October 3, 2006

I Will Praise The Lord

We've been producing a new Hi-Definition video for Florida Hospital, Dave and I getting up early and staying out late in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. It froze on Thursday, snowed on Friday, and stayed cold through Sunday even though the sky showed hints of blue.

Three times we photographed Old Faithful Geyser.

Third time: Arrived at the geyser viewing area 10 minutes before a "blow." All by chance. Great eruption. Blue and white sky. Good light. Photo will be a screensaver.

Second time: Arrived early. Set up perfectly to match the breeze and waited for 90 minutes. Should have been photographing mud pots rather than standing in the cold. Nice sky and good light. When Old Faithful finally erupted he blew right at our cameras. We would have been better off photographing steam in the hotel shower.

First time: It was snowing and the clouds were embracing the rocks. Grey was the color of the day. But, Old Faithful was scheduled for 9:16 AM and we had tripods on the ground. Ready for nothing. Or for everything!

An elderly couple joined us, bundled against the wind like two Eskimos hoping to sight a whale's spout.

"Kinda dark," one said.

"Yep. But it'll be light when the geyser blows," Dave responded.

"How do you know that?" they both asked.

"We asked God for some special consideration!"

They laughed at our certainty, especially as the grey grew darker.

"If He finds a crack in the clouds and lights this eruption," I commented at 9:18, "I will praise the name of the Lord Forever!"

That's when Old Faithful lived up to his billing. First he gave a bright white spurt, then a couple spasmodic belches, then a rumbling explosion spewing 20, 30, 100, 150 feet into the sky. As Dave and I collected digital images, the sky cracked open and God shined His atomic torch directly onto the geyser. Not on the surrounding trees. Not on the grey clouds. Just on the geyser, sparkling its scalding spray with Divine Diamonds until the eruption was over. Then the light blinked off and all was grey again.

"I didn't believe in miracles," the watcher muttered, "till now."

"The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy." Psalm 126:3 NIV

Dick Duerksen
Storyteller
dick.duerksen@flhosp.org