bodacious adj. (Southern) Outright; unmistakable
banter v.t. To address with light, playful, good-natured remarks
Welcome to my blog! I pray the images and ideas will be pleasing to God, and a blessing to you.
In joy,
king
a come and go affair
Saturday The Rock Ranch celebrated. I found it especially gratifying to have a camera at ground zero for the fireworks. Grab some popcorn and dust off your best John Philip Sousa album. And while you do, keep in mind we have the liberty to do so because people we’ve never met were willing to shed their blood…initially so we could have the privilege of worshipping God—Who not coincidentally, shed His blood so those who trust Him can enjoy true liberty : )
[Note: due to the lame limitations of this web host, i wasn’t able to upload the video in its entirety. So after an extra couple hours of deprived sleep, i’ve posted the first half. For those who take their fireworks seriously, i will try to upload the remaining seven minutes of fun…soon. Or if not soon, then later.] And for those who don’t fathom the concept of “later,” a recap of last year’s party can be found here.
in joy (and giving thanks),
king
So now, for fanatical fireworks fans, the wait is over. Here is the second half of the show:
R. E. Lee ‘73
We interrupt this blog for a special post. The regularly scheduled blog, “Getting Mooned on the Flint,” (already behind schedule), will be delayed a bit more. So as unemployed comedians the world over are fond of saying, “Wait for it.”
Some 40 years after high school, a bunch of folks decided to get together to see who has gained the most weight. Neighboring classes were invited so as to make for an efficient and even more fun gathering. The Bickley’s provided a lake and bar-b-que, a cool band from Atlanta provided some sweet sounds, and God provided a light show after dark.
‘Twas wonderful to see so many people, a number of whom i haven’t seen in 4 decades. I wasn’t able to snap a class picture, but i suspect most folks who know me would agree i never had much class anyway. Just the same, my thanks to all who took the time to show up, and especially to those who worked to make it happen.
God continue to bless you all,
king
happy hiking
I was told it would be okay for me to annoy accompany the youth Saturday at Sprewell Bluff. This would be the first trek for the GoPro, and i didn’t know if it would be up for it—since we haven’t started its conditioning program yet.
As it turned out, suspicions were correct. The camera pooped out before i did, which certainly isn’t saying much for the camera. (or moi : )
Never-the-less, it was a glorious day to be out enjoying God’s handiwork, and the company of some wonderful people—several of whom helped make the little flick below. (Perhaps they were hoping i pay union scale ; ) Should anyone need to ask, then the answer would be “Yes.” The movie accurately depicts how fast we were moving ; )
By the end of the day, i couldn’t resist the call of the water. Not that i have much reason to be in water, but i’ve never before had a camera that was Baptist, so i took the opportunity to do something i’ve never done: deliberately put a camera in water. Here then, is the first experience with The Underwater World of Yours Truly. And though admittedly the footage is quite underwhelming, please realize the water is murky, and this is merely (ahem) sticking my toe in for now.
in joy,
Coming next: getting mooned at the river. (Looking forward to those photos? : )
planetary positioning
3 days ∙ 1 river ∙ 3 blog posts
We’ll go in reverse order. Sonday evening was my last before 11 in a row on call, so to make good use of the glorious weather, i went to the overlook on our stretch of the Flint to—well, have a look over:
I tend to enjoy sunsets, and find it rather nice God designed spinning spheres like earth so as to always have a sunset (somewhere) at every moment. The one from the Flint overlook was lovely, and served as a good prelude to a celestial treat: a conjunction of Venus, Jupiter and Mercury. In the family portraits below, look for the near-isosceles triangle of white dots. Venus appears on the bottom. Jupiter is above and to the left, and little Mercury is highest and to the right:
Venus and Jupiter should appear closest on Tuesday (May 28th). Look in the western sky a bit after sunset. By then, Venus will be slightly higher and to the right of Jupiter, with Mercury well above them. Just remember to treat your sunset well, since soon as you’re done with it, folks somewhere else get to have it.
The previously promised “once around the block” will happen (God willing), but is deferred for now until the other two river posts have their chance to sink or swim.
Next up: river walk (Eat your heart out, Columbus…Macon…Augusta…San Antonio : )
fast food
My camera was hungry the other day. Fortunately, it found a feast.
before:
after:
Sometimes, being neat, clean and proper just isn’t fully satisfying…
…and then there’s the satisfaction of cleaning up after a job well done : )
(more fun fotos of fabulous food fight found here)
My thanks to Jason and all the fine folks of First Methodist for fulfilling the command, “…freely you received, freely give.”
(still) coming soon: a once around the block...
in joy,
Gone Babies Gone!!!
Batch number one of bluebird babies bade “bye-bye” to their box and are winging it. In honor of my sister on her birthday, watch it happen here: (note the middle child requires extensive coaxing/instruction : )
And in honor of Diana’s favorite son’s birthday, here’s (appropriately enough) a selection of some snacking sequences from times prior to the chicks’ departure:
(Note that—as with Bill, food is always welcome : )
Coming soon: a once around the block...
Be blessed,
king
extolling the value of a day off
It began with a sunrise:
(For any who share my addiction, here is another sunrise from two days later, when i searched in vain for Lyrid meteors.)
Back home, i set out my first two tiny tomato things. I’ve never done well with big sandwich varieties, so this year i plan to grow just romas, and rely on the local produce people like Shane and The Rock Ranch for the large, pretty ones.
While ripping up mint to make room for tomatoes, weird stuff happened behind me at the edge of the yard. There was a pair of these birds [identity, please!]
squawking madly and checking out bird houses—including the one currently occupied by this year’s first batch of blue bird babies.
This clued me in on the possibility some action might be in store, so i peeked out the window a time or two over the next few hours between breaks from a webinar by photographer Sal Cincotta.
I wasn’t able to catch any of the dog bird fights that ensued, but if violence is desired, take a gander (or some other bird) as to what it’s like to be a stool pigeon on daddy bluebird’s radar:
To finish the day, i met with Emma and Bo to re-visit the field of red clover. My new camera is a year old now, and as such—it seems to think it can do for itself. I get a little annoyed when they start acting that way: “Let me do it…I can take this picture…Stop helping me!” On and on it goes. I sometimes say, “You’re a camera—you don’t even have opposable thumbs, much less fingers with which to aim yourself or snap the picture.” (But I don’t think it can grasp that : )
Bird epilogue: i was delighted to happen upon a recent post by one of my photographic heroes, David Hobby, who blogs about off-camera lighting. This one contains a couple of spectacular shots of his recent bluebird adventure. You're cordially invited to view more of my bluebird images here.
in joy,
king
