Saturday afternoon: time for the weekly workout at St. Francis. While I seldom feel spiritually fed by the Mass, I know that just being there is enough to received graces.
“Everything is grace.” Saint Therese of Lisieux
The produce of a garden is the sum of dirt, water and work. The garden is going well this year. My picture time was limited today, however, by lighting and pouring rain. I managed to catch a few before it really began to rain.
It seems as though my kids think the living room floor is a trashcan. Apparently, they also think the basement walls are just big memo boards — at least the math is right.
After saving his allowances for months and months, Dennis had enough to buy a new, old toy (vintage 2002). He purchased it this evening (thanks to Craigslist and a ride from a neighbor with a trailer): a Suzuki V-Strom 1000.
Our old pine bench may look somewhat familiar to you. I’ve used it often for a backdrop for shots at C&R. Today, I decided to let it’s vintage beauty be the spotlight.
It was too hot and muggy outside for a picnic today, and besides it kept threatening to rain. So we pulled out the art supplies instead.
I’m in a bit of photographic rut. And then I saw this and it all made sense: Thinking is hard. Snapshots are easy. Thinking is hard, and tiring. And I’ve been too tired to think. As my hero, Scarlett, would say, “Tomorrow is another day.”
(And yes, Cheryl, I did join in with the art supplies and even made an art journal page. At least the background. I think I know what I’ll write once it is dried. And then I’ll take a snapshot. ; )
This is a Longaberger picnic basket. Next to my bed, it (along with a couple of others) acts as my nightstand and holds old letters. I can’t see myself emptying it out for a picnic anytime soon.
“When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.”
― Ansel Adams
Thousands of pictures taken over the years — and most of them live, forgotten, in boxes and hard drives. It’s always a bittersweet feeling to pull them out and look through them.
Summer means that the grass grows. When it gets too tall it needs to be mowed. It’s a endless cycle until the cold weather of winter stops the growth. It’s a repetition that my sons, who do all the mowing, do not look forward to.
My, but I do enjoy the time I spend playing in Photoshop.
Stella developed a love for chocolate early in life.
Well, yes, somedays it is. Or more effective at calming frayed nerves, at least.
We survived the road trip to Alabama but will need a few days to really recover. : )
I’m not really one for being all outdoorsy and all, but people do say that communing with nature can be a holy experience. I’m not sure if that was going on with this fisherman, but he looked peaceful enough.
I’m not a fan of the cross on the steeple at our church. It just doesn’t seem holy enough — with that heart up there. So, I played around in Photoshop (thank you, Diego Velasquez and Sister Wendy Beckett), and came up with something I like better.
Art journaling has become an important outlet for me. It can be difficult to find the time for it, but when I do, evidence of my endeavors shows up all over my hands.
Today we visited Moundville, Alabama, home of the mounds built by the Mississipians. It was very interesting and as luck would have it, one of the important spiritual signs of the tribe was a hand with an eye on it. The museum never did explain the why, but the sign was everywhere, on t-shirts, the town water tower…
After patiently sitting in his car seat all day, Danny was very happy to meet the floor again.
Meet my husband, Dennis. His quirky sense of humor is one of the things that attracted me to him. : )
Well, yes, there was a No Trespassing sign there, but I don’t think I was actually trespassing. People were driving by and I do have a rather distinctive license plate, so, yeah, there may be witnesses. But really, I was just taking pictures. What’s wrong with that?
I’m always struck, as we drive through the heart of Virginia, of just how much history the land has been witness to: from the revolutionary war to the westward migration, to the civil war. It’s such a beautiful land and so majestic with the valleys and the Shenandoah mountains.
We are leaving soon to take my son to his orientation. That requires a lot of planning but luckily, there’s an app for that.
Stella got a Boot Scoot bike for her birthday, but I don’t think she’ll be taking a road trip any time soon. In fact, her brothers rode her bike more than she did today.
I’ve never been a stamp collector, but I seldom fail to notice the postage on mail — the older the better.
Another serendipitous call! Just this weekend, my husband brought up an old stamp book from the basement. He doesn’t remember quite how he came into possession of it — something about an aunt’s ex-husband? At any rate, as we started to look through it, this set of stamps was one of the first that fell out. I found it very interesting for two reasons. 1. My father worked in Chad for about ten years. I spent one month there with my parents in between college and my short-lived graduate school career. 2. Tommy is a HUGE Beatles fan and has been since we bought “The Beatles” Rock Band kit over three years ago.
The frequency with which we order Chinese food as increased has more of my kids have grown to appreciate it. Yeah!
I photograph Stella with less frequency than I did — say — a year ago. She just moves too much now.