A Groovy Baby Boomer Flashback

Edster, Bruno, Arthur, and I are on vacation...and I tend to keep my online presence to a minimum.  You know...kind of unplug.  Not on Facebook much...not answering much email...and definitely not poking my head into anything work related...for real!

Our tires crossed the West Virginia border on Friday.  You don't have to see the Welcome Sign...because everywhere are "signs" telling you where you are.

After a slow, lazy Saturday morning (coffee first, schemes later)...we boarded the Fabian Fun Van off to a local, annual event...The Leaf Peepers Festival...in Davis, West Virginia (population 660)...the closest town to the Canaan Valley.  Now...Canaan is not pronounced as in the promised land of the Bible...but is pronouced Ka-NANE Valley (in case you visit...you'll stick out big time if you say it wrong).

A people watcher by nature...I started clickin away with my paparazzi zoom lens.  I kept seeing these variations on a theme...

Did I step into a hippie convention by accident?

Hair...everywhere!!!

And this guy...

I found myself singing to myself ...back from the late 60s...envisioning a lava lamp and Peter Max poster.,,


I know...a pretty bizarre post...but, hey...I'm on vacation!!!

A Leaf and a Texture

A little leaf with a dash of Kim's culligan scripted texture for Texture Tuesday...

Fall in the air!

Autumn's Entry

Autumn has arrived at the Fabian's...

And how welcome it is...and how fleeting it is.

The sun is lower...the shadows are longer...and the sun is setting sooner and sooner.

I took some time around the garden...and I see that Autumn has arrived.  My zinnias are fading, yet they try to hang on to their color for as long as possible.

Perhaps they are jealous as the mums become the star of the show...

With their pockets full of gold...

And the orange of the pumpkins will outlast them all.

Breathe it all in...embrace the moments...it goes by quickly.

An Old Building ~ Texture Tuesday

Out and about on Sunday...roaming rural Ohio with camera next to me on the front seat...I found this great old building...

I'm not sure what it had been...or what it is now...as you can see there's a light on the landing. Regardless...it's perfect for Texture Tuesday.

This is a black and white version with layer of Kim's distressed 2 at Linear Burn blend mode at 66%.

From a front view with a layer of Kim's allard at Color Burn blend mode at 65%  Brush used from Shadowhouse Creations.

Nice grungy, vintage looks...almost haunting!

Have a terrific Tuesday!

Seeds

I found these sunflower heads in a pail today...

My Edster is harvesting the seeds for next year.  And it got me to thinking...about the lessons of seeds.  Look at them!  Perfectly placed for their own perfect purpose.  Randomly designed?  I don't think so!  So let's reflect...what can they teach us?

Confession is the act of inviting God to walk the acreage of our hearts. “There is a rock of greed over here, Father. I can’t budge it. And that tree of guilt near the fence? Its roots are long and deep. And may I show you some dry soil, too crusty for seed?” God’s seed grows better if the soil of the heart is cleared. - Max Lucado

Gratitude for the seemingly insignificant—a seed—this plants the giant miracle. - Ann Voskamp

Every adversity, every failure, every heartbreak, carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit. - Napoleon Hill

There are in this world blessed souls, whose sorrows all spring up into joys for others; whose earthly hopes, laid in the grave with many tears, are the seed from which spring healing flowers and balm for the desolate and the distressed. - Harriet Beecher Stowe

Seeds must be sown everywhere. Only some will bear fruit. But there would not be the fruit from the few had the many not been sown. - Chaim Potok

The tiny seed knew that in order to grow, it needed to be dropped in dirt, covered in darkness, struggle to reach the light. - Sandra Kring

See a flame in a spark, a tree in a seed. See great things in little beginnings. - Richard Sibbes

Obligated to Remember

I photographed this still on the tenth anniversary of September 11, 2001...portraits of the nearly 3,000 souls who perished that day laying on the skirt I was wearing at work when I heard the report before 9 am.

My friend, Radish, wrote a poignant piece...and how our culture tends to numb from anything that brings discomfort or pain.

I, on the other hand, watch whatever I can to relive that day...to feel the horror and pain brought on so much evil that tore so many lives apart...

