Patterns - weathered

Weathered shakes, Pickity Place, Mason, NH, January 2006, HP Photosmart R817, Exposure 1/135 sec @ f2.8, ISO 100, no flash © Steven Crisp [Click on the photo to enlarge]

Sometimes the years leave their tell-tale signs upon us. Sometimes we try to hide it -- cover it up with a new coat of varnish, as it were. Othertimes we are willing to let our age show.

It differentiates us from the young and inexperienced. And in the end, the only thing that will avoid it showing is an early demise, and who wants that?

To me I see character in those lines and wrinkles. I see experience and wisdom. I see understanding and compassion. I see warmth and comfort. (Interestingly, I didn't see all that until I started to develop those lines and wrinkles myself -- hmmm.)

Before our mass media took control of our lives, there was a time when age was honored, perhaps even revered. Somone had to have lived life's lessons, and be willling to pass them down.

Ask yourself how you view aging. Is it a path to be respected and honored, or one to be covered up and hidden?

Perhaps that inquiry will cause you to question our culture's message. We might just benefit from a little more wisdom these days.