October 2007, I nearly died.
I contracted a "flesh eating" staph infection in my foot. For three days my doctors were not sure I would make it. I later learned there was a 73 % chance that I would not. If my family had not insisted I go back to emergency when I did, I would have lost my foot, my life--or both.
I knew something was terribly wrong. Though no one had said so I knew I could die. Lying in the hospital bed, not knowing what the future held, I prayed that God would spare my life. I promised Him I would use my artwork to bring joy to people's hearts. I asked Him for a new way of "seeing."
Four months later (still using my cane), in an obscure park in Stevenson, Washington, I shot this photo in a thicket along the edges of the great Columbia River. When I first saw the naturally altered branch in it's lovely setting against those moss-covered boulders, I could not believe my eyes. What you see here is exactly what I saw--only I added two little sparkles to emphasize
The Branch.
Since then, I've found even more amazing photos in nature. Perhaps to say that God has given me a special gift of "seeing," is presumptuous, but there seems to be no other explanation.
I am grateful for my life, for the ability to walk unhindered--for the joy of "seeing" hidden pictures in nature. My life will never be the same.
I love walking with my darling Sissy through the forests where we played as children. I remember when I happened to spy this happy collie peeking from the crags of a lichen-covered stump. She looked a bit like Lassie to me.
You had to stand just so to see her. Here is the cropped version of Lassie as I first saw her. 
Above you see the original photograph in full. If you look closely, I think there's a craggy brown face there, too. Because I loved Lassie so much as a child, I thought it especially cool to find my Mossy Lassie in the magical forests of my childhood..
