The first one comes from 3 Scrapateers! I received their layout of the day for my layout "The Family". I made this one for the Amazing Digi Scrap Race. We were supposed to scrap our favorites: color (red), element (those flourishes), and subject (my family, of course!) I used my new kit "Les Jardins du Manoir" for the layout! I also used photo actions from Holly McCaig.
The next layout of the day (this one at Digitals) was also one I made for the Amazing Digi Scrap Race! This one we were supposed to "vent" in our layout and use blending modes. For "Footprints" I used a background from my Count Your Blessings kit and blended it with little Emily's feet.
Journaling was from a journal entry I made while I was taking a Mind and Nature class at The University of Utah. We were on vacation in Blanding for the 4th of July and had just come home from visiting a dinosaur museum.
Journaling reads:
I find that I can never look at things the same way as before. When we talk about the dinosaurs that lived on earth 250 million years ago, I now have a timeline to put them into. I found myself telling my children, “If we looked at earth from the point of view of a 24 hour clock, dinosaurs would have been here at 10pm.” It has also been humbling to view these reptiles that were victim to a mass extinction, knowing that we may be headed for their same fate. I wonder what type of organisms will survive this extinction and what they’ll think about us when they dig up our artifacts.
As I lie under the night sky looking upward toward a magnificent fireworks show, I wonder, “When our artifacts and fossils are found, will they tell the whole story?” Will they know our wonder and thrill of seeing the colors burst forth in the blackness of night? Will they know the heady aroma of a rose wet with dew? Will they know the simple joys of holding a child’s hand as you walk along the beach at sunset? What part of Lucy’s story are we missing; or the story of anatomically human humans? When their children were sick, did they softly brush the wet hair off their fevered brow? Did they look up at the same night sky and thrill at falling stars?
I am fascinated by the footprints made by dinosaurs that have been found throughout the world. From these footprints, they are able to discover mating rituals, migration patterns, and social behaviors. It makes me ponder the roles I’m playing, and the footprints I’m leaving behind. How will my footprints be interpreted? Will they show an interconnected web of family and social relationships? Will they portray me as a person who watched over others and the environment? How will the human race be viewed? Will we be commended for saving the world from a mass extinction, or will we be known as the ones who caused an annihilation of epic proportions that led to the extinction of all life forms on earth, ourselves included?
It is humbling to think about, and yet motivating at the same time. We don’t have to go the way of the dinosaur. We can live in harmony with the natural world and lighten our footprint on the earth. We can fight for changes large and small. Government policy can be changed and personal habits can be changed. We are not on a theme park ride that we have to travel to its inevitable conclusion. The end is not an inescapable foregone conclusion. We can detour, change direction, and switch rides.
Confucius said, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Where will our journey lead and are we willing to take that first step? Will another creature be fascinated by our footprints or will our descendents find pride in our ability to save the planet from a disastrous conclusion? When the final curtain falls, will it be of our own making?
element preview
