Weekend of Wonders

When I finally arrived home Friday, it was dusk. I climbed out of my car & headed for the trash can. The recycle bin stood between & directly before me. Without warning, a black shadow leapt up, literally causing me to cry out in alarm. He had been completely hidden inside the bin as he licked at the empty cans of soup. Young, hungry & alone, he slept in our carport that night. Little did we know, he had finally found his home. Investigation with neighbors concluded that he was dumped off up on the highway. Long story, short: brother Wesley has a new puppy! How hilariously joyful it is to watch this one bound around & make friends !...So uplifting !!! A new, next-door neighbor !


We said farewell to soccer season & basketball season began. The sky was rich, "Carolina Blue" & dappled with large, cummula-cirrus clouds. Above shows the backdrop for the first practice. Needless top say, I had a difficult time watching my son play...Bit, I did some hawk watching, while below & out of this shot, geese & ducks honked away!!!


I went to my first pig-picking. A woman clad in prison tattoos & I watched the sun & clouds as they changed colors. Many people may have avoided her because of her looks, but she witnessed to me. We gazed out over the pond, watching the "long light" of evening play on the leaves. As I pointed out the changing hues she repeatedly pointed to the clouds & dreamily said, "THAT ! Is a little piece of what heaven's going to be like". Hallelujah!

Autumn Mist

Leaving for home on Friday, I started my van, then paused...the sky was overcast and the evening light was a great setting for the near-fluorescent maples that were bursting with joyful praise. One of my favorite songs, "Drowned" by Chasen, was playing on the radio. I cranked it up, grabbed my camera & headed across the parking lot on foot. I shot a hundred or so images in the fading light, before heading home. It was awesome !
The autumn color is just truly, coming in & I stopped 2 more times on the 3 1/2 mile ride home. As I approached my turn into the neighborhood, the lake view stopped me. I pulled onto the side of the bridge. Keeping an eye in the rear-view mirror, I slowly coasted back towards the middle of the span. Heels or not, I waited for a break in traffic, grabbed the Olympus & ran across towards the dam. As I shot, cars & even trucks traveling over 50 m.p.h. rumbled & shook the pavement beneath me. It was absolutely exhilarating ! The middle school & maple shots took their toll. I captured very few images before my batteries gave out. For some reason, traffic was picking up & I felt a little too vulnerable to stay for replacement batteries in the rapidly fading light. The river view behind me also had a beautiful mist rising amongst yellow foliage. It was awesome, inspiring, scary-in-a-good-way & uplifting !!!! but, in all honesty...the real reason I stopped, was to share this with you.


[To get your bearings, my home is to the far right out of these shots. The landing & little cove where I typically "watch" are to the right as well. The second shot shows the far tip of Beaver Point & this is the view up river of the lake.]

Wednesdays

Wednesday is not my favorite day of the week. Yesterday was to be a particularly long one. As you know, the day began with uplifting star-gazing. I didn't want to lose the positive momentum as I faced classes all day, a staff meeting followed by mountains of homework. At the end of my first class, I called out, "Have a great weekend!" The kids replied in unison, "But, it's only Wednesday!"...."Yeah, but let's pretend it's Friday. Doesn't that make you feel better?" After a pause they replied in one voice, "Have a great weekend!". They left with big smiles on their faces...I carried that out throughout all of my classes with the same reaction. One more day to go until we have "home days"...HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

More On Stars

I have been told there was a meteor shower last night. This explains something of what I saw this morning, but I still did not understand the flashes that I saw. This evening, London & I sat out on the porch swing & watched in hope of seeing some debris from the previous night's shower. London expressed concern over a meteor hitting the earth. (side-effect of too many sci-fi movies). My daddy was an engineer for NASA for many years, so I called & asked him about the odd flashes that I had seen. He described them to me before I could do so to him. He said they are when a meteor hits the atmosphere & burns up. I was able to turn to London & further allay his fears as, "even grandaddy says so." (God's timing never eases to amaze me!)
My day ended as it had begun...with a brilliant blue-white streak shooting across the autumnal, night sky ! London, too, had his first-ever shooting star sighting !! It's ALL good !!!

Pre-Dawn Sky

It was a crystal clear morning & the stars shone brightly above the silhouetted forest. Orion stood watch overhead, the pleides were visible & stars all around were arrayed in varying hues. Suddenly, the western sky lit up as though a flash of lightening. The dark forest was silhouetted against the light & fully 40% of the sky lit up...twice!! I waited for the report, but no sound followed. I simply heard the sound of distant dog to the west & the splashing of the waterfall.An opossum or raccoon made his way through a nearby tree. I checked the time: 6:02. There was no point in looking further. Something like that wouldn't repeat. My eyes adjusted to the dark once more & to my amazement a shooting star darted across thew sky, directly overhead! What a blessed way to start my day !!!