By Ted Grussing
… I love this photo which I took from a few miles south of the Little Colorado River and Grand Falls looking to the WSW. In the foreground we have Roden Crater the art project of James Turrell (ongoing since 1978). Nearly straight above it some 20 or so miles is the red rimmed Sunset Crater which erupted in about 1064, not so long ago. Behind it and towering over all. are the San Francisco Peaks and this side of and to the right is O’Leary Peak … behind and to the right of it is Kendrick Peak and in the back on the far left is Mount Elden in Flagstaff. Dozens of other volcanic cones are also visible and the volcanic field has been active for more than four million years. This a look back of millions of years … static to us, but like earth in general, undergoing constant change … in earth time, not ours.
Our life spans are so short that it is difficult to appreciate the changes that occur around us … for billions of years the earth has been undergoing constant change and will continue to do for another four billions years or so, until our star the sun becomes a red giant and engulfs the earth … there shall be no more earth.
If we had a life span of say a thousand years instead of maybe a 100 years, we would see things a little differently. Say you were born a thousand years ago in what is now the western United States of America you would be in a rather hostile environment. In the year 1021, the area would be experiencing its 171st consecutive year of drought and another 69 years to go … this would be followed by 50 years of heavy rain fall and beginning in about 1150 when you were a mere 129 years old, another drought lasting about 150 years would begin … yet to come are a mini ice age, periods of heat and cold, but nearly always drought. You were only about 44 when Sunset Crater erupted.
A study shows that over the past 7,000 years, drought is the normal condition for this area and that the 20th century was one of the wettest centuries ever … that is when humans began in earnest to populate the west and southwest … but we did not know it would not always be like that.
I sometimes wonder that if we had populated this area millions of years ago with our current state of technical prowess, would we have permitted the Grand Canyon to form?
I prefer my short life span … that is what I have and I am grateful for each day and each day learning more about our home and life and whatever is beyond.
A different type of perspective is on display below. One is a very aggressive predator and more frequently than I like, launches attacks on adult bobcats that dare come through our yard or close to it. Being wise they flee … uncontrolled encounters can lead to injuries resulting in abscess and death. In this case, One launched an attack on a bobcat kitten and it did not know it was supposed to flee … One had no idea of what to do next, so they just kinda checked each other out for awhile before each of them turned and went their respective ways.
Into the weekend for me … lots of projects on the boat over the next few days before launching it again on Saturday. Enjoy each moment you are here, for that is all we have. Smile, we are blessed!
Ted
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The easiest way to reach Mr. Grussing is by email: ted@tedgrussing.com
In addition to sales of photographs already taken Ted does special shoots for patrons on request and also does air-to-air photography for those who want photographs of their airplanes in flight. All special photographic sessions are billed on an hourly basis.
Ted also does one-on-one workshops for those interested in learning the techniques he uses. By special arrangement Ted will do one-on-one aerial photography workshops which will include actual photo sessions in the air.
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