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First of all (hah, pun intended), Happy New Year! It seems everybody is in good spirits and looking at the new year with a renewed positivity and belief that life starts anew. Indeed it does. I hope this continues on throughout the year.

Second, I would like to present to you this cacti. A lot of people ask me why I take photos of ‘things’ such as these. instead of the usual (obvious) pretty things. Because I don’t want to be limited with what’s in front of me. I want to be challenged. I want to be able to look at things and not see them as how I usually see them, but in a different light. A different perspective. Not everything is how we see them. If we look beyond what is, we might be surprised at what else is in store. I want to see the beauty in even the “not-so-beautiful” things and be in awe of them. Because, why not?

I’m not one to take the oft-beaten path and I’m not about to start to. And I’m beginning this year with that attitude. To let go of preconceived notions. To allow myself to let it be (just like the song, however cliched this sounds) and allow things to surprise me. I hope I don’t lose this child-like wonder. I hope I don’t get to be the kind of person that says, “Oh, it’s just a freaking cactus!”

Happy 2009 to all of you and I hope the wonder that you greet the new year with, be with you all the time. All the best to you. Cheers.

Taken last year in January at the Desert Botanical Garden with a Nikon D80.