Kodachrome – Picturing God’s Country
In 1973, singer-song writer Paul Simon released a hit song titled Kodachrome. For me, this song has two distinct messages which resonate with me nearly every day, one very positive and one not-so. Starting with the negative – because I always prefer to end on a positive note.
The song’s opening lyrics are: “When I think back on all the crap I learned in high school, it's a wonder I can think at all.”
In fact, this lyric does not at all remind me of High School, because I feel my education was quite good, but it instead makes me think of our legislators in Washington DC. So, I guess the more appropriate lyric, from my point of view, would be: “When I think about all the crap they prioritize in Congress, it’s a wonder our country can function at all!” If you know the song, I agree it doesn’t roll off the tongue as well as Simon’s version, but it certainly is accurate in light of current events. The stink about the “leaked” Supreme court justice’s position on abortion and the January 6, 2020 hearings come to mind as prime examples of what meets my “crap” definition.
However, this message is about the beauty of God’s country. Thus, the song’s lyrics focusing on such wonders are more appropriate: “They give us those nice bright colors, They give us the greens of summers, Makes you think all the world's a sunny day.” Concluding with the lyric: “Everything looks worse in black and white!”
Now these verses clearly depict those positive thoughts when I see and picture the magnificence of all of God’s creation and the beauty that surrounds us every day. For example, the following list depicts just a small sampling of the incredible nature I experienced these past few weeks:
Over 30 sightings of wild turkeys
Over a dozen deer
Numerous cranes, of differing types
Numerous hawks
Two bears
Beavers, otters, and fish galore
Several loons and numerous ducks (yes, I know loons and ducks are not the same animal 😊)
There are elk herds around the lake as well but I’ve not been fortunate to see any …yet.
And at least one eagle sighting every day
Along with the beautiful lakes, islands, bolders both huge and small, birch trees, nearly perfectly formed pine trees, the gorgeous sunrises and sunsets, and the incredible cloud formations – everywhere you look - beauty abounds!
It’s an absolute shame we let our lives get so busy, that we often fail to see the beauty of God’s creation, all around us every day, and everywhere we look. In fact, there is not one thing of God’s creation that is not both incredible and magnificent.
Thank you, God, for surrounding us with such incredible animals and sights, and thank you for making this place in Wisconsin so important to my family that we have returned for many years and its beauty and many wonders will always be etched in our memories.
The following is a post I shared last week from the lake in Wisconsin. Some of you have seen this as I posted it on Facebook only. But for those who have not, I felt I would share it with you:
This is Teal Lake, in the Chequamegon National Forest, in Northwest Wisconsin.
I started coming here in 1956, six months before I was born…yes, my mother was pregnant with me. I would visit the place I call God’s Country for the next 45 years straight. These past two weeks, I just concluded my 51st year spending time with nature, and God, in this beautiful place.
However, if my mother opted for abortion, for any of the supposedly supported reasons, I would have never been to this place … or any other. (FYI - My mother and father are the back two in the photo, behind my aunt and uncle. Picture taken that very summer 1956). I never would have met the wonderful people I’ve known, worked with, loved, and called friends. I wouldn’t have three kids, eight grandkids, and two great grandkids. In fact, many of them would have never existed.
My kids would have never communed with nature at this lake. I would have never grown and matured with my parents and the residences of this lake. Taking walks, swimming in the lake, playing pool at the bar, meeting and hanging out with new and old friends, and never would have grown up period, let alone with a true and essential love
of nature and fishing.
I tell you all this because this place is as dear to me as life itself.
Yes, as dear as … LIFE!!!
Yes, abortion is about a human’s rights…yes about a woman’s body and her rights to protect that body, as long as that right does not infringe upon someone else’s body or rights. A woman has EVERY right to protect her life … but one person, in this case a woman, does not have the right to murder another person…no matter the age.
I am so glad my mother took her rights and her responsibilities to heart and gave life to me…a life that has been rich with 65+ years of great family, friends, and precious moments, experiences, and memories…like Teal Lake!!!
