Category : Pilgrim’s Chronicles

I’m a watch collector. I’ve always been fascinated with watches and about ten years ago I started picking up ones that I liked. Not many of my watches are expensive, most are just watches that I enjoy wearing. I’m sorry to say I’m up to over 30 watches. I heard a quote form a friend that is actually quite funny, “A man that owns a watch always knows what time it is, a man that owns many watches never knows what time it is.”

Do you know what time it is? Years ago a wonderful song was very popular. Cats In The Cradle was first recorded by Harry Chapin, in the last few years it was re-recorded by my dear friend
Ricky Skaggs. It’s a great song, read through the lyrics and see if you agree with the message.

My child arrived just the other day
He came to the world in the usual way
But there were planes to catch and bills to pay
He learned to walk while I was away
And he was talkin’ ‘fore I knew it, and as he grew
He’d say “I’m gonna be like you dad
You know I’m gonna be like you”

And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man on the moon
When you comin’ home dad?
I don’t know when, but we’ll get together then son
You know we’ll have a good time then

My son turned ten just the other day
He said, “Thanks for the ball, Dad, come on let’s play
Can you teach me to throw”, I said “Not today
I got a lot to do”, he said, “That’s ok”
And he walked away but his smile never dimmed
And said, “I’m gonna be like him, yeah
You know I’m gonna be like him”

And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man on the moon
When you comin’ home son?
I don’t know when, but we’ll get together then son
You know we’ll have a good time then

Well, he came home from college just the other day
So much like a man I just had to say
“Son, I’m proud of you, can you sit for a while?”
He shook his head and said with a smile
“What I’d really like, Dad, is to borrow the car keys
See you later, can I have them please?”

And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man on the moon
When you comin’ home son?
I don’t know when, but we’ll get together then son
You know we’ll have a good time then

I’ve long since retired, my son’s moved away
I called him up just the other day
I said, “I’d like to see you if you don’t mind”
He said, “I’d love to, Dad, if I can find the time
You see my new job’s a hassle and kids have the flu
But it’s sure nice talking to you, Dad
It’s been sure nice talking to you”

And as I hung up the phone it occurred to me
He’d grown up just like me
My boy was just like me

And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man on the moon
When you comin’ home son?
I don’t know when, but we’ll get together then son
You know we’ll have a good time then

So what time is it? It’s time to spend time with your spouse, to nurture and love your children, to listen to your neighbors and friends. It’s time to do those things you always intended to do, but haven’t taken the time to do. It’s time to face the fact that God is real and He loves you and He has been knocking at the door of your heart. He’s waiting for you to open the door, so He can come in.

What time do you think it is?

the pilgrim

Ricky Skaggs at the Derby, shooting with his Nikons. Photo by Skip Dickstein

O.K. I’m sitting at the Kentucky Derby and I’m showing airplane pictures, to make it even worse I will confess I don’t really like horses, and I hate women’s big hats. Can you imagine a person being in worse place than here with those opinions? Don’t get me wrong, I think race horses are beautiful, I just think their dangerous and unpredictable. I have ridden horse a few times, and I never really liked that either. I love baseball caps and have collected many to remind me of great adventures I’ve enjoyed, but I probably look worse in a baseball cap than any man alive. By contrast I’ve never seen a women, no matter how beautiful, that I thought a huge flowery hat made her look even better, at least not to me……

Now this is what makes life wonderful, you can love women’s hats, and horses, and mint juleps
and still be o.k. by me, but just don’t ask me to join in on your enthusiasm. I’ll be happy for you, just let me smile from a distance. I’m so glad that every photographer is not interested in shooting the same things. My personal career took off when I started flying and shooting from the air. Not many people were doing it and the look is very different. Some people love it, some could care less, and both are fine with me.

I’m sorta mellow today, spending time with a lot of old friends and some new ones as well. These kinds of events are filled with flurries of wild activity followed by slow times as the shooters are out at the track photographing the current race. This is a great place to catch up with some friends you seldom get to see. Skip Dickstein one of very best racing shooters, Bill Frakes, a true legend from Sports Illustrated, Dan Dry another legendary newspaper and magazine photojournalist. Tonight Ricky Skaggs will join us and the good times will continue to roll. All are truly dear friends and it’s great to get to see them and visit. I know I way over used the legendary term there, but these guys really are at the top of the mark.

Well, I went through all that to say, “Thank You Lord, you’ve blessed me beyond measure. I work with great people, I get to serve great people and great friends. I do for a living what I do when I have day off! Every once in a while I tell Bill Pekala, who hired me, thanks for the job. I really mean it, this is a great way to ride toward the sunset…….”

the pilgrim

….and people think I’m crazy! This is an Kolb design from the early days of ultra light flying.

This is the gorgeous Electra 18B like the one Emelia Earhart flew.

Many years ago I started a workshop company called the Great American Photography Weekends. It was the culmination of a dream and an answered prayer. I had always wanted to go across America and shoot in our wonderful national parks. So for twelve years I was in every major national park at least once each year, and some twice! Today I’m a photo generalist, which means I will make images of anything that strikes my fancy. In the workshop years I was a nature landscape guy. I never was much of a wildlife shooter but I did get to work side by side with some of the greatest ones; John Shaw, Art Wolfe, Len and Lenny Rue, Jim Brandenburg, Rod Planck, Moose Peterson, and the late Bill Siliker. Siliker was a world class expert on the moose. He once told me that God had never created a more stuborn or short sighted animal. Obviously he didn’t know me that well!

I most imagine that if you could ask the Lord what has been the most frustrating part of dealing with me He would probably say, “he’s stoborn and short sighted.” I plead guilty. It would be best for all of us if we would not put our mouth in gear until our mind is warmed up. I’m afraid I’ve had a lot of regret from not keeping that rule in mind. I’m usually pretty sure I’m right, unfortunately I’m not right as often as I’m sure that I am.

There is an easy way to avoid a lot of embarrassing situations. Some time back I wore a wrist band that had the initials WWJD, (What would Jesus do?) That is a great filter to run our proposed actions and words through before going into action. People are not all that interested in our profession of our dedication to our faith. What they will pay attention to is what we do and how we act. Our actions speak much louder than our words.

Why does this matter? If you really do love the Lord and want to show Him how much His sacrifice means to you, it is imparative that you live out your profession of faith. People are watching and they will judge all Christians by what they see us do. Representing our covenent with Him is critical.

It’s not an easy thing to do, but then dying on the cross was a lot harder.

the pilgrim

*Photo note: The image of the moose sculpture was made at one of my favorite Louisville restaurants, Lynn’s Paradise Cafe. I was first introduced to it by Carol Fisher at another Derby several years ago. The food is exceptional and the photo opps outstanding. D700 – 70-300 AFS VR.

Today lets just celebrate the joy of being in a great place. I’ll bet that if you were honest with yourself you’re in a great place today.

Let’s see;
Are you on this side of the grass?

Did you have breakfast?

Did the rain that fell this week, land where you were sleeping?

Are all your kids safe and sound?

Do you still have your job?

Did your wife throw all your clothes out in the yard?

See, we’ve got it made. Well, you know I’m at Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby, which is this Saturday. Sara Mosebrugger and I were guest of Skip Dickstein for a morning walk around in the paddock areas. I had a lot of fun just photographing things I never get to shoot.
God is definitely good! Enjoy and be blessed today.

the pilgrim