Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Culture

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Photo 52, Week 20:  Culture

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This week's theme beckoned me downtown.

Where else could there be a bigger sampling of culture?

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It was a grand escape from a myriad of details in my world.

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A place where old meets new,

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casual meets elegance,

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where at any given moment everyone becomes part of the same story

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even if only for that moment.


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A place where there can be play

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in the midst of busyness

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and prayer in the midst of all of it.

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For a moment, I even found pieces of my story--
as I recognized the art of a sculptor whose studio resided
where he taught on my college campus...

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...in the midst of truth recently discussed within my own faith community.

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And only a block away?

Wildlife observers...

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well-known walks

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and wanderers.

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But more on that another day.

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One of these days I am going to blog about something unrelated to Photo 52.  Maybe. I'm not certain about what.  Right now I am switching to Lightroom from iPhoto.  It's bittersweet.  I love my iPhoto, but alas, there is so much power to be had in the lovely Lightroom.  I am studying up, thanks to free youtube videos.  What a goldmine.  And then, Flick'r decides this would be a good time to change their whole format.  Drinking out of fire hydrants over here.  But the water is good!

Saturday, May 11, 2013

May Flowers (and the best gift I ever gave myself)

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 Photo 52, Week 19:  May Flowers

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We planted those pansies that stood the test of snow.

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They are lovely and resilient.

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And then I went to the greenhouse to look at the flowers
that might do better if I wait a couple more weeks.
After that I walked around a little lake with all the happy people,
loving the warmth as you will see.

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But the irises reminded me of a treasured gift I once gave.

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The gift of honor, expressed in presence.

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The year Ben was born, I was trying to decide what to give my mom for Christmas.

I gave her a coupon.

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The coupon entitled her to some number of lunches with Ben and me.
She would go home for lunch from work each day because she lived so close,
so I told her we would come and see her and bring her lunch.
It was a little trek for us, but to see her and my baby enjoying each other would be worth it.

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Although I had gone through phases of my adult life where paying attention to my mom wasn't my highest priority, I had learned that it was a joy to be able to honor her.  There were certainly things I did (living overseas for four years for example) that I knew didn't exactly please her--but pleasing your parents is a bad goal.  Honoring them, on the other hand, is a great goal, and something I had learned to pray and ask God to enable me to do.  Bringing her grandson to see her was the perfect way to honor her.

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As you might have imagined by now,
God knew when I gave her that gift what I never could have known.
She really had very little time left with us.
The gift turned out to be for me.

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Thankfully I had gotten off to a good start,
because just after we went over to see her one day in February,
she left on vacation.

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She never came back.

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She had a wonderful vacation,
and she died happy.
Very happy.

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And honored.

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My last  memory of my mom
is of her and my tiny son giggling at each other.

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I thought about that again this past week
when my cousins buried their mom and grandma,
my great aunt.

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They are an amazing family,
and she was SO very close to her grandchildren.
And oh, did they ever honor her.

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I am thrilled about that for them
because even as they grieve,
their hearts are at such peace.

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Today, I hope you have the gift 
of spending Mother's Day
with your mom.

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If you do, I hope you know
that honor

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is always the perfect gift.

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Spring Training (and a little monkey business)

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Photo 52, Week 18:  Photographer's Choice

Ben's team had one glorious practice outdoors this week
when the fields finally opened for the first time on Monday..
Then canceled for rain.  Then canceled for....you got it, snow.
But the forecast is beautiful for the first week of games,
so ready or not, here we come.  So excited.

And now for the (very) little monkey business...

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Serious cuteness here.

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And also in the pigpen.

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Wake up, Mom!  Make us some bacon and eggs for breakfast!
No, wait, make that pancakes!

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Gotta love farm babies season.

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Old Mother Goose is not technically employed by the zoo.
She just lives close to the walking path
where the real predators won't want to come and
steal her eggs.

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I'll have to go back and check out her babies soon.

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And last but not least...

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the smiling lambs.
Wishing you a happy weekend.