Scavenger Hunt Sunday

Wow!

Did this week go as fast for everyone else? It seems time is on warp speed lately, but then
again Christmas feels like it was forever ago......

Thank you for your comments last week regarding  my monitor. I think the bionic women gig is over tomorrow when I go to the doctor for my stress test, hopefully I live to tell about it! ha

Okay, onward we go . . .

1. Smile:  Pulled from the archives this week, and this was a smile I will never, never forget. This is the smile of a very happy and content little girl, you see, she had just been reunited with her daddy after almost a year. I had the privilege of being invited by a friend to welcome home her husband and his troop from Iraq almost 2 years ago . . . an emotional day, one that is hard to explain in words. 

2. Stand Alone:  Last weekend I went to a concert by Josh Wilson, a contemporary Christian artist and at the very end of the concert  the other members of the band left the stage, and Josh "stood alone" and played the instrumental version of Amazing Grace. You can see more of Josh in concert here.

3. Rusty or something old:  Yikes, I had to pull another from the archive. This one from a turn of the century fence in Galveston.

4. Artificial:    Since I started back to my metals class this week after taking almost a year off I had jewelry on the brain, and pulled out my imitation diamonds and simulated rubies . . . real or not I do love sparkly things!

5. Repeating patterns:  At the risk of repeating myself . . . I know, bad joke, I'm sharing yet one more monarch butterfly this week. Nature has some of the best patterns around!! 

And as always I can't wait to see how everyone else interpreted the prompts this week.

Join me, over at Ashely's . . . .

 Kim

 XO

In the picture . . . pieces of you

 i have

something

in common

with a puzzle

we both

have a lot

of pieces and

the only way to

see the whole

is

to

put

 the pieces together.

Over at Urban Muser we are exploring self-portraiture (gasp) and the theme this month is pieces of you.

I think it may take a lot of pieces of me before I am remotely comfortable sharing my whole.

And although this may be a small and soft focused piece,  I did let it reveal a little something about me.

pieces, joined together make a whole

Until the next piece,

Kim

XO 

You can join me here at the Urban Muser for more "pieces of you"

Foto Friday - Life is not a snapshot . . .

. . . by Josh Wilson.

Sunday night I had the opportunity to see contemporary Christian artist, Josh Wilson

in concert at our church. My daughter and I went together and met a few of her friends there and not

knowing exactly what to expect or where we would be sitting I took my camera anyway, "just in case".

But for me there is always that looming possibility of frustration in having my camera and not being able
to be in the right place, versus being in the right place and not having brought my camera to begin with.
It's a double edged sword sometimes. That's why now I usually just bring it with me because I'm learning that
the first frustration is far easier to get over than the second one.

 I took my 50mm lens, the only one I have that would allow me to take in low light, but was going to need
to be pretty close to the stage. When we got there the prime seats were gone . . .grrrr . . . frustration.
And just when I was about to relinquish all possibility of capturing something, anything, I saw that they
were making a little area to stand right in front of the stage. And if there is one thing I'm quickly learning is that if you really want the opportunity of getting the shot you have to be willing to put yourself in places you wouldn't normally go. Sometimes that feels awkward, but the more I do it the easier it gets.

So, my daughter and I, and her friends stood only feet away from the stage for 2 wonderful hours and
I just clicked my heart away.   I have to say that I was pretty captivated by the light and shadows. Whew this was definitely a new learning curve for me, but very fun!

{Shoot, edit, submit}

{One of my daughters friends, since mine wouldn't let me take her picture : ( - It was really hard to get enough light on here face so my camera would focus and let me take the picture)

{Photo art Friday}

One of my favorite songs is "Before the Morning" from his cd, Life Is Not A Snapshot.

In part of the lyrics he says, "but life is not a snapshot, it might take a little time

but you'll see the bigger picture." That's something for me to think about as it's easy not to see

the big picture sometimes when I worry more about the moment. 

Have a great weekend!

