Busk Creek Lesson

This is an image that in the blink of an eye almost never happened.  Jen and I went on a quick little 2 day camping trip at Turquoise Lake, near Leadville, CO.  One of the days we decided to take a little cruise around the lake, checking out the other campgrounds and getting an idea of what the rest of the area was like.  While skimming along we blew by a little creek called Busk Creek.  I briefly thought to myself “that looked kinda cool”, but I didn’t really see it all that well.  My second thought was “it’s raining and 5:00 pm somewhere and I’m itching to get back to camp, have a beer and chill for awhile.  About a 1/4 mile down the road, I stopped, turned the Beast around

and headed back to the creek.  I got out of the Beast, walked through the woods and stood there looking at the creek.  I thought to myself, “this is a cool little river”.  Proceeded to walk back to the Beast, grab my camera gear and back to the creek.  I meandered around taking several shots from different angles, while Jen patiently stood by.  After an hour or so we trooped back to the Beast and continued on our merry way.  As we were driving back, I had a thought???  It happened a lot that day, “thoughts”!!  I was really glad I turned around and went back to that little creek.  How many times have I been hurrying down the road and I see something that catches my eye and I just keep on rolling? (all the time).

So, what’s the lesson?

Stop and smell the roses??  Yes, sort of!  While on our way home we were flying down the highway, trying to get back in time for something or other. There not far off the road was a herd of horses running through an incredible green pasture with a range of mountains all around.  Among them were several colts with their mothers.  I remember one pair in particular because of the amazing Palomino like markings.  Again I thought to myself  “that was pretty cool”.  Only this time we didn’t turn around.  We continued our hasty pace back to the house, without thinking much more about it.  The next day I pulled the card out of the camera and started going through the images of the creek, and this particular image hit me.  It’s not a great image, it’s not going to win any awards or sell any prints.  But it is a memory, and it made me feel like I was back at that creek in the woods. The soft gurgle of the water and the rain together with the fresh smell of the wet pines all around.  As I looked at this image my thoughts went to the horses.  All I could think about was that I wished I had stopped and photographed those horses running and playing through the field.

So again, what’s the lesson?

For me it is this: Sometimes I need to turn around and go back.  Spend some time with something that caught my eye, quit rushing through my life and missing something beautiful.  This image is important to me, not because it’s an amazing image, but because I went back for it.  It reminds me how much I wish I had stopped to watch those horses, and that maybe I should spend a little more time absorbing the world around me.