Thanks for the Memories!

Photo 52, Week 52:  Thanks for the Memories!

It's the last week of Photo 52, believe it or not!

This week, is a flashback opportunity, to go back through and pick a favorite.  

Or favorites.  

We're easy like that.

I haven't been able to get this leaf photo out of my mind, ever since I took it.  

Here's what I wrote about it:

"This photo is my uncontested favorite from the year.  It was more luck than skill,

but highlights the details of God's creation that are just waiting to be noticed--

just as I think He is often waiting for us to notice Him right where we are.  

That's photography in a nutshell for me."

We are beginning another year of Photo 52 on January 1.

Leave me a comment if you would care to join us!

A photo a week, with assigned themes three weeks out of four. 

That's it!  It's fun.  We'd love to have you!

Meanwhile, the kids are still out of school

and we are still making memories.

Hoping your new year finds you noticing

the little things,

and enjoying the big things…

the people you love.

Merry and Bright

Photo 52, Week 51:  Merry and Bright

Do you see that?  My friend Carla knows me so well!  

She gave me chocolate from around the world.

Pretty sure nothing could have made me merrier,

and it certainly is bright!

How did you know that was this week's theme, Carla?
You must be an angel.  ;-)

I do love how festive things look at this time of year,

beginning at home…

and also out and about.

Not only the sights, but the sounds,

a perfect combination.

Lee and I slipped away to attend a sing along Handel's Messiah.

We've been to several over the years, and it takes my breath away every time.

This does too.  

(Next time, tripod.) 

(We were already running late.)

This, my friends, is a snow bank close up.

And then there is the mall version of merry and bright.

It lasted five minutes, but hey.

We stopped to see this on the way home.

We can see it from the highway every year.

There on the left is Ben.  With shorts on.

Because nothing says merry and bright

like a kid who is establishing his manhood

by weathering winter without wearing anything warm.

The Advent calendar reminds us that there is still a little time left

but as always there is much to do.

May your days be merry and bright.

May your Christmas be white if you want it to be.

May the inn of your heart

find room for Emmanuel,

God with us.

Sweet!

These two

(Pete and Repeat)

whipped the kitchen into a Christmas frenzy this weekend.

They crack me up.

Nice job guys!

But here's what was really sweet:

I was putting the goodies on a tray, and for whatever reason, I had a hard time getting the brownies to look decent.  I have made dozens of trays in my day, but I just didn't have my arranging mojo going on.  I thought about my mom, who was the expert on beautiful food.  What would she tell me?

Just then, Bethany walked into the kitchen and I asked her what she would do.  Without hesitation she took over, and instead of working from the middle out, she worked from the outside in.  Voila!

When I told her she was channeling her Grandma Rae, she looked at me quizzically and asked, "Why??"  I told her, "Because she was the artiste!"

Funny how my mom could show up in the granddaughter she never met.  If that wasn't enough, she put the final touch in the middle--like Grandma's signature.

Photo 52, Week 50:  Savoring

Contrast

Photo 52, Week 49:  Contrast

"See, darkness covers the earth

and thick darkness is over the peoples,

but the Lord rises upon you

and his glory appears over you.

Nations will come to your light, 

and kings to the brightness of your dawn."

Isaiah 60: 2-3

Simply Thankful: Lessons from November

Photo 52, Week 47:  Thankful

When it became evident that I would be driving my kids to school this year 

instead of sending them out to the bus,

the thoughts that filled my head

were not necessarily pleasant.

Leaving the house at 7:15 AM in the dark and cold?

No thank you.

But somehow the most dreary days

are when I've seen things that have made me want to go back

and grab my camera.

And thankfully, some days I can.

November has been busy!

Some days I can't see the forest through the trees.
It has not been much of a blogging month.

But the month that I usually consider bleak and barren

has proven to be much more beautiful

than I typically notice from the safety of the kitchen window.

One thing I've failed to notice before

is the way the ice reflects light and color

before it is covered with snow.

And also, that once the lake is frozen and you can't skip stones anymore,

people apparently slide them across the ice for entertainment instead.

November also seemed to want to tell me this year

that brown is woefully underrated,

and that if I can't find a little color in my world,

I may not be looking hard enough
or in the right places.

Photo 52, Week 48:  Photographer's Choice

But maybe my favorite lesson
was that everything can change in the time it takes to walk around the lake.

May God grant you the gift of sufficient grace
 to find the color in your life
this Thanksgiving!