With the new year upon us, it got me thinking about all the happenings of 2014. It’s funny how
I can’t remember if certain things happened this year or last. Must be the age creeping up on
me. A lot of good things of course and several challenges this year. Kind of made me think of
the term, the good ole days. With all the things going around in the world, will 2015 be
better? Is the best behind us? Whether it be financially, emotionally, economically, etc. Can
things pick up? Made me wonder…

Had a chance to visit some friends in Michigan. Was talking and enjoying their presence then
taking picts, so I don’t have much to share hahaha. But was an amazing way to wake up and see the lake. Very peaceful. Hope to get a chance to visit in the future to see it in the summer season. I kind of broke one of the rules of landscape photography by not allowing either the land or the lake to win. But I was in a hurry and if I wanted, I could’ve cropped. For some reason, I was going for a dark/details look, so I didn’t change the exposure in order to keep the detail of the clouds. I didn’t want to overexpose and lose that.

Inspiration:
There was a time in history when King Solomon built the most majestic temple of the time. Gold,
silver, brass and precious stones everywhere. Then it was destroyed and the nation was taken
over. Then there was a time when the foreign ruler allowed the people of Israel to rebuild the
temple. The following verse is the response to when people saw the foundation of the temple.

Ezra 3: 11-12
11 And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the Lord; because he is
good, for his mercy endureth for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great
shout, when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.
12 But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had
seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a
loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy:

They saw what used to be, they were reminded of their former glory, they dwelt on the past. But
then there were some who took happiness in the new opportunity and what this means for them.
There’s two ways to approach the present. To compare it with the past or to live in the present
and learn from the past. There’s definitely reason to doubt the future, but will we be the
one’s that live in the past?