Spring is in the air - Books by Eric Douglas

I’m sitting outside enjoying the sun as I write this. It’s not all that warm, but the sun feels good and I’m tired of being in the house. I’m already planning projects for the spring and summer—a few of which will never happen and a couple others will change dramatically from my first idea. That’s the very nature of the creative process.

I left West Virginia in early 1998 and lived away for nearly 14 years before I moved back about a year ago. I have a greater appreciation for my home now because of that time away. Not that I think everything is perfect here, but I see potential or beauty that I overlooked before. I was always hurrying someplace or trying to accomplish something else and didn’t take the time to just “be” and appreciate my surroundings. A lot of us live that way and it takes an effort to slow down.

One thing I missed while I was away was the river. I lived a few minutes away from the Pacific Ocean for a while and spent a lot of time visiting the Atlantic and Caribbean, but there is just something about that river that I find fascinating. I love the way it moves, reflecting lights in an ever-changing pattern. Rivers in West Virginia have been as been as important to the development of the state as any of the other natural resources.

The West Virginia Land Trust is running a photography contest encouraging photographers to seek out special places in the mountain state. I have no affiliation with the group, but I like the idea behind the contest. They define a special place as:

“A special place is more than land and water. A special place takes you to a time and to a memory, it brings you peace, and leaves you open to life. It is a place where you feel connected to your own life and to the life around you. A farmer’s special place may be his field, a wildlife watcher’s a forest, a sportsman’s may be a remote stretch of woods, a hiker’s an entire expanse of mountains, a child’s may be a field of green where she can run and play or a creek bed to fish.”

The deadline for submitting photographs is April 15. Even if you don’t enter anything in the contest, now that Spring is in the air, get outside and enjoy the special places that we call home. Most of the time, they aren’t even that far away. And don’t forget to take your camera along with you. You never know what you might see.

I’ll be down by the river.