I feel obligated, actually...who am I to feel numb or oblivious..as if it is any other day...?

I feel compelled to bring honor to the memory of what will never be again...

That is, life before September 11...

And yet I cannot help but feel another loss...mourning of the unity and patriotism we had as a nation on September 12.

The life we have left is a gift...do what matters most NOW.

What Season Is It?

Linking up with Texture Tuesday with Kim and Tuesday Muse over at A Rural Journal...

And wondering what season is this...????

I see summer fading...days of darker mornings and the sun lower in the sky setting earlier.  Climate becoming more temperate...crisp blue skies...cool evenings and open windows.

Then today it is 94 degrees...hot, muggy, humid...blech!  Definitely not feeling summer fading...

And definitely not feeling Fall...

But alas, by the weekend we'll be lucky to reach beyond 60 degrees.

Gotta love northeast Ohio weather!

A Saturday Reminder

I had an early appointment on Saturday morning, so afterward, Edster and I, along with Arthur, drove about 45 minutes south to Kidron...located in the largest concentration of Amish  in the world.

Camera in hand...and not a stranger to this area, we roamed around 20-30 flea market tables.  Lunch was enjoyed at "Mrs. Yoder's Kitchen" in Mount Hope.  Then we roamed the side county  roads with no agenda...seeing what we might see.  Farms, animals, flowers, laborers in the fields, teams of huge Belgian work horses.

Now...I rarely will photograph the Amish out of respect of their religious beliefs...and in the few moments I have, it has always been from behind or showing only a fraction of the face.

This little boy (maybe about 3 or 4?) was walking down the road...hand in hand with his father.  I quickly snapped it with my 70-300mm zoom lens through the car windshield.

Making minor edits...I have found this quickly-snapped, random shot quite meaningful.

It reminded me of my relationship with God...and pondering the love and tenderness by which He leads and guides...trains and encourages...and blesses me.

The father is very focused, holding the child's hand securely.  Walking steadily, while the child is distracted by all that is around him.  Yet with full faith in his father, his hand remains clasped with confidence.  The father has a lot of experience on this road...wearing appropriate shoes to protect his feet.  The child...not so much...barefoot...and his feet getting so dirty!

God is good and so worthy of my trust...a fact that remains despite circumstances.

I am at peace when my hand is in His.

A New Effect - Friday Finds!

Back at Kim Klassen's Friday Finds today...this week I found and practiced a new technique...a coloring book techqniue...

These photos are from Jackson's Mill, the childhood home of Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson...

This cabin on the property is that of my 5th great-grandfather, Henry McWhorter...

This was part of the lesson from Linda Sattgast's Art of Blending...using filters, masks, and blendings.

Can you tell I think this new found trick is a ton of fun?

For Anne and Allison...

I have fought the good fight, 

I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. 

And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness...

I learned this afternoon that the niece of a dear friend went to heaven...the daughter of my daughter's piano teacher...a cousin of someone I watched grow up with my children.  A wife, a mother of three, a daughter, and a shining light of God's grace through the battle of her life with cancer...Allison Kura Armstrong.

It's barely been a month since my mother, Anne Powers, took her last breath...and I chose my image for Texture Tuesday to be from the rose I kept from the spray on her casket.  A wife, a mother of three, a daughter, and also a shining light of God's grace through a 14-year trial enduring Alzheimer's disease.

I have been with loved ones in their final hours before death...including my parents...or as we say where I work, "at their end of life."

As I read the last post from Adam, Allison's husband, and reading tributes written by her Aunt Sue and cousin, Tara...I replayed the July 31-August 1, 2013, being at the bedside of my mother as she finished her race.

While death for us is painful as we see those who love leave us, I believe, as I experienced with my mother at her bedside, that we are privileged to witness a miracle...to be on holy ground.  My finite human mind cannot get its arms around what occurred in that room with my mother...or the room with Allison where her family surrounded her...as death drew near.  I KNOW that realm is more real than the world we see.  Most of all, I know it was the completion of their redemption, the perfection of their faith, God's finished work, the bride and their Bridegroom reaching out to each other...to be separated no more.  A miracle of unfathomable love.

I am ever so grateful to tears to hold on to that same hope and certainty.