October Sunrise at The Inn at Cedar Falls by Jim Crotty 2 on Flickr.

“When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.” ― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

May Morning at Ash Cave by Jim Crotty 2 on Flickr.

To be still in the grace of gratitude. Let yesterday’s challenges and disappointments pass over you like water over a rock and then rise, again and again. There are gifts in this day.

May Evening on the Trail at Old Mans Cave by Jim Crotty 1 on Flickr.

“I’ve often thought of the forest as a living cathedral, but this might diminish what it truly is. If I have understood Koyukon teachings, the forest is not merely an expression or representation of sacredness, nor a place to invoke the sacred; the forest is sacredness itself. Nature is not merely created by God; nature is God. Whoever moves within the forest can partake directly of sacredness, experience sacredness with his entire body, breathe sacredness and contain it within himself, drink the sacred water as a living communion, bury his feet in sacredness, touch the living branch and feel the sacredness, open his eyes and witness the burning beauty of sacredness”
― Richard Nelson, The Island Within

Thoughts of a hilltop. April in Hocking Hills, Ohio @ Inn at Cedar Falls. Two years ago. Something about that hill behind The Inn. It’s one of those places I often visit in my thoughts and sometimes even in dreams. Hocking Hills is a spirit-filled landscape and The Inn is its soulful center. I will be returning in May to teach and present another weekend photography workshop. Those programs always seem to be the most successful. Perhaps because I feel most at home here and my passion for photography flows most easily in this place, especially in autumn and spring. Then again, I can easily connect similarly with locations I know of out West.

Spring in Hocking Hills will take on a new meaning for me this year because basically this was the first time in my life I did not experience winter. Well, winter as I came to know it growing up in Ohio. Winter in South Carolina this year was virtually non-existent. But still, even without the long, cold days of waiting, something still calls me back. Up on that hilltop.

This photograph by Joseph Rossbach, beautifully captured and composed in Zion National Park, is what reminds me of the area along the stream just above Upper Falls at Old Man’s Cave in Hocking Hills. 

lori-rocks:

Infinite Journey
by Joseph Rossbach

(via andyouwhisperyouloveme)

Spring flow at Old Man’s Cave @ Hocking Hills, Ohio. The vertical version. I’ve been revisiting archived raw image files and doing some re-touching using some new digital edit tools and techniques.

Daybreak on the hilltop @ Inn at Cedar Falls, Hocking Hills.

The paths we take. July rain in the woodland @ Cedar Falls #hockinghills #ohio