Seasons

I spent the majority of last week at camp, which meant I had a lot of time to myself. What struck me while I was there is how quickly the seasons are changing. It was pretty cold there for a few days, it almost seemed unnatural, or maybe just abrupt. It reminded me of how quickly life changes. 

I was feeling a bit nostalgic there by myself. It finally hit me that summer is over. The kids are gone, the staff are gone, the people and things that make camp "camp" are gone. And a new season is being ushered in...retreat season. Quite different than summer camp season. But great in its own way. 

I love Fall. Its probably my favorite season. I guess it reminds me that things have to die to be made new again, and sometimes there's beauty in the dying. 

*photo courtesy of Megan Cates, a "baller" photographer. 

Peace

Camp can be tiring, but things like this remind me why I love it.

This picture if from the summer. The one this evening was even better.

I love Fall.

Sorrow

If I could take on person in the world to dinner (or lunch, whichever is less awkward), it would be Jon Foreman. He is hands down my favorite musician. The man has a gift for writing songs. His lyrics often capture the way I see and feel the world. I'm tempted to ramble on and on about his lyrics and music and everything else, but that might make me an obsessive fan. So just go to www.jonforeman.com and buy the 4 EPs (it's only $20). Best decision you'll ever make.

While we're at it, listen to this song that I just discovered. It's called "Sorrow," and while Jon Foreman didn't write it (it's originally by Bad Religion), something about how he sings it is just beautiful. Don't let the title fool you, its a song about hope.

Every single one of Jon Foreman's songs deserves its own post. You'll see more in the future.

Name

You would think that creating a blog and giving it a name would be easy. It is, actually. Unless you want to customize it. In the event that you actually want your blog to look unique, you have to pretty much learn HTML and go through hours of painstaking attention to detail, along with quite a bit of trial and error, to get it almost close to what you had initially wanted. So here we are. I hope you like my tree. If you don't, lie.

You'd also think it would be easy to get the URL that you want for your blog. For example, if you call your blog "The Mind of Brian," it would be great if the site address was "themindofbrian.blogspot.com." But of course that name has to be taken. And who took it? Our friend Brian over at http://www.themindofbrian.blogspot.com/. Head on over and check it out. Leave a comment, even. While you're at it, check out http://www.mindofbrian.blogspot.com/. Another winner.

So here we are. Thanks to my good friend Glenn, I happen to have a nickname that, when applied to blogger URL, happens to not be taken. Who knew? Gotta love nicknames. My nickname happens to be a ingenious combination of the first letter of my first name, and the first two letters of my last name.

Glenn, I salute you.