we took a walk

You do know that taking a walk is just a euphemism for me? A walk is a euphemism for M wants to take pictures. Photos shown in order taken on walk. We walked at one of our favorite parks - Bunker Park, which has what we call a floating bridge (basically a pontoon bridge). We did get a few sprinkles on our head.

tent caterpillars


baby oak leaves


THE earth is awake and the birds have come,
There is life in the beat of the breeze,
And the basswood tops are alive with the hum
And the flash of the hungry bees;
The frogs in the swale in concert croak,
And the glow of the spring is here,
When the bursting leaves on the rough old oak
Are as big as a red squirrel's ear Peter McArthur


how many geese do you see?


to the tune of strawberry fields

dandelion fields forever... ;)




this for me is magic - it is why I love photography - the transcibing of reality into something ethereal using, tone, texture, dof




K using a stick and pretending to be on a phone (we do not own cell phones - so don't blame her parents).


they fight constantly - they adore each other

surprises from God

Our church hosted Mike Hagen's Strength Team for a week long series of crusades. To be honest the whole concept left me cold and the ads for it were nauseating in my opinion. However, on Sunday Mike Hagen preached the sermon and I was delighted with the quality of his message. I was even more moved by two brief sentences in which he said things that really hit home with me.

The first sentence needs a little set-up. He mentions how we can do the right things and be so busy working for Christ that we aren't in Christ. A very familiar concept for most of us Christians who listened to good ministers in our life. However, sometimes we all need to be beamed between the eyes. Hagen was knocked squarely between the eyes when he went to a ministerial conference and the first thing the speaker said when he walked out was "Christ did not die so that you could have a job."

I am not a preacher but somehow the depth of Christ's death really reached me when Hagen said that.

The second sentence was near the very end of his sermon "Who would you rather have watch your children, Mary or Martha?"

Photo Hunt: rare

I rarely post in color. This is from 2003.

as things are

Many blog friends of mine often mention their wariness of 'always happy' blogs. I too feel that way and while I do not think my blog fits into that category, I do tend to smooth over the ickies in my life.

Life has been icky lately - things are not running smoothly and we are facing many large expenditures in the near future. Our house has simply reached that age, however, we were not wise and did not plan for it. We moved into this house when it was at a stage where we didn't have to do anything with it and since we liked the basic decor so we didn't. Shame on us. Planning would have made this a lot easier to deal with. But we didn't and now there is stress, legitimate worries, and friction.

spring in my yard

when we moved into this house in 1998 I bought a slow-growing cold hardy magnolia tree


I went to my favorite greenhouse this morning (and swung by my favorite thrift store as they are in the same area) and bought tomatoes and this black-eyed susan vine


the peonies (and irises, yarrow, flax, violets, lilies etc) are coming up



the dandelions are coming in


me and the girls like danelions but hubby does not so I spent some time today in removal efforts


the tulips are starting to open


the neighbor's maple is hanging over into our yard

seen in passing

C's class is in the basement of her school building. As I walked down the stairs, I saw these hosta through a window; unfurling themselves and poking through the leaves. I had to go back with a camera.

it was balmy and rainy this weekend

Three days ago the trees looked dead unless one walked up and looked closely at the branches. It was warm on Friday. We got rain on Saturday and that evening I could see that mist of green that lets one know that the trees have fat buds on them ready to burst. Sunday there was a haze of green everywhere instead of naked dark branches.

Photo Hunter: Steps

Some of you will have seen these photos before. But they fit the theme as well as any in my files of thousands upon thousands of photos.



C had learned the story of Jesus washing the disciples feet in Sunday School. It stuck in her mind. One day while taking a bath she told me she had washed her feet. I did not catch the full importance of this until she began washing her sister's feet.



These are the first steps towards an understanding of the depth of Christ's love for us.

growing older

The older I get the less concerned I am with how to make a living and the more concerned I become with simply living. MMH

silence

In summary, no school shooter has ever said, “I feel connected, understood and valued for who I am.” This much should be instructive. Danny Ledonne in a statement regarding Virginia Tech.

In the press I've been getting lately, I have tried to articulate very clearly that Columbine was a "wake up call" not just for our society but for ME in particular as I was once headed down a similar road. I found other outlets such as filmmaking and theater... unfortunately those like Harris, Klebold, and apparently Gill did not.Danny Ledonne, creator of “Super Columbine Massacre RPG!”

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul. and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. --Matt. xxii 35-40.

I do not endorse Danny Ledonne's method of creating a dialog about what is going on in society - but I do think he has some valuable things to say. As frightening to me as they might be.