A Picture of Life

Yes, I have begun to create a new blog specifically for my photography and art. I am still keeping this one and hopefully will be adding to it more frequently. I love taking pictures, looking for things maybe others don't see or just clicking a shot of what everyone else does. Either way it's fun and challenging. I hope to be adding pictures to it frequently as I already have about 100 picked out of my best. Over 1,500 pictures with my new digital camera since January and I need some way to express and display them. So here it is, a new blog. Please feel free to make comments or suggestions, but keep it constuctive. It's called "A Picture of Life." Just go to:

http://apictureoflife.blogspot.com/

Thanks and enjoy!

At least you're not a copper wire!

It's nasty out there today! Very wet. Staying dry is on everyone's mind. Working in electrical at Lowe's I see a lot of wire. So this poem, by my favorite poet-Carl Sandburg, fit with the day today:

I am a copper wire slung in the air,
Slim against the sun I make not even a clear line of shadow.
Night and day I keep singing-humming and thrumming:
It is love and war and money; it is the fighting and the tears,
the work and want,
Death and laughter of men and women passing through me,
carrier of your speech,
In the rain and the wet dripping, in the dawn and the shine
drying,
A copper wire.

-Carl Sandburg, 1916-

A copper wire sits in the rain, all day night; it never quits working, well, almost. Even though it's nasty, wet today, God made it so the sun always shines again, to dry things out. Have a warm, sunny day on the inside! :)

Somebody's car is on fire!

Wow! Had a real scare a couple weeks ago. Not just a momentary scare, I mean a real scare for about 45 minutes. It was a fire. Yes, a real fire. But not just a fire in my apartment complex, or just near my apartment, but right outside my window! Yes, it was 10 feet from my sliding glass door. Too much for me at the moment.

I was sitting at my table checking my email when I heard my neighbor arrive home. No, not just his car drive up, but the stereo blasting, as well. It was so annoying. I could not even hear my own stereo any more. Instantly I knew who it was, or at least it was one of the two from upstairs. A minute later I was even thinking about it anymore.

"Bam, bam, bam, bam!" went the door, suddenly. I looked through the peep hole. "Hmm, that my be my upstairs neighbor," I thought. "Really big nose through here though." So I opened the door to be blasted with, "Somebody's car is on fire out here." Ok, so I was thinking it could be mine or anyone elses. Instantly I freaked out, looked out, and ran out. It wasn't mine. Whewww! But it was definately on fire, and a growing fire at that. He said someone had already called 911 and the fire department was on there way. Ok, so what's next? We all get out and stand and watch till it blows my apartment away. Yes, did I mention it was parked directly in front of my groud level apartment. Ten feet from my window. No, let's not stand and watch. How about getting a fire extinguisher. Wait, it has got to be chemically and electrically rated for those fires, also. Yeah, mine is!

I must have been the only one with one or the only one with guts enough to get close to it. So I ran inside, grabbed it, and began blasting away. How many people think about the leaking chemicals running under the car when on fire and how they spread when blasted with air? Not many I bet. Well, there they went chemicals spreading due to the blast covering the engine and wheel welds. It didn't seem to do much. Now I se more flames coming out the other side of the hood. So it helped this side temporarily, but not the other. Great! At this point the car is going up big time and I'm about five feet from it. Never occured to me to open the hood, but that my be because I did not have the protective equipment for a flashover coming out at me when the oxygen rushed in. Good thing or God thing? I started to realize this whole thing may blow up in my face any second. once it reaches the gas... you know, especially if there is a leak of any sort. About this time, people were telling me to back up. I was thinging, "Really!" But my legs were not moving yet. Ok, so now I am moving back, about a hundred feet.

We could not do anything. Just stand and watch the car burn. Then we heard loud pops. Not gun fire, but the pieces of the engine blowing under the extreme heat. Oh yeah, and the front tires. One neighbor finally came out and said she thought the pops were gun shots at first, but then she looked out her window and saw all of us (about 10-15 neighbors) scattered out there watching. At this time it occured to me that I did not recall closing my apartment door. Nor did I grab my keys, wallet, a jacket, or put on shoes other slippers. Hmm, was my adreinaline flowing?

