A few weeks ago, my sister surprised the family with a ranch retreat near San Diego, Escondido, California to be exact. I’ve never been to a ranch, but was excited to see what it was all about. In particular, I’d developed a habit of working too much, so I really needed the time away in a completely different environment to rest and recharge.
I also wanted to challenge myself as a photographer to tell a story about the ranch using only detail photographs to visually show what the experience was like. We drove for hours and finally arrived at the very top of a mountain, good thing we had a SUV to traverse the steep mountains.
This was the view from the top of the ranch
Outside the ranch house, there were two orange trees. Every morning, my mother would beat down the tree so the oranges would fall down and she’d make fresh squeezed orange juice. It was divine. During breaks, I would walk over to the tree and grab a few oranges, sit under the tree and and eat them as the sun set over the trees. There was something about the experience of eating fruit straight off the tree that was invigorating.
Sitting by the pool overlooking the mountains, I felt a sense of peace, a chance to stop the busyness, be still and for a brief moment, to know God.
In the evening, we grilled steaks and sat by the pool. Luckily, we didn’t have to order pizza; the steaks were perfect thanks to my brother-in-law.
It was relaxing to be near nature, even after I my heart jumped into the air after I saw a large buzzing insect jump out from behind one of the shrubs.
What I took away from the San Diego ranch retreat was the importance of making time to really pay attention to the details, the small things in life which I missed because I had gotten so busy chasing the larger things.