Love, Kim

XO

P.S. Here is "Before The Morning" music video if you're interested

        

A memoir . . . in six words

I know what your thinking,

there is NO way that I am going to tell a story in six words.
And you would most likely be right!

In my Beyond Layers class with Kim Klassen I was first challenged

to think about my own creative story and perhaps write about it, maybe even share it.

  I haven't gotten so far on that story yet . . . I'm pretty sure that will be more than six words.

 So when I got the next challenge it was one that I was able to accomplish in seconds before
leaving the house on Monday for my metals class. I knew that if I didn't just write the first thing
that came to my mind I would've thought far too hard about it. The idea is one that originated from
Smith Magazine and is one that, although our story could really fill hundreds upon hundreds
of pages, sometimes all we need are just a few words.


Finding my wings, learning to fly...


These are the words that rolled off my fingertips from pen to paper.

This last year has been one of growth for me, both as a person and in my photography.
But to continue that growth I know I have to leave the safety of the cocoon behind, part of my old self,
in order to fully transform into that butterfly with wings.

"How does one become a butterfly?" she asked.
"You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar."

"Hope for the Flowers" - Trina Paulus

"There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly"

- Richard Buckminster Fuller

What would your six word memoir look like?
I would love to hear your six word story.

Love, Kim
XO

 

Let the sunshine . . .

When the moon is in the seventh house,

and Jupiter aligns with Mars. . .


I definitely feel like there are times like these when everything is aligned
just right, when I'm at the place at the moment I'm supposed to be.

And . . .

then there are the times when I'm in the car driving someone to school or on
my way to a game when all I can do is look in my rear view mirror and dream of the missed shot.
And, listen to my daughter tell me we're going to crash because I can't seem to divert my
eyes from the beauty! Okay, just for the record we have never crashed! ; )

 So as I promised, here are some more of the shots from what was for us a spur of the moment
sunset. We were on our way home from the reenactment in Galveston and just as the sun was
slipping ever so quickly below the horizon we drove past an open area where you could
actually see it setting, and being on the wrong side of the highway we had to turn around.

This was one of the first shots I took, although I didn't quite get the sun burst I was after.

And another one similar to a shot a shared earlier.

After I got some shots in this spot the sun was barely visible and the light fading fast.

So I got back in the car and we started to drive off when a few hundred feet further I look out

the window and yell WOW, which really means stop!

There was this stretch of water in the marsh and it was sooo still and reflecting the sky perfectly,

and out of the blue up pops this Cormorant. These guys are Houdini-like in their swimming abilities.

And right on cue - he was the perfect touch!

 And just when I thought I was finished snapping, we drove yet another hundred feet . . .

"At sunset nature is painting for us . . . day after day . . . pictures of infinite beauty."

- John Ruskiin

Now if I could only figure out how to time perfectly a train that goes across this marshland.

A train silhouette and a sunset . . . . ahhhhh!

But I'm afraid that might require a few more planets other than just Jupiter and Mars to be aligned?

Hope your Monday has been a good one!

Love, Kim

XO



 

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

It's super Scavenger Hunt Sunday . . .

Don't you love being in the right place at the right time? I know I sure do, especially

when I didn't know that was where I was supposed to be.

Yup, that's right, I'm talking about our first prompt.

When I linked up last week and saw that our first one for this week was a sunset

I think I started dancing . . . it was the last thing I took a photo of after our adventure in Galveston.

So without delay . . . .

1. Sunset:  TA DA!! I don't get many sunsets, not because I don't like them but because really it's easier for me to get up early for a sunrise then to find the right spot in the evening. But lucky for me that we could pull over (okay and turn around) to get this on our way home from the Battle of Galveston reenactment. I got a few right before it disappeared, and then, how lucky to have a cormorant just show up!! : )  

2. Black and White:  I didn't get out much this week but I did manage to sneak over to my favorite spot, the butterfly garden, on the remote chance I would find something, anything! And can you believe I found not one but half a dozen Monarch butterflies? I guess they decided the hike to Mexico was just too long - can't say I blame them. And the butterfly weed is still growing strong!

