Capturing The Moment

5.5 Inches of light. Morning, Day, Night.

Five and a half inches of a screen has the capacity to draw our attention away from the world around us ... this is nothing new ... but this past weekend up until today, the thought has lingered with me.

It all started when me and my dad parked at the camp from the afternoon hunt. The stars engulfed the night sky. A high pressure was rolling through the atmosphere. Allowing the sky to show every inch of its' God painted canvas. The Moon, Mars, Saturn, The Big Dipper and The Milky Way. It was the most radiant I have ever seen ... I remember growing up, on cold winter nights, star gazing. My dad would bring my mom, sister and me out into the middle of the field, turn the truck lights off and leave the engine running. Piling atop the warm hood, covered in our sleeping bags, it was like we got sucked right into the sky itself. We didn't have cell phones. We weren't trying to capture the moment through an image. It was a memory that can't be captured anywhere else but in our hearts ...

The thought that lingered with me this past week, is how blessed I am. Blessed to be able to step away from my five and a half inch screen, to look at the bright lights God has placed in front of me (not to mention its a much bigger capacity than the device in my hand). There is no need to capture the moment anywhere else but in the heart.

This plays hand-in-hand when it comes to the harvest of an animal. There is a constant urning to share the pictures and videos on the internet of what animal it is we are blessed to have in our hands (and yes, I am guilty too!). There is no issue with this. It is a moment, we as hunters, hold near and dear to our hearts. Not only the harvest, but the loved ones we experience these moments with. For me, capturing these moments is more than an image ... more than showing off that first buck, biggest buck, or the limit of ducks (even though we are all guilty of that too!). These moments captured allow me to cherish the times that I have spent in the woods. The times I spent with my dad. The times I spent with someone who left this life to soon. The times I continue to spend with a group of people that have become family to me. Capture the moments that you can ... but also know which moments you should capture ONLY in your heart.