back online again...just can't believe I'm back online again

Here are some random photos.
I'm back online [the title is best appreciated if sung to the tune "on the road again"].
And, as I posted on my other blog, I lied. I'm posting & it's not the new year yet.
Happy new year,
B

right now

I just took these. [I had to leave you with something to look at, right?]

this is the last of 2009....honest!

well... it's been quite a few months

I can't believe that my last post here was July. I guess I should explain. My pc has been down for a few months. I now know my local "c" drive is bad [it has bad "sectors" on it]. I may have lost some of my poems, music, & photos. I can't post any photos today, sorry.
Also this will be the last post of 2009.
The good news is: I got a new hard drive. Which my Sister-in-law's boyfriend is installing. He's recovering all he can from my bad drive, & moving it onto this new one. So I should be up & going in Jan.

Have a wonderful Christmas & New Years!
B

Camera problems

a painting of the place where my Aunt & Uncle used to work, Le Chateu de St. Albien [in France]
I think it's so cool that we have graffiti paintings hanging in the coffee bar. [I'd like to take some shots of them, but I'm not sure if I will]
The lilies out front this year...
...yup, still amazed by the sky [why do I feel that should be a poem??]


Well... I thought I'd get a bigger card for my camera [since I'm going on vacation soon]. This proved to be a nice idea. How-some-ever, my camera is too old. So, I may try to go to an actual camera shop & see what they have. I may even swallow my pride & ask to borrow a camera... but my "tried & true" Nikon is out dated. Sad. I'm not going to get rid of it any time soon, though. Nor can I just go out & buy a new one. I'm kinda stuck. Could be worse, my camera could be broken beyond repair, thankfully it's not. So I don't know how many shots I'll actually have when I get back. But I will work on getting a replacement... someday. I think my "camera fetish" is here to stay...

A post for Matt

This here is my current desktop. [above] I like the lighting.


My Dad would always put up a train platform, in the extra bedroom, of our house in Lititz. Usually only around Christmas. He has a permanent one up now [another photo day for me, sometime]. And a friend of mine, Matt, loves trains. So this is Matt's post.
Above is a metal plate coming off of a railroad tie.





This was fun, I thought of Matt the whole time. [& my Dad's train set in his basement]
Posting this makes me think I really need to hike the rail trail sometime...
[sorry this is verbally "muted". Much of my writing is tied up in about 3 or 4 posts I'm in the middle of writing, & a poem that is begging to come out]

-oh, this is the tracks beside the "newer" mall with Best Buy, Dick's, & Staples in it. [just in case you wondered]

reflection photos

So... I decided to try reflective photos....[I want to write a "reflective post", but can't for now. the week has been draining...oh...& yes, that's me in the red jetta]

Natural Bridge

A few years ago we took a vacation to Blackwater falls. On the trip home we went to Seneca Rocks & decided to impromptu stop here, at Natural Bridge in Virginia. So I think I'll show photos in reverse. Why? Well, I have tons of photos of Blackwater, & don't want to go through them right now. I loved the stone meandering pathway to it.




At night there are these candles, or lights, hidden in the rocks. It looked way cooler there than in this photo. Have a great one...

Natural Bridge

this was Natural Bridge, Virginia. We visited on our way home from West Virginia. [a few years ago]

"The Neglected Labyrinth"

These images are from an unlikely place. It's an old abandoned golf course. I call it "the neglected Labyrinth". [or the golf course labyrinth] My wife told me about it. From the road, or even from the parking lot, it doesn't look like much at all. But it is a really nice place to walk. I finally got to take some pictures from here [a few last Sat. -before my batteries died- & a few tonight]
They are a bit out of order... but I can't stay on too long tonight, my eyes hurt.

some new sky photos

A Saturday Hike...

...ok, this is kind of a quick post. I have resumed these "labyrinth like" walks again. A chance to connect with my maker. Parks [as I've mentioned previously] seem to "amplify" His voice. Or perhaps they work a wonderful saying into action in my life. [This being the saying]

Take time for quiet moments, for God whispers,

And the world is loud. –Anonymous
To explain a bit about LW's Labyrinth, A Sacred Space. It is an action you take to pull yourself out of the ordinary routine of life. To slow down & listen. To allow God to move you, speak to you, comfort you. It is intimate time with Yahweh. That's the best I can do to describe it. For me it began with God as counselor. Keeping me alive, even though I was begging Him to let me die. It was a "year of subtraction". Lost friends, close friends. Dreams that evaporated right before my very eyes. My poem writing began...in a park, hiding from the world, trying to understand why God would allow this. Trying to understand [as P. Steve spoke of this just yesterday] how God can say He works all things for good... when what I see seems so unredeemably bad & dark. But writing... [& now unfolding into photography] I am able to better let go, stop resisting, & let God redeem things that I cannot see good coming out of. It is sad that art is often born out of brokeness. A self-harm video I once saw, had a male voice screaming as it slowly went from utter darkness into light "art is war". For me, this is mostly truer of my poems.
Well... this has been "more wordy" than planned.... I should go for now. [I'll check with my friend deAnn & see about posting pictures from our latest Labyrinth...]

well... it's my birthday too, yeah

...today is my birthday....
will you do something for me today? -consider it a gift to me that you do this.
Even though you may feel silly, or awkward doing it, please do it for me.
Ready? ...here it is:

today I want you to go look at yourself in the mirror
[preferably a full length one.... really look at yourself -for like 3 minutes]
oh... & this part is for the girls mostly,
don't just look at what's "too big or too small"
don't listen to the voices
that say your nothing at all
& realize.....
you are priceless.
you are a gift. you are a work of art, masterfully carved by The Artist.

love,
B

Return to Lake Williams

Well... I've been basking in some compliments of my photographs & writing lately. [I feel extremely guilty for saying that, but it gives encouragement to be told that people like what you enjoy doing] I like the frost here. All the frost shots I have are these "straight line ice" formations or "thorny ice" like in a previous post.

These photos are from the weeks ago trip still. Here, as in other shots, I love the shadows.

Now that the Labyrinth Sacred Space is over I'll be putting up photos I got to "sneak in & take", from early yesterday morning. First time using a tripod. So not all of them are as good as I'd like. I was very nervous doing this, too. But I'll post more on that on my other blog.
I'm thinking of seeing if our photo group could go through the Labyrinth next year [perhaps on a Sun. morning -when it's closed] & take photos of it. Assuming, of course, that it will be similar to the layout this year.


I just liked the oddness of the reflections here...

...and these are the geese, I previously mentioned.
Well, I'm going to end here for now. Tomorrow I get to find out if I'm going to have another round of surgery. [other side of my nose this time]

more from Lake Williams

I just like how the light dances on this picture [especially at the top, right]

As I looked at this bench, I just got to thinking of the cross for some reason. There are many things that I reflect on as we draw closer to Holy Week...
I just really like the dew that I found on a revisit to Lake Williams this past Sat. before catching up with a friend to celebrate his b-day. Good friends are like dew, very refreshing...