The fire department finally got there. Still no explosion. Thank God! My apartment and probably the two above it would have been blown up pretty good if it had. At least everyone was safe, too. Ok, I have to add in that two crazy, but smart, neighbors had gone and moved their cars away before. One had actually gone back in grabbed here little girl and then gotten in her car to move it, with the girl. A little gutsy after I had already backed up and it could have exploded. So, now the firemen are hosing the car down and trying to pry the hood open. It wouldn't budge. Ten minutes later they get the idea to try to pop it from inside. Yeah, that driver's side windwo wasn't need anymore anyway. It was smashed! Still couldn't get it open. So they pull out the saw. Made a nice little "V" in the hood, but it worked. So now, twenty minutes later, they are hosing the engine down.

The whole time, the guy who banged on my door was on the phone with his friend who lives upstairs and owns the bright yellow BMW junk next to his car. I thought it was his car. Yep, he owned it. Serves him right for playing his radion that loud. Just kidding! I felt bad for him. His friends car, the BMW that has been parked there for months, has also been burned some and the tired partially melted. So how was my car on the other side? I was hoping fine. It was. It was just covered in ash; not black anymore, gray.

I overheard a policeman say he thought it started around the battery. A guy at work said it was probably due to his stereo not being fused and therefore the power went back to the battery and overheated it... something like that. Makes sense. It was a mess, his car i mean, and the one next to it. But it was over and everyone was ok.

His car stayed there till yesterday. Not a pretty sight. But it's fianlly gone. Wow, it was exciting, but not in a good way. Hope you enjoyed this story and remember, Smokiy the Bear says, "Don't play wiht matches." No, I really did not set his car on fire! Seriously, I was in my apartment.

The Deep Blue Sea

The Deep Blue Sea

I looked into the deep blue sea,
And what did I see?
I saw beauty, life, and so much laughter;
Then my thoughts were thereafter:

How many see this deep blue sea
And think, "God you've oh so blessed me?"
Your grace to let me see this sight
Has made me feel what only seems right.

I love the life I see in there.
It's beautiful, wonderful, I simply must stare!
It's different than any life I've ever seen;
Wow, so different, it's almost like a dream.

Now, I stared harder into the deep
And saw something new, something I wanted to keep.
A new picture of joy and splender,
I saw such life overflowing and full of wonder.

I wanted to follow this life and explore it further.
That's just what I did and went still deeper.
Then I was touched by the most beautiful creature;
The softness, gentleness, and purity of each feature.

No one has seen what I saw?
No one else has been in such awe?
Guess I am blessed to have swum the deep blue sea,
Even though I couldn't stay there, you see.

It belonged to someone else, created by God above,
And I couldn't stay there, amidst the beauty I did love.
So I will return to this place
And look it once more in the face.

The crystal blue color all around this sight
Was surrounded by such a stark, bright white.
Then I blinked and quit looking in to the sea.
I thought to myself," Her eyes look just like a deep blue sea."


David P. Simmons 2006

Just some various pics for your enjoyment!

Uuuuuuggghhhh!!! What a day!

Today started off good. Then 15 minutes before I go to see my psych., a bomb falls out the sky. It's like, I heard it, but just never ran for cover. So I was devastated for a few minutes, biting off the head of my electrical specialist. But he thought I was kidding and pushed. Not a good idea! I had to choose between chopping his head clean off or respond like Christ. Hhm. God has a lot of pull lately and convinced me to back off. Psych appointment was late but I didn't care; just sat there and read Christianity Today-some great articles, by the way, for those who like reading this type of periodical. It went fine talking with her and I even found out one of her receptionist is in the singles at Hunter Street. Cool! She is cute, but don't think I'll pursue it. Nah. Anyway, Went back to work and couldn't focus for the life of me all day long. I was so distracted by the news from earlier, but decided God was gonna take care of me, as He promises, because I gave it over to Him.

