The Gift of Art and Creative Contributions

I am marveling at                                                                                                          

the Gift of Art and Creative Contributions!

Wow. What a lovely day. My legs are tired, but my heart if full. Hubby and I biked another portion of the Hennepin Trail today. Beautiful and historic!

So of course, our love affair with God's beautiful creation was stoked. But surprisingly, so was my appreciation for Art.

We enjoyed biking past one lock after another, those old engineering marvels from the early days of the 20th century. The trail we biked along was a link to days gone by. For it was the same old pathway utilized by mules as they hauled the barges laden with grain and supplies along the canal joining the Mississippi and Illinois rivers. How I appreciated the old steel rusty structures, the bridges and the locks, with their levers, gears, arches and spokes. They spoke to me of the past. As did the old path itself. 

 There were relatively few people on the trail today. But two that we came upon touched my heart. A man and a women were on a bridge. They had a large pile of beautiful, bright, yellow, wild flowers (similar to the ones in the picture), and with them they were creating a work of art as they were creatively and intentionally weaving them around the steel spokes of the bridge, creating a delightful and unusual display. "Wow. Pretty" I said as we pedaled by. "Thanks" was their reply.

As we continued on, I thought about what we had just seen. I thought about how happy I was that I had had the opportunity to see that. I also somewhat regretted that we had not come across it a little later, when the work of art was completed and no one was still around. 

I realize that in this case, the flowers would eventually (soon) die. The "blessing window"of this particular work of art was short. All the more thankful was I that we had seen it.

Most works are not so temporary, their message, often timeless. I decided to see how Google would define the word art: "the expression or application of human (God given, emphasis mine) creative skill and imagination to be appreciated for it's beauty or emotional power."

So thank you to all those who have taken a chance, to leave a bit of themselves behind. To contribute a part of their God given creative self to bless those around them as well as those who come after.