By Scott Shephard

If the title of this post made you think of a hit song by the group Kansas, you must be 50something or 60something. The first stanza goes like this

It's a happy little song called "Dust In the Wind" and though I like it, I try not to think of its dark existential meaning. And, generally, when I'm out taking photos, I'm not thinking about music or even about poetry. It's hard to describe, but anyone who attains a high degree of focus on a particular task when time, place, self and surroundings almost disappear will know what I'm talking about. That's me.

But before I got caught up in getting the right kind of photo of this leaf, I do remember having a conscious thought. It was, "It's your lucky day, leaf, because you have been randomly selected to be photographed."

You see, a leaf lives it's short life anonymously in the presence of a larger group. He's part of one big photosynthetic team and there were tens of thousands of players on this particular team. But yesterday he had his moment in the sun. He may have fallen to the ground by today.

And that brings me back to the song: 

I, too, am dust in the wind. But I imagine that I may survive my physical existence through what I leave behind. Such as my photos. As the great Greek scientist Hippocrates observed, "Life is short; art is long." Whether this photo is art, is a matter of opinion, of course.

And finally, if songs like "Dust In the Wind" bring on the blues, listen to this. . . 

Kansas - Dust In The Wind Lyrics | MetroLyrics