A Captured Moment

Let's Go Camping!
Camp Mingus: Prescott, Arizona

Have you ever had a Kodak moment at camp? Okay, for those of you who were born Post Eastman Camera era, let me change that to 'a phone camera,' or for photo afficionados, a 'Nikon D850' moment.

You know, when you'd like to preserve an image forever...

Of little marshmallows floating to the top of your hot chocolate.

Of Younger Daughter, her brand-new velour sweatsuit caught in the barbed-wire fence she is crawling under.

Of Older Daughter, perched on a rock, puckering at you for a kiss.

Or of Hubby being 'kidnapped for ransom' by the youth group.

When Pastor King announced that we were trekking to the woods that day, we knew that we were going to be regaled by one such 'moment.'

It was one of those incredible times, between daylight and darkness. The sun had faded into a warm gold. The forest was a kaleidoscope of shifting shadows and hues, never looking quite the same twice.

Cool and blissfully fragrant.

Pinyons mingled with the narrowleaf cottonwood trees to hide the woodland's secrets. Quiet, except for the leaves drifting and the wind sighing at summer's passing and the tiny patter of a squirrel awkwardly moving up the Ponderosa pine, jabbering.

Then, we peeked through a clearing. It was flat and blank and grassy against a backdrop of mountains that never seemed to get closer. A pool of water was beyond. Pastor glanced at a watch-that-wasn't-there on his wrist. He adjusted his eyeglasses and shushed us. Yep. Any minute now.

Some of us fidgeted, unable to find comfortable positions.

Patience.

We waited with bated breath...

... until our 'moment' formed before our eyes.

A lone spotted deer, his expression docile and angelic, had timidly poked out of the undergrowth, sniffing the air.

Then lapped daintily at the cool, crystal water. Content. Unhurried.

The world around us went quiet. An eerie stillness akin to the echo of empty rooms fell over us. Not a bird call, not even a rustle of leaves or grass, despite a faint breeze.

Time stood still. Suspended. No past or future.

This.

A freeze-frame moment of wonder.

Most memorable in the history of any Kodak or Nikon moment.

Ever.