Being Thankful for Carrots?

One night, Dennis Mitchell (aka Dennis the Menace) and his parents were seated at their dining room table, ready for supper. Mrs. Mitchell had put the food on their plates and they were preparing to say grace. After glancing at the items on his plate, Dennis looked up over his folded hands and asked, “Do I have to be thankful for the carrots?”

Now, if I were in Dennis’ place at the table, the vegetable I would have had a problem with is “cauliflower” rather than “carrots.” But I think the point the cartoonist is making is there are situations we have to deal with, that if it were up to us, we’d just as soon pass on. Which is to say nothing about thanking God for those events. However, it was not too long ago that Jean and I found ourselves in just such a predicament.

To place this narrative in the proper context, you should be aware that if you were to look up the word vacation in the dictionary, it would not show the two of us napping under a cabana at the beach or relaxing in rocking chairs on the porch of a mountain cabin. No, our “vacations” more closely resemble NASA space missions. With nature photography being the primary focus of most of our trips, our destinations and the timing of our travels are planned to put us at special places at optimal times of the year for specific photographic opportunities.

In July 2019, we flew into Salt Lake City, Utah. Our primary purpose on this trip was to photograph summer wildflowers in high mountain ski basins to the east of Utah’s largest city. Unfortunately, after we arrived, we found out that area had snowfall into May, delaying most wildflower blooms by a couple of weeks. Do we really have to be thankful for a lack of wildflowers and temperatures of 100 degrees in Salt Lake City? We were quite disappointed and seriously considered shortening our trip. But then, as we thought and prayed about what to do, we decided to investigate other options we had not previously known about.

Now, we’re not just talking about Plan B or C here. By the end of our research, we were on something like Plan G or H. However, by changing our plans, we found several new locations we not only enjoyed visiting but which also provided exceptional photographic opportunities.

For example, Red Butte Garden and Arboretum turned out to be one of the most beautiful and colorful gardens we’ve ever been to:


&spspspspsps; Coronation gold yarrow - Red Butte Garden and Arboretum, Salt Lake City, Utah&spspspspspspspsp;Purple coneflower - Red Butte Garden and Arboretum, Salt Lake City, Utah


&spsp.;Broad-tailed hummingbird, Coral bean - Red Butte Garden and Arboretum, Salt Lake City, Utah&spspspsp;Black-eyed Susans - Red Butte Garden and Arboretum, Salt Lake City, Utah
 
 
We also visited spectacular Bridal Veil Falls near Provo:

Bridal Veil Falls (upper and middle tier) - Provo Canyon, Utah

 
 
And spent a day each on the multi-faceted Nebo Loop National Scenic Byway and the stunning Alpine Scenic Loop:


&spsp.;Purple salsify - Nebo Loop National Scenic Byway, Utah&spspspsp;Mt. Nebo - Nebo Loop National Scenic Byway, Utah


&spsp.;Mt. Timpanogos - Alpine Scenic Loop, Utah&spspspsp;Mt. Timpanogos and cloud - Alpine Scenic Loop, Utah
 
 
While it’s not quite the same as carrots (or cauliflower) on our dinner plates, Jean and I ended up being thankful for the late snow that provided new (and yes, “delicious”) opportunities for us to explore.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation,
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
present your requests to God.
                                   – Philippians 4:6 (NIV, emphasis added)