Introduction to the New Blog Title, Reflections.

This blog will be about a blog… The Reflections blog. Each segment will have a different story, a memory, or photos all from the past that were memorable enough to warrant pausing a bit to reflect on it to see the deeper meaning within.

This picture above was taken several years ago of a tree submerged in the floodwaters of the Ohio River at Earl Thomas Conley Park in West Portsmouth, Ohio.

As I pondered on the reflection, I just knew I needed a picture of it. I looked back at it many times and each time I feel different thoughts about the image.

In the beginning, it was about growing up in Southern Ohio where flooding was common in the spring with snow melts from farther north dumping into streams and smaller rivers, and eventually into the Ohio River.

As a kid, I remember going down to look at the flood wall along the much swollen Ohio River. I recall watching the National Guard Packing sandbags on that wall to protect the community from the devastation that had happened in the past. As I watched atop my dad‘s shoulders, we saw a cow float by. It brought tears to my eyes wondering how long it may have struggled before its final end.

Then there were stories about The ‘37 Flood. My maternal grandmother’s house floated off its foundation and went to the back of the yard. Although it was brought forward later, all the walls showed their unevenness as the result of piecing it back together like a giant puzzle and it was never quite the same.

Lastly, the reflection of the tree reminds me that there can be beauty amidst a disaster if one looks hard enough. You see, I would never have noticed that lone tree in the field had it not been for the flood that caused the reflection in the first place. It was a simple tree; not one that drew my attention to it at any point until the flooded waters surrounded it and the light caused the mirrored image.

So, my question for you is this, what painful situation, what disaster when looking back (reflecting) that you saw something good as the result of that situation?

Send a request to join our Facebook group, Never Too Late Cafe, and share your story.

“Look for the Beauty Amidst the Disaster”

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