spring ... in pictures

Like most people, I love Spring. I mean really, what is there to not like about Spring?

Well, besides the pollen that covers everything and that pesky hour we lose to the time change. But, that is another post entirely.

20 some odd years ago, when I was choosing what to do with my life, I really, really wanted to be a photographer. Actually, my dream was to double major in English and photography and become a journalist. Now, I wish I hadn't been such a chicken. However, majoring in photography was expensive and I wasn't passionate enough, or brave enough, to take a risk. Silly me.

Formal training or not, I still indulge in one of my favorite past-times as often as I can. My dream these days is to own a really good camera … some day, maybe. Until then, my little camera (that will probably do far more than I realize), will have to suffice. And, for this post, I am going to share a little bit of what has caught my eye this Spring.

As with most anything, there is a spiritual application to be found in these pictures. For me, it is about gratitude. I cannot imagine a world without the beauty of Spring flowers, and butterflies, and the busyness of bumblebees. It would be a bit presumptuous to think that God created these beauties just for me, but on the days when I am in need of a distraction from the daily grind, I am so thankful for a world with flowers and bugs and other critters to capture through the lens of my camera.

O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good;

for his mercy endureth forever.

Psalm 107:1

critters ... a totally random post

Fall is my favorite time of the year and November is one of my favorite months ... with Halloween behind us, we can get on with really enjoying fall without my children being afraid every time they walk into a store ... okay, that may be a little extreme, but they really don't like all the ghosts and ghouls hanging around in October.  That being said, I am working on a post that is appropriate for this time of year, but this isn't it.

This has been the season for critters. 

A few weeks ago I mentioned a salamander in my muffin tin.  The truth is, we have caught and released at least four salamanders in the past several months.  In the summer they hang out around our front door and eat any bugs attracted to our porch light.  Quite frankly, I don't mind them being there ... as long as they were staying outside ... but I am not to fond of them being in my house~especially in my muffin tin!

There should be a picture of the critter in my muffin tin here, but I can't find it :(

The salamanders may not be my favorite critters, but the one I saw at Wal-mart last night is much worse.  I had been at the church for a Women on Mission meeting and decided to stop for coffee creamer (which I am not totally sure that I can live without) and to take advantage of being all by myself by looking around for a little while.  When I pulled the buggy out of the line, I saw something moving out of the corner of my eye.  Much to my surprise, I saw the biggest rat I have ever seen scurry behind the garbage can.  You will be happy to know that I resisted the urge to scream and calmly quickly entered the store.  I debated about telling the greeter about her, ahem, visitor, but I knew that if I was in her shoes, I would want to know what was lurking behind my garbage can!  The nice little lady just kept saying Oh my, over and over again.  Later, while I was perusing the yarn ... wishing that I could justify buying some that I am sure I could find something to do with ... I heard a man say something along the lines of I think all we can do is lock those doors and make sure he doesn't come inside the store! 

I don't know what they ended up deciding to do, but I can tell you this ... I left via the opposite end of the store!

anticipation revisited

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about looking forward to a family reunion the next day. Well, it was a great day. I enjoyed catching up with my cousins and seeing our kids play together.
This weekend, we repeated that same exercise, just with a different family. Today's family was my mother's father's family. So last night I again spent the night cooking and this morning, after sending the kids off to ride with my parents, Ronnie and I packed up the van and enjoyed the 45 minute drive to Roosevelt State Park without any squabbling children and managed to find something to talk about other than our little angels.

I truly wish I had some pictures to show you of my children walking a large drain pipe close to the picnic pavilion where this annual party is held. These pictures, if I had any, would be even more fun (for me anyway) because my cousins and I walked that same pipe as children, though very few of us were brave enough to try it today.

Alas, though, I don't have any pictures because my digital camera has bitten the dust (with a little help from my sons) and the only one I have available is the old 35mm my parents gave me in high school. I am not sure if it even still works, but I may have to try it out since we have a milestone birthday coming up this week.

And finally, I suppose that this is our week for squirrel encounters. Today, while walking our little Hurricane to the clubhouse to find a more sanitary restroom, he met a small squirrel on the path. This little fellow (the squirrel, not the boy) had obviously been fed by visitors to the park at some time, because he got within six inches of my little guy and would have come closer with any encouragement from him. Since we didn't have anything to feed him (which I am sure you aren't supposed to do anyway) we just watched for a few minutes and proceeded on to our destination. Again, it would have been really nice to have a camera about that time. If I could have captured the moment you would have gotten to see how excited it made D to be that close to the squirrel. At first, he couldn't decide if he wanted to be excited or scared, but then he calmed down and loved it!

I realize that this post has been rather rambling, but it kind of fits the kind of day I have had so I guess it is appropriate. It is now past the time I should be in bed and since my hubby is already snoring, I think I'll head there now.