Remembering Veteran Daniel Davidson this Memorial Day

RIP- Veteran Daniel Davidson survived two tours in the military, one tour in Iraq and one tour in Afghanistan. He says that the trials of daily life on the front lines brought him closer to God. Davidson reflected upon feeling the presence of God, in the still of the night, while on guard duty in the mountains of Afghanistan. When he talked about those nights, his voice trembled. I could see him sitting there, in my minds eye, as he told me his stories. Often people just want to be heard, sometimes people tell me things they can't tell other people. Sometimes people don't want to hear what they have to say. I have thought of David many times after we talked, he was so open, so deep and so spiritual.  He was extremely tender for such a tough guy. He talked about how hard it was to sit at his family's table, after all he had seen. He knew so personally of a world that they would never know. He was not proud of some of the things he did, in the name of war. As a photojournalist, many times I have photographed people who have died shortly after I photographed them.  I am glad that I was able to tell a piece of  Daniels story.   He died a year ago this month, while working as a U.S. Forest Service wildland firefighter. I will remember him, and his family, this Memorial Day.

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Everyone has a story.

As a photojournalist, I am a storyteller that happens to use a camera. I look for the extraordinary in the ordinary, every day. 

Some days I can't believe they pay me. Other days they can't pay me enough. 

But I have been given a front row seat to life, in all of its glory and in all of its pain. 

I've been to the White House, and some crack houses too. I have covered the rich and famous and I have covered the poor and hungry.

Everyone has a story.

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DO YOU ALLOW YOURSELF TO DREAM?

"All the flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seeds of today."
Indian Proverb

While a bloom opens in its own time, while being urged from the sun, the moon, the seasons, it's seeds are like our dreams. We need to dream. We need  to allow our imaginations to cultivate the seeds of our dreams.  Allow your mind to be the good soil that beautiful flowers bloom in.

Photography by Karen Pulfer Focht ©

Photography by Karen Pulfer Focht ©

Tree Awaits Awakening

"Behold, my friends, the spring is come; the earth has gladly received the embraces of the sun, and we shall soon see the results of their love! Every seed is awakened, and all animal life. It is through this mysterious power that we too have our being, and we therefore yield to our neighbors, even to our animal neighbors, the same right as ourselves to inhabit this vast land. Chief Sitting Bull

Photography by Karen Pulfer Focht ©

Photography by Karen Pulfer Focht ©