Friday, August 07, 2009

Images of life or death?




Hi everyone,

We've been back from our holidays for several days now. About time I wrote a post, eh?

First of all I want to thank Paula Joy, Merelyme, Di and Nancie for your kind good wishes when I went on vacation. And it WAS a wonderful time we had. Two days of busy photography sessions at Barkerville and the rest of the time total rest at a lake 26km off the main highway.

The time at the lake was so absolutely quiet, the bees and insects were the most notable sounds. And that humming came to sound almost as good as the songs of the birds. The bees did not bother us and we saw only the occasional mosquito. Lots of damselflies and a variety of butterflies. Oh yes, I guess we were a couple of times surrounded by cows. And their muching of the grasses was very noisy. And they did crash around a lot in the trees behind our site. But a little dog belonging to a neighbouring camper chased them away when they became a nuisance.

Our favourite place to photograph at Barkerville was the cemetery, a most interesting place. Some of the graves have been there since - well, the oldest one had a date of 1863 on it. The neat thing was that long ago plants had been planted there and, with no one to care for the graves (this WAS a ghost town), had all grown wild.

I loved photographing there. Found it meaningful in some way, though I can't put my finger on why that is. I've included some to show you here. Are they images of life or death? To me they're images of life - beautiful weeds growing in profusion all around the crosses.

Do these pictures say anything to you? Can you help me find the words to express what's so special about weeds and crosses?

8 comments:

Nancie said...

Marja,

Welcome back! Glad you have had such a wonderful time of photographing and rest.

Thanks for sharing these pictures with us. They remind me of the blessed hope we have in Christ.

Death is an entrance into eternal life and joy in Christ, to worship our Lord and enjoy His love and fellowship without hindrance of sin, sicknesses and troubles. What a blessed hope! So yes, these pictures remind me of life, eternal life...

Take care and have a blessed weekend and Lord's day.

Hugs,
Nancie

marja said...

Hi Nancie,

You're absolutely right! That's it! That's what it means to me. Thank you for helping me see what it is - in words.

I peeked at your site and see that you're helping us learn how to make notecards and bookmarks. I've been planning on doing that. Will go see you now and see how you go about it.

Love you,
marja

Julie H. Ferguson said...

1863 was the year the Cariboo Wagon Road was pushed through to the Barkerville at the behest of James Douglas, the governor of the Colony of BC. An incredible feat for the era - especially along the Fraser Canyon...

marja said...

Julie, Thank you for that info. Great to have an expert on that era, the author of a book on James Douglas, comment here. Just delighted with your input.

JC said...

Cool, Marja, I've been to Barkerville before and it's such a neat place! And you sound so refreshed. I was so glad to hear from you on my blog. Thanks so much for your encouraging comment.

I will have to email you about something. I will do that now. :)

marja said...

I AM refreshed, Jena. Thank you for visiting me as well.

sbwrites said...

Marja,
I like cemeteries as well. Welcome back. Great photos.

Susan

marja said...

Hi Susan, It's good to BE back. Am hoping to post a little more regularly. (she says...once again:)