Now I'm sure at this point all of you are wondering what I am ranting about. Well, not telling you in public. It's personal and private. In fact most people will never know. But my whole point is simply to ask you for prayer: that I will trust God and remain faithful, stay calm and not let my focus on Him stray, and that I will not let depression creep back in. Ha, ha, Omar is ruling this body now.

Someone said recently that when you are trusting God the most and closest to Him, you are tested much harder in life-or something like that. He gives as much as He knows you can handle, to see you overcome sin by His grace and make your faith even stronger. After being broken last week (and it's still in my head daily) I didn't think I could get much lower. Things were so looking up and going great. Maybe I got cocky! Don't feel cocky, but God is still convicting me of some things that I should have taken care of long ago. I hate procrastination. God, please free me of it starting today! It's like a ball and chain that you forget is there until you try to get up and run. Sorry, got to focus again.

Thanks for reading this blog even though it didn't pay off with some big ending or cool thoughts or something. Please pray with me that I will seek God's wisdom, guidance, and and blessing through the next couple of months. Thank you guys for coming by. You rock.

David

Glaciers

Glaciers. I like glaciers. Have you ever seen one on TV, or in a picture? Have you ever seen one up close and personal. Glaciers are really cool. They make me think. I think about how they move so slow, but yet they move down into a valley over a period of time. They can crush anything in it's path; luckily we have time to move out of the way. They can be very dangerous, yet so beautiful. I have had the privilege of climbing up to the top of Exit Glacier near Seward, Alaska and hiking along side it to the beginning of the Harding Ice Field. Just a side note, it is named for being the only "exit" some explorers could find off of the ice field after they left the coast.

In the past few days I have seen many friends broken, or at the point of brokenness. I myself, though not admitting it publicly until now, have felt broken recently. Brokenness is beautiful! Why, you ask? Well, think about the glacier I was talking about. For the glacier to get to the bottom of a mountain it has to break, or calve, several times and in many places. The mountain or valley it travels through is not perfectly straight or even. There may be cliffs it has to go around, drop off it has to fill, boulders it had to crunch over, trees, etc. It breaks apart because of melting, too. Climate can play a big part of the glaciers life and surface. Melting, freezing, refreezing, drainage, it all plays an important part. As we go through life Christ has to break us to meet his will and to mold us to meet new challenges. For some there is marriage (yes some have to be spiritually broken before marriage-it is a new spiritual journey), divorce, pain of losing someone special, career changes, new environments, and so on. That brokenness can still weather the worst of winters. The glacier doesn't become two or three or more; no it is still one. It just keeps on moving and bending and breaking. Yes, it does shrink with time, but so do we as we get older. But God can still break us in our old age. I have learned this week that brokenness is just a fact of life.

I hope that God breaks me any time he wants to. That would more than likely indicate some problem areas in my life that I need to fix. Do you know that people use step ladders to cross some of the crevices on glaciers. Yes! With all the modern climbing equipment we have, we use step ladders to cross them. In our lives others tend to try to bandage us up, make us look happy, get the quick fix for us to go on. But God does not see it this way. We may need to be broken for a while before we can get up and continue the good race. In Psalm 51:17 David talks about "the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." God loves to see a broken spirit, a willingness to give all over to him, so that he can mend us. David goes on to talk about God "building up the walls of Jerusalem," in verse 18. He may have meant literally, but God does the same with our hearts, minds and spirits. May He always break me so that my whole being can be mended and rebuilt, so He can use me to reach others and be His light.

Glaciers are beautiful, they broken for the better like us. But the biggest difference is that we are healed, our crevices filled in and made smooth again. Wow, why wouldn't we want this. I pray that God breaks me every morning so that I can again and again be mended throughout the day. My he use my resilience in Him to testify His glory to everyone.

