How to Create a Forest

Heidi’s first Christmas.

The spirit of Christmas has always filled my heart with hope and love. Becoming a grandfather this year added more zest to my life than I could have ever imagined. I love that child. She fills my soul.

This year, I started a new holiday tradition... all to celebrate Heidi. Each year, our decorations will include a live Christmas tree. Once all the presents are unwrapped and the holidays are complete, I’ll plant each year’s Christmas tree around the ranch.

I look forward to Heidi and me walking around to see all of her trees. Maybe, we’ll even decorate a few each year with glittery jingles, homemade ornaments, and blinking lights. Then the two of us can sit together, celebrate another new year, and watch Heidi’s trees reach just a little closer to the stars than they did the year before.

I love helping Santa.

I hope the holidays fill your soul with love and happiness. Neither requires a fancy ribbon, and they are absolutely the greatest gift you will ever give or receive.

As a side note, since this was the first year of my new holiday tradition, I began this year by purchasing three trees. I couldn't help myself. They were all just too perfect. And technically, one is a rosemary bush tree... a large, beautiful, and fragrant rosemary bush Christmas tree. And c'mon... honestly, how could Heidi and I begin her forest with just one tree?

Merry Christmas, love, and goodness.

It's Christmastime

That time of the year is here again. And with it, I look forward to seeing those I love in the next week. I'm counting on those days being filled with plenty of soul-filling goodness: puppy kisses and wagging tails, teary-eyed laughter, reading, studying, loads of fab music backed by a tad more groovy tunes, and a dinner and movie date (heck, maybe even two). It's Christmastime.

As another year passes, another one of promise and dreams will begin just behind it. Seems I'm still the same kid that would loudly sing along to his favorite song as it played through the single mono speaker on that lime green portable AM radio.... the one with the matching lime green wrist strap and the retractable chrome antenna. I still dream. I still laugh to myself ...and frequently laugh at myself. I'm still curious about life and sometimes wonder what if? ...what happened? ...where are they? …and often just a simple why? Why?

Through it all, it seems that I'm still defining me. Why would I ever stop? Each day is a gift, a lesson, an opportunity to smile at someone; not that plastic smile.... but the real eye-to-eye contact kind of smile. Those are the ones that count and the ones that really make a difference. I don't want to search or define reasons to create something new.... I just want to create with the hope of maybe leaving something of value, purpose, and good behind. It doesn't need to be extravagant or epic or life-changing either. Just make it real. That promises to make all the difference.

Looking back, I love the simple dirt under my fingernails, blue-collar, work-hard-every-day upbringing that I came from. It was genuine and provided me with the perfect starting point for my unusual, let's take this turn, roundabout, where the hell are you headed path that has brought me to where I am today. Five years ago, along that very path, I gifted myself with sobriety. It was the most humbling and honest soul-searching I have ever experienced. I awake blessed, thankful, and alive each morning. I dig this place.

I really loved that spark and spirited, song singing, love everyone, always smiling, creative kid that I used to be. I hope he's still the same and never loses that.

Love and stuff... It's Christmastime.

The Numbing

The event photographer

I rarely find myself in front of the camera. My place is to always stand behind it.

For this photograph, I maintained my normal position while waiting for guests to arrive to the holiday party I was assigned to document. Seeing this particular setting provided a welcoming invitation with its placement, framing, and available light. It was far too perfect not to use.

Despite the joys of the holiday season, a brightly decorated Christmas tree, a punch bowl of warm apple cider, brightly colored sugar cookies in the shapes of trees and candy canes, and all of the usual party festivities, my mood at the moment when I tripped the shutter for this image was hauntingly numb.

This reflective self-portrait was captured just minutes after hearing the tragic news of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in Newtown, Connecticut. I was heartbroken. I still am.

waiting on guests

Reflections ©2013 Gary Garbett

I seldom find myself in front of the camera. My place is to stand behind it.

For this photo, I maintained my normal position while waiting for guests to arrive to the holiday party I was assigned to document. This particular setting provided a welcoming invitation with its placement, framing, and available light. It was far too perfect not to use.

Despite the joys of the holiday season, a brightly decorated Christmas tree, and party festivities, my mood at the moment was numb. This reflective self-portrait was captured just moments after hearing the tragic news of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in Newtown, Connecticut. I was heartbroken. Still am.

secondhand light

After a well needed and successful breather from classes over the past month, today is the beginning of my Spring semester and my yearlong sprint towards a December graduation. Aside from the annual reruns of holiday soundtracks, television programs, mountains of sugar coma sparkly treats, and family fruitcake, I was happy to occasionally locate some quality time for my own thoughts during the academic break.

Usually with a coffee mug at my side, I spent plenty of hours during the holidays with my varied and extremely eclectic film and instant camera collection. Dating as far back as the 1930s, each of them are secondhand, left behinds, or strays and all beautiful works of art in themselves. All have their own distinct character and personality and I can only imagine the stories, celebrations, and places they've each seen. Our eclecticism seems to parallel one another perfectly, promising an exciting journey as I search for light through their viewfinders this semester.

Together, we'll have a story to tell. No fruitcake required.

believing in believing

Paper Ornaments

A number of Christmases ago, finances were extremely difficult.

That particular year, the children and I made handmade ornaments with paper, crayons, white glue, glitter, sequins, and ribbon to decorate our truly meager tree. Hours later, we stepped back from the dusting of glitter on the floor to take a look at our Christmas tree. It was beautiful and I know that because of it, Santa was able to find us that year.

For twenty years, I've displayed that very same tree every year… along with all of it's memories and an occasional fluttering of stray glitter.

Yes, I believe.

Santa Came

Misfits