During last year’s Alaskan adventure, I was like a child in a new park. Everything was new and wondrous. I was quite content to see what Papa had in store for us next. As a result, our trip was nothing short of fantastic.
Not so with this trip, particularly with our Hyder experience. I confess that I was focused on going to Hyder… to the point that it was the main destination for me. My plan was to photograph bears… and those photographs would be incredible… would add to the portfolio… and may even go to great lengths in helping the Hopewell Food Pantry.
Well, if you have read the Hyder/Stewart post, you are well aware that my expectations and grand plans were drowned in a deluge of rain. Out of a dozen or more hours, standing in the downpour with dozens of other hopeful photographers, we viewed a total of two bears.
We struck up a conversation with one of those photographers. He was a retired gentleman from southern Oregon, a former hunter who had taken up a new kind of gun for a different kind of shot. He was traveling in the back of a Rav 4, with camera gear as his only companion, admittedly in search of that perfect photograph.
He had spent several days prior to our arrival on the bear-viewing platform. During his wait for the perfect bear, he gleaned information from other professional photographers and enthusiasts. Where were their favorite spots? What was their favorite game to shoot?
As the morning and deluge wore on and our conversation began to fade, he told us that he had had enough waiting and watching. He was tired of the rain, tired of waiting for bears to arrive, tired of sleeping in a narrow spot in the back of his SUV so that he could keep the rest of his gear dry. He shook his head as he gazed upstream and said, “I was always a fair weather hunter.”
As he pondered the stream, he said that he had come to a conclusion: photography is like gambling. Once you get it into your blood, you are always on the search for the next best photograph. You are never satisfied… you always want one better.
I shivered as he spoke. With rain soaking through my rain jacket and boots and leaking down my sleeves and neckline, I pondered his words, recognizing that God often puts people in our paths to guide us.
So the question quickly became... was that the kind of photographer that I wanted to be? I freely admit that I am also a fair weather person. And it had all come so easily last year. Then the inevitable question arose in my heart… what was so different about this year’s trip than last year?
That still, small voice spoke clearly. I wasn’t depending on God to bring the animals to me… I was depending on myself (through research, planning destinations and arrival times, etc.).
David and I had talked about staying one more night in Hyder… just in case there was a break in the weather and the opportunity to see more bears. After this last morning’s venture and my revelation, however, we decided to break camp and head toward Whitehorse. I humbly surrendered this trip back to God.
There are those who may argue with my results… I offer you, however, what I consider proof positive. After three days of standing in the rain and seeing only two bears in what was suppose to be the bear viewing capital of the world, we saw eight bears on the three-hour drive to Lake Kinaskin! :)
 |
| Black bear on road to Lake Kinaskin |
P.S. Dear Melanie, Perhaps you can understand this best of all… as if I needed further confirmation, that afternoon we also saw a double rainbow! God is so good!
 |
| Double rainbow over Lake Kiinaskin |
Many are the plans in the mind of a man,
but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.
Proverbs 19:21
No comments:
Post a Comment