Expensive Garbage

I had heard that Atlanta was a "new Hollywood hub," but I didn't actually believe it until the key location manager knocked on our door a couple months ago regarding an upcoming film about Neil Armstrong starring Ryan Gosling and Matt Chandler. The director of the recent Oscar winning film, La La Land, is also shooting this picture entitled First Man, just a couple doors down from our house. It's all anyone seems to talk about in our neighborhood these days (myself included), but the most fascinating aspect of the picture is the gorgeous home that was built on a little open lot. The ranch house has picture perfect landscaping, a backyard pool, and beautiful stone accents that were all established in a matter of weeks. This is no facade, this is a real livable house! However, just as quickly as it was built, it will be burned down and destroyed all for the sake of "story-telling" because Neil Armstrong's home was a apparently burned when he was young. As I commented to one of the set designers about the work that goes into a masterpiece only to ruin it, he exclaimed, "That's Hollywood, we know how to make expensive garbage."
I can't help but think about the people in Santa Rosa, California returning to their ash houses, or the people in numerous hurricane locations that have a true sense of loss right now. I'm not saying that I don't love going to the movies, nor am I telling you that I won't be walking down the street in hopes of seeing a famous face (all superficial states), but I do see the importance of holding your "stuff" at arms length. When we think that our "stuff" has significant value, we forget how quickly it can be taken or destroyed. Even those things that we think have serious nostalgic purposes or keepsakes that can't be replaced, even those aren't truly the memories. About a week after Kyra's sister gave me a pair of her old earrings, Silas broke them. I could have been furious and hurt, but I realized Kyra could have cared less about those earrings.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." --Matthew 6:19-21

It's the actual events and memories we maintain in our minds that matter, not the photographs we seek to embalm. While, I love our home, it does make me see the value in selling everything and moving into an RV one day! Speaking of... here's the last photo burst that I hope I'll always have a vivid picture of in my mind.