A Little Evening Stroll

Little Dude leads the way, locked & loaded with his weaponry of choice …

The rest of us follow, not far behind.

My quite handsome nephew … My beautiful niece (nah, I’m not biased, at all!)

I had a little vision for a tunnel-silhouette-group-shot.  Setting up …

Coercing the last victims to get in the shot …

Ta-da!

When we arrived here, I’m pretty sure I may have squealed.

Sand Mirror.  Yummy!

 

 

The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree.  Like Mama:

Like daughter:

A beach bonus feature:  Uncle J took us on a virtual tour of the Sistine Chapel!!

A totally glorious evening.

My teeny, tiny attempt to encourage you ...

TO. GET. IN. THE. PICTURE!

You don't have to be tricky, or fancy, or wearing the latest fashions with every hair in place. Just get in the picture. Your family & friends will thank you. And you might be thankful yourself someday. ;-)

At arm's length (this works particularly well with a point & shoot camera, but also works just fine with dslrs, too):



Or look for reflections and shadows:



Learn your camera's self-timer function - set it, place your camera somewhere safe & sturdy, and run!!

With my camera on the ground …

Set on a chair/stool …

Propped on my camera bag …

 

 

Propped on a fellow Photowalk attendee’s backpack …

  Set on my desk …

Placed on a rock …

On a hand rail ...



As a last resort (ha!), you can always hand your camera [drumroll, please] to someone else!

Thorns & thistles will grow up ...

context: despite covenant with God, Israel continued to act the harlot. In Hosea, the prophet attempts to convince Israel of her sin; foretel the ruin coming due to said sin; continue to assure Judah of the salvation of the LORD; and give intimation of the great mercy in store both for Israel & Judah ...



Israel was a spreading vine;
he brought forth fruit for himself.
As his fruit increased,
he built more altars;
as his land prospered,
he adorned his sacred stones.

Their heart is deceitful,
and now they must bear their guilt.
The LORD will demolish their altars
and destroy their sacred stones.

Then they will say, "We have no king
because we did not revere the LORD.
But even if we had a king,
what could he do for us?"

They make many promises,
take false oaths
and make agreements;
therefore lawsuits spring up
like poisonous weeds in a plowed field.

The people who live in Samaria fear
for the calf-idol of Beth Aven.
Its people will mourn over it,
and so will its idolatrous priests,
those who had rejoiced over its splendor,
because it is taken from them into exile.

It will be carried to Assyria
as tribute for the great king.
Ephraim will be disgraced;
Israel will be ashamed of its wooden idols.

Samaria and its king will float away
like a twig on the surface of the waters.

The high places of wickedness will be destroyed—
it is the sin of Israel.
Thorns and thistles will grow up
and cover their altars.
Then they will say to the mountains, "Cover us!"
and to the hills, "Fall on us!"

"Since the days of Gibeah, you have sinned, O Israel,
and there you have remained.
Did not war overtake
the evildoers in Gibeah?

When I please, I will punish them;
nations will be gathered against them
to put them in bonds for their double sin.

Ephraim is a trained heifer
that loves to thresh;
so I will put a yoke
on her fair neck.
I will drive Ephraim,
Judah must plow,
and Jacob must break up the ground.

Sow for yourselves righteousness,
reap the fruit of unfailing love,
and break up your unplowed ground;
for it is time to seek the LORD,
until he comes and showers righteousness on you.

But you have planted wickedness,
you have reaped evil,
you have eaten the fruit of deception.
Because you have depended on your own strength
and on your many warriors,

the roar of battle will rise against your people,
so that all your fortresses will be devastated—
as Shalman devastated Beth Arbel on the day of battle,
when mothers were dashed to the ground with their children.

Thus will it happen to you, O Bethel,
because your wickedness is great.
When that day dawns,
the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.

Hosea 10

Continued Randomness …

Someone was really super excited at Promotion Night.  Ahhh, the beginning of Summer.  :-)

Why, yes.  That is a collared, buttoned-down shirt he’s wearing.  It’s totally borrowed.  ;-)

My poor, craft-starved boys.  Luckily I have a good friend who's crafty & hooked them up ;-).

After long hikes, Littlest Dude needs to “restore health.”  I’m pretty sure this is terminology from a shoot-‘em-up computer game that I like to pretend that I don’t know that he plays …

Same hike, different son, new lens!!!  Any guesses?

Littlest Dude’s love affair with books continues.  And Dog Dude continues to keep him company.

Mom & Dad brought us the most beautiful orchid plant – with exactly 17 blooms – for our 17th anniversary.  And then hung out with the dudes while Big Dude & I celebrated with a date… (thanks, Mom & Dad!!!)

And I took about 5 gazillion pictures of various flowers:  agapanthus, lavender, sage, orchids …

Alrighty.  This randomness brings me almost totally up to date.  Well, up to last weekend, anyway.  Last weekend when this happened:

  … the most incredibly gorgeous evening at the beach.  But that will be a blog post all its own :-).

 

Btw, photo geek detail for those who are interested:  most of these images (all but 2 color boat craft & last flower) were processed completely in Lightroom using One Willow’s Fairytale presets, which are awesome!