3. A day in my life:  To be honest I second guessed posting this one, but the truth is, this IS a day in my life right now. I've not felt well for a while and I'm having my heart monitored to try and figure out what is going on. As you can see I have quite a stash of these, two weeks worth, and I certainly don't have enough crew neck shirts to hide them! ; )

4. Group of four:   These are from the reenactment that I mentioned earlier, and sorry to those of you who are seeing these for the second time this weekend. If you haven't and are interested you can see more here.

4. Colorful:   Not sure I'm crazy about this one, but I ran out of time and energy to take any more shots. These are my TEEN-age daughters crayons, the ones she asked for and got for Christmas! ; )  I love how they are in a circular container...all 150 of them.

That concludes this weeks hunt and I look forward to seeing what everyone else has come up with!

Have a fabulous rest of the weekend!

Love, Kim

XO

Foto Friday - Battle of Galveston, a reenactment

So, as I shared earlier this week, we had a little adventure last weekend.

And I DO love a little adventure, don't you?

It just so happens that there was a reenactment of the Battle of Galveston, its 149th.

Now, I have also shared that I've never been much of a history person, but that seems to be changing as it's not as much fun to watch these things if you don't know what's going on. And, to be honest
I had no recollection that there was even a battle in Galveston during the Civil War.
So, I'm going to try and give you as condensed a version as I can. And if you're not really into the history

of it then by all means skip this and proceed straight to the photos.
*  *  *  *  *  *  * 

Okay, in October of 1862 the Union sailed some of their ships into the Galveston harbor and demanded

its surrender. And I guess I should note that at the time this was the most important port in Texas.

The Federal ships were fired on and they fired back.  A truce was arranged so the island commander could move his troops to the mainland, and the Union ships continued to hold the harbor while they waited for back up to occupy the wharf and patrol the town.

In the meanwhile, the district commander of the island was replaced and he began to organize

the recapture of Galveston. He used two river steamers for the naval attack and gathered infantry and cavalry accompanied by artillery to cross the railroad bridge back to the island to capture the federals that were ashore.

It was New Year's night, 1863, and the confederates entered Galveston and opened fire. They weren't able to seize the wharf, because of all things their ladders were too short -oops - and the naval guns drove them back. In comes the river steamers that attack from behind, one sinks and the other one is able to seize one of the federal ships. One of the other federal ships runs aground and rather than surrender the union commander dies trying to blow up his own ship! That didn't work out so well for him and the other union ships decided
to sail back out to sea.

And so there you have it - Galveston was retaken but with the loss of 26 killed and 117 wounded as
well as 150 losses on the Union ships. . . The end.

It was a bit challenging to get good photos of the battle itself with all the bystanders as many of them
thought they were the only ones there with their cameras. And let's just say being short didn't help. 

What I loved was that there were two encampments, one Union and one Confederate. The camps were set up as close as possible to how they would have been back in the Civil War.

For two days and nights they lived as authentically as they would have back in 1862,

sleeping in tents on straw beds . . .

and cooking their meals over an open fire.

Everywhere you turned within a few blocks you were transported back in time..... 

The Union soldiers make their entrance into town,

and get ready for battle . . .

Here come the Confederates . . .

and a battle ensues . . . and it was LOUD!

I had lucky timing on this one - I sure never noticed the orange when they fired!

And there were a few casualties, not real of course!

We had the opportunity to talk with many of the men who participated and they even tried to recruit

my husband. In fact, one of them suggested that I should dress up and make a wooden box for my camera and follow them onto the battlefield so I could take pictures. Hmmm, now that might be kinda fun! ; )

{Shoot, edit, submit)

And as we were driving home, the timing was perfect to stop and capture a little sunset action. A few minutes

later and we would have missed it. But the real action is either right before a sunrise or right after the sunsets.

I still have more to share, stay tuned . . .

Hopefully, I will get back on track with Foto Friday's - I've been feeling a little under the weather lately.

I hope that you are all enjoying your weekend!

Love, Kim

XO