 |
| My last impression of 2021: cold - very cold, mostly grey and white with streaks of striking colors in such amazing depth. |
Yes, it's a "Saturday photo" posted on a Sunday! It's called confusion, eagerness and, uhm, finding an excuse to post something here just because it is fun! The photos were taken close enough to Saturday (MST zone) though, which was Saturday in most places in the world, including my home country, the Philippines. Therefore, the label is not totally incorrect. Again, an excuse!
The above collage of photos are images of the last few hours of 2021 viewed from Boise, ID, which include a photo each of my sister and myself walking around her neighborhood and around a small park that is meant mostly for small kids and pets. The pictures are true to what 2021 had been for us - grey, cold, looking lifeless... but also made beautiful by the pristine powdery snow, the streaks of dramatic colors of sunset... promising a new day! Every now and then, my sister and I stopped to greet or return the greetings of home owners who were clearing out snow from their walkway, or neighbors who were walking their dogs. It made the cold walk quite warm. Once again, the whole scenario felt like the summary of 2021 for us. Despair and sadness, hope and faith, optimism and kindness, and, yes, holding on steadfastly to the promise of love - God's love.
As we walked amid about six inches of snow on the ground, my sister and I picked what were beautiful and amazing around us, and enjoyed them! This was the exact same attitude that we adopted as we went through 2021... emotionally crippled by the loss of our father just a few days before Christmas 2020, frightened by the twin blow of the dreadful pandemic on our family when my brother and I fought for our lives in the hospital against COVID-19 back in August 2021, and felt insecure the whole year from the uncertainty of the times due to the disruption from a combo of global crises. And yet, there we were, enjoying white Christmas and the marvels of discovery from traveling.
We closed 2021 believing with all our hearts that life is worth-living for. Life is still good, will always be good, because God is always good - and He is good to us all!
***
Photo credit: The photos used in this post all belong to me. .
