cranes, beavers, and much more! A beautiful touch of nature during a busy week and just the places that can lift a tired soul.

So, for now, we continue forward through it all. I will keep sharing the beauty I find around me with hope that by doing so I may lift another who may find themselves lost in the darkness. That you may know you are not alone in this. The light can and will return in your life just as the light will and does return to this side of earth after a long winter. Carry on with hope my friends. 'Till next time, enjoy pictures from January in the hills of Idaho!