This One's for Kim G.

My childhood friend Kim G. is a very talented photographer and a few months ago had a drawing for a copy of one of her photos of our choice. I was one of three people that won! I had a hard time choosing which one of her gorgeous photos I wanted to keep. She has dozens of neat macros and beautiful flowers.

After some serious consideration, I chose the picture that is shown above in this photo of my desk. It's of raw cotton in a field in Alabama. You might wonder why I chose this photo over any of her beautiful flower ones. It's because of the symbolism of the image and of Kim's new side career.

She and her family had moved to Alabama a couple of years ago. Word spread of her talent for photography in her new city and soon she was being asked to do family portraits and getting paid for it. Now she has her own photography website and offers other pictures for framing. It's been great seeing her talent grow. The cotton picture reminds me of where she was when her photography really took off.

The symbol of the raw cotton makes me think of our talents and how raw they start out, but with work, time and patience, they can become great and useful things. I think of how we use cotton in so many different products from plain cotton balls used in cleaning wounds, clothing and even canvas for beautiful works of art. I'm sure you can think of different things we use cotton for. For this gift of inspiration, I thank my friend Kim and wish her the best in all she does!