Locus of Perspective

Restaurant at Stockyards
Fort Worth, TX

Fall hit north Texas yesterday. A cool front brought much needed rain and day time temperatures dropped a comfortable fifteen degrees. We received a much needed reprieve from the humid temps soaring a hundred and above.

Took the opportunity to become a tourist in my own backyard, Fort Worth. Decided to saunter through the stockyards with nothing but an iPhone in hand. Forced to take shots which hone my composition skills. Actually its how I view life any way, a series of memorable warm vignettes, this is me.

It's not that I choose to dwell on the positive, it's simply a fact that the positive resides inside of us and cannot be reached externally. You determine how good or how bad. It's your judgement/perception of any situation. How you process that information is ultimately what determines the degree of good or bad. Gratitude makes a whole lot of difference. Bottom line be happy with what you have today and what you can enjoy and do today. The world is there for you to live and see.

www.photographybyalhernandez.com

Faith

Bell Tower in Grapevine
Grapevine, TX

After a life filled with worry the universe and life experience have brought to my attention that worry stems from lack of faith; one crowds out the other. The two cannot co-exist.

All it takes is one torch bearer to light a dark room regardless of it's size. If each of us would simply provide the light we have, we could/would fill many lives with light. Faith crowds out worry sustains us and lights our path. Faith practitioners can become beacons to others who have had worry dim their light.

Share your light, share your hope, and share your faith. In a world filled with cynicism, we can replace worry and anxiety with renewed hope and the faith that things do eventually work out. Faith/hope sustains us.

For those who doubt these words all I can say is that through my ordeals, I've personally experienced this and am truly grateful for my family and my friends who constantly stood by my side and shared there faith and hope with me. Faith is more than a religion its a lifestyle.

www.photographybyalhernandez.com

Jody Humphrey

In Memory
of
Jody Humphrey
May 18, 1931 - August 7, 2013

Jody Humphrey’s

Born: Jo Ellen Mooring

On May 18, 1931

To Joe and Grace Mooring

Joined her Husband Ben and her daughter Lou on August 7, 2013

Forever in Pink. (Mary Kaye Eat Your Heart Out)

A Texan with a Gentrified Lifestyle.

For Jody’s benefit, I will speak very slowly and deliberately today.

I’ve got good news today; our friend Jody is very much alive today in our hearts and forever in our memories. And we choose to limit our mourning because her pain is gone and best yet she has joined the arms of her companion, our friend and hers, Benny.  Our mutual bonds of friendship and kinship gather us today and we see fit to celebrate the life of our sensational friend who with her class, dignity, and humor seasoned and enriched our lives while she blessed us with her charm.

I don’t know if you knew, but Jody was privileged.  That’s right she was from the right side of the tracks while many of her friends were altogether off the tracks.  She came from means but by no means did that mean that we were not welcomed in her home or in her heart. She was unapologetically simply groomed for another type of life, which if properly cajoled she, would share with you.

So, I will share with you a very brief part of that life which ultimately touched mine by 1987 until today.

Once upon a time there was school named Gulf Park By-the Sea Junior College:

Jody told me about her pampered past in a very deliberate southern drawl.  The finishing school was all about learning the finer things in life from manners, setting the table, to staging parties.  She learned to be the perfect hostess white gloves and all.

Her education included mastering fencing, diving, synchronized swimming and sailing.  Times were very different then.  I will tell you though that Jody has blessed my family with her social graces from back then.  She and my mother-in-law, Shirley, planned all of the details of our outdoor wedding, poolside near our friend's gazebo.  The prim and proper lady practiced and wove her craft and ultimately charmed us with her attention to details.  Jody simply had a way of making everything pretty.  Her flair was wonderful and she spread her joy of a finer time the way things should have been her entire adult life.

In Junior College, she was voted by her peers as the most popular of her graduating class. Jody remained the most popular friend in our neighborhood and in our family even during those last years and months as she struggled to live and to breathe.

Ironically we breathe easier now because she’s at rest. We loved her and because of our love and friendship, we can take comfort in the assurance that she’s at rest with Benny. We should not mourn her loss because there is no way that we will ever forget her. To that extent she will always be alive provided that we keep the embers of her memory and joy stoked in our hearts and minds.

Jody perhaps you remember your Alma Mater song but just in case I will read it to you one more time:

ALMA MATER

This our Alma Mater will forever be

Loved and honored and cherished, Gulf Park by-the Sea.

We will sing thy praise, and to thee be true,

May our loyal sisters from thee blessings accrue,

Give them of thy bounty, and thy happiness too.

Albert V. Davies

Not So Routine

Morning Sunrise
Keller, TX

Although I am now home I am still in the throws of change. Nothing is quite the same including the addition of a new pet. We acquired a "rescue" lab, Grady, who is very large toddler and requires quite a bit of supervision. The fact is that I am a stranger in his home. In addition, there's the change of a new job and the accompanying stress of proving yourself all over again. While being home is a relief the new changes require adjustments.

What remains constant is me and my passion for photography. My walking and my camera keep me grounded when I otherwise would feel completely overwhelmed. My needs help offset the requirements imposed on me by change. 

Yes, I am home and again reunited with both my family and friends. That's a huge comfort. However, I miss the incredible landscapes of Southeast Arizona and Tucson. For nine months, I tried to make sense out of all the landscapes I witnessed. Each time I glanced at the mountains, I would try to discern the subtle changes both light and and occasional rains brought. By studying the natural changes, I was able to accept those changes which were occurring within me. Changes which both my body and situation dictated. I had to change how I viewed my life and world. Rather than succumb to change as the end, I recognized the change of new beginnings. That's why I welcome the possibilities that each morning brings to me.

www.photographybyalhernandez.com