Finally, think about the only person to not have been physically broken in body. Jesus. He was never broken bodily, even in death. Yet he suffered so much before he died; so much that he was spiritually and emotionally broken before His Father the night before He was taken by the soldiers. If Jesus was broken before Him, why do we so often deny ourselves this process of breaking and healing? Let yourself be BROKEN before Him. Thank you guys and ladies for helping me to realize the importance of this process in my walk with Christ this week. To those of you who do not know this may He break you today so that you may be made whole again in the richness of His power and glory. Amen! I love glaciers.

The Preserve is awesome! Those of you wanting somewhere to go to "be still and know that" God is, well, God, the Preserve is the place. T.J., Ken, Amber, and I went again on Saturday and it was so much fun. Then T.J., Melodie, Chris, and I went again on Sunday after church. It was wet, so rock climbing was a little dangerous, but I decided to just go for it. it was worth it. Thanks T.J. for telling us about it. Ok, if ouy've read T's blog I need go no further in describing it.

However, I went back again on Monday afternoon. With all the extra rain we had on Sunday night and Monday the water level was way up from Sunday. The falls were even better and more beautiful. The perfect chance to practice some photography. Only a few people there, too. Folks, you have got to go see it if you like God's beautiful nature. Wow, three days of fun with friends and His splendor. Got things to do today or I would be back out there right now. Anyway, if anyone wants to go some time let me know, or anyone else who's now hooked.

David

Welcome to "Omar In Space!" Most, if not all, of you are probably wondering were Omar came from. Well, to be honest, he came from the backside of the planet Uranus. He first came to earth about 8 years ago in search of a new toilet for his space ship. Yes, a nice shiny toilet. He inquired of many humans where to get one. In fact, he is still looking for one and came by just this week for a short visit (I need to tell him about Lowe's). Now, If you are still with me reading at this point, let me tell you a little tale, uh..., or the truth.
Omar began as a late night joke my junior year in college. You see, he originally only came out at night, late, late at night. No, really he is just a fictional character I made up when my suite mate, Seth, was talking through our intercom system to outside. It so happens the intercom was next to my door and I had just gone to bed. It suddenly dawned on me to get next the door and talk back to Seth, like it was through the intercom. Was he freaked out at first. They thought I was asleep.
Nope, I was wide awake, but tired; you know that feeling like you just can't help but be wild because you are so exhausted. Eventually they knew it was me. Omar had this funny Indian accent but was from Arabia (on another planet?). Wow, don't know where it came from, but he was a hit, hours of laughter. He eventually came out to reveal himself. Let me describe him for you.
Omar is tall. His head looks much like the pillow you sleep, a stark white with wrinkles on the forehead. Then again, most of it is a forehead. He has big alien eyes that shoot down at you like lasers. He is robed in a blue cape that covers his thin body. It also helps to conceal his sword. It's a sharp sword, like one of a mighty warrior. On this visit he came swiftly into the room clearing my suite mates from one side to the other in one leap. "Swoosh" and Seth was under the coffee table. Omar was fearsome, brandishing his sword and taking control of the small room. Everyone froze! Then, like he came in, Omar was gone. He left only a hillarious event witnessed by three crazy college guys. No one else saw him until Halloween. Oh yes, he was at the party!
The next day everyone was talking about him. If you new the witnesses, you heard the story. Wow! Word got around before breakfast. Everyone seemed confused.
Ok, this is where I let you know that up until that point I had never been quite so wild (or creative). Yes, me wild, crazy, out of control, and embarassing myself. This event was a legend. A story not yet forgotten, unfortunately.
Well this year I have decided to bring Omar back. It's 2006 and about time my wild personality came out more often. It is my goal to have more fun and quit riding life. I want to drive it. So, you see, Omar was just the beginning, the start of living life the way God planned it. I'm going to let go this year and live it to the fullest. Yes, Julie, "let it go." Thank you, friends, for the wonderful inspiration.