Fish are very simple animals. They live in the little boys’ room and every night, before bed, we feed them — always at the right corner. Now as soon as I come into the room in the evening, they rush to the corner, patiently waiting for their fish flakes.
Cleaning up the kitchen today took me over to the bay window, where I was surprised by the simple joy of discovering buds on my mom’s Christmas cactus plants.
One window is all I need
To understand the world that lies ahead
To see what is in store for my future
To learn about the values of life
To understand the feelings of others
To wander the world with my eyes and heart open
To find a love so true and full
To experience the faithfulness of a friend
To change the way I’m living
To feel good about what I do and have no regrets
To love as only I can
— Mary Roach
There is nothing like window light — such creamy softness! Danny and I had a little photo shoot today to celebrate his first birthday. You can see the result here. What a wonderful year it’s been!
Oh it seems like it was so long ago…and then again it seems like yesterday. Why does time do this to us?
The best part about home education is simply spending time with my kids. I think that they are a wonderful group of people, and I love being with them. I also love the fact that they have time to pursue what they love, to relax, to play, to be bored. They have time to discover who they are and time to be themselves.
Before I get behind the wheel, I have to ask myself, “Do I dare head out there and spend money? Do I dare go out and deal with the rest of the world?” A little less than 50 percent of the time I decide, “Nah, it’s not absolutely necessary.” ; )
Can you find a scene to photograph and capture a decent composition in less than two minutes? I dare you!
(not that I would consider this a stellar composition but you know what I mean…right?)
My husband and I have always joked about how conventional our marriage and our life is. We married young and had children right away. He works and I stay home with the kids. We go to church every Sunday and spend most of our weekends at kids’ sports events or scout events.
Lately, though, we have come to realize just how un-conventional we are. You might even say we live an “alternate” lifestyle.
Traditional Advent wreaths feature three purple candles and one pink. I’ve never used purple and pink candles. I always use white candles dressed up with purple and pink ribbon. Those who know me well should not find this surprising, as “conventional” really isn’t the best descriptor for me or my family.
Luke was happy to hear that he had once again been named Golfer of the Year for The Kennebec Journal. He loves to capitalize on opportunities for flaunting his golf skills.
I use to be able to get some pretty nice sunset shots from my living room window. The house across the street was a small ranch and even though the oaks and maples were tall the sun still showed through their leaves. But then the property was sold and the house was torn down (not a bad thing, really) and now my sunset view is very limited. In fact, it’s all of about 3 minutes. The big house across the street flaunts its girth.
Actually, this is just one of several shelves full of religious books. I have even given a lot of them away.
“… and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.” — The Gospel According to Luke
Henry worked very hard today. I just hope he’s not suffering for it tomorrow.
The night before school pictures, my mother would always wrap my hair in pink spongy curlers. When I would complain about it, she would tell me that “if you want to be beautiful you have to suffer a little bit.”
Today I finally went back to the hair salon and had my grey covered up again. I hate the smell and I hate sitting there for so long (it takes about 2.5 hours to do everything). So, I’m definitely still suffering for beauty’s (or vanity’s) sake.
But then again, maybe that saying isn’t quite so superficial: suffering has a way of uniting us with Christ and that always makes us more beautiful.
I think that the incarnation is my favorite mystery. Somehow, earlier, I was able to relate that to the picture of the homemade yeast rolls from our Thanksgiving dinner, but I’ve since forgotten. And now it is late. And I am tired after a full day of cooking and cleaning up afterwards. The couple of glasses of wine probably haven’t hurt, either. ; )
I seldom miss an opportunity to take long-exposure shots of fire at night. When I saw Luke incarnated in two different spots in this frame, I was very pleased.
Perhaps my most noticeable foible is my inability to get anywhere on time. Dennis likes to tell people that I run on Doyle Time, and that’s at least 15 minutes behind real time.
How do you photograph procrastination: piles of paperwork on my desk or mountains of laundry on the floor? Well, the day before Thanksgiving is a busy day so this was the best I got. What is it? More leaves…more trees… but this time it’s the last leaves, the stragglers, waiting to fall off the tree until the very last minute.
We know that all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now;
and not only that, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, we also groan within ourselves as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.
For in hope we were saved. Now hope that sees for itself is not hope. For who hopes for what one sees?
But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait with endurance.
— Romans 8:22-25
“Beauty is not caused. It is.” — Emily Dickinson
This weekend, there was much rejoicing at the youth ministry retreat Luke and Bridget attended. They are still reliving all the fun they had and are still trying to put into practice the important lessons they learned. I’m rejoicing that a weekend focused on God and the Catholic faith was an immensely positive experience for both of them.
The lights are rejoicing! Well, with a little bit of help from the soft focus aperture ring on my lensbaby. I’m rejoicing with how much fun I’ve been having with it lately.
Okay, so maybe they aren’t really feral but when they are taking over the toy box (heck, taking over the bedrooms) they certainly feel a little wild and dangerous!
Late this afternoon, Bridget and I drove to one of the nearby ponds, so I could get some pictures. After taking some shots of the sky, trees and water, we headed farther up the road, looking for a good place to turn around. I told her that today’s Call was feral, and since I never get good shots of wildlife, I’d have to use a general nature shot. Just then, I came upon a barn with a good driveway for reversing direction. As I was doing so, in my rearview mirror, I saw a large bird swoop down and fly by the back of the car. I put it park, grabbed the camera and got out. There, maybe a hundred feet away, where it had come to rest in a tree, was a barred owl. I said a prayer of thanksgiving on the way home.
November Night
by Adelaide Crapsey
Listen …
With faint dry sound,
Likes steps of passing ghosts,
The leaves, frost-crisp’d, break from the trees
And fall.
l(a
le
af
fa
ll
s)
one
l
iness
— e.e. cummings