MARK S. is our winner with his entry of “date palm.” This shark-like tree trunk belongs to the Canary Date Palm.
Congratulations, Mark! Your prize will be a brief, custom-written poem by the photographer himself, AinV. The poem will be posted here soon, so please check back.
How I see things in sobriety keeps changing. If getting a “new pair of glasses” were taken literally, I would have drawers full of them. During the last few years, I have seen all of my dreams come true. Everything I could only imagine and hope for my whole life has materialized. I see these developments much differently than I thought I would. I am not clinging fearfully to the things I care about. I am not always trying to protect them from someone who would steal them away. Nor do I see great tidings as my just desserts, something I have earned above all other persons who strove for them. I never imagined that I would simply view these wonderful results as opportunities for deeper service. Rather than climbing to the summit and driving a stake in the snow, I have learned there is not much joy to be had in the lime light. My new glasses help me see the need for constant humility, for a quiet heart, for an uncluttered mind. I have not arrived in the Promised Land to pitch a tent or build a house. I am here to reach out my hand in every direction. The more joy and fortune that comes my way, the more I want to open up and freely share it. Nothing belongs to me. It intersects my crossing in this earthly plane. I give thanks, claim no victory, and I wait for further instruction.
THIS24 