The Story Behind the Image

The story of the Oregon Coast footprints began way back in 1978, while on my way to Eugene to look over the geology department at UofO as a possibility for my future education.

One day after setting up camp, I decided to take a stroll on the beach before making dinner. Off I went to the trailhead, but soon lost the trail in a barrier of dense thickets. I heard the waves crashing on the shore as I fought my way through, and after many scratches and poked eyes, I broke through, and there lay the ocean and a vast expanse of sand

Not far from my entry to the beach, I noticed the late afternoon sun as it cut across the deep impressions of a line of double footmarks. I followed them for a short distance, and as I did, a story began to emerge in my thoughts. It was the beautiful poem by Mary Stevenson (1936):

Footprints in the Sand

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.

In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints, other times there was one only.

This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life,
when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints, so I said to the Lord,

“You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you, you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life
there has only been one set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?”

The Lord replied, “The years when you have seen only one set of footprints, my child,
is when I carried you.” ----Mary Stevenson, 1936

Suddenly, I dropped to my knees, put the camera to my eye, made a few adjustments and captured Mary Stevenson’s poem on film. And, surprisingly, it was the only frame I shot