Sunday, March 8, 2009

Weekend Shutterbug


I'm trying to relearn, actually learn, my camera, an Olympus Evolt 500, so this weekend I determined to take it along with me, first on a bike ride Saturday, and then to church on Sunday...and my son sent me an apt cartoon from his New Yorker desk calendar, which also became a subject for a photo, and here's the results:

Well, I really don't use mixes, except for birthday cakes, which I do because 1. a fact: most kids prefer the frosting (also pre-mixed) to the cake and 2. laziness: my oldest daughter took over the cake-baking activity for me at about age 12, thanks to mixes.

Saturday was a bright, sunny and fairly mild day in Reno, so I pulled out my Montague paratrooper bike (of which I am wham-o proud and which for many reasons has been little used lately) and went for a sedate ride with my camera. Here's some pictures of March sunshine, wildlife, and flora in Northern Nevada.

Can you beat this sky?


















And here's my favorites: hills, hills, rolling hills....hills like white elephants even.















...and pathways.









And the wildlife...well, semi-wild. Reno is sunbird territory for Canadian geese (pretty, but messy).















On Sunday came time to return to our little church in the desert, St. Columba's Traditional Anglican Congregation in Fernley, NV.


We're a tiny family really, and here's a few of us:


















Father Ray and Father Bill




















David D. and Betty H....

Sam H. and Father Bill & Amy


Most High, glorious God: enlighten the darkness of my heart and give me true faith, certain hope and perfect charity, sense and knowledge, Lord--that I may carry out Your holy and true command.
St. Francis d'Assisi

Let us all be joyful in the Lord!

5 comments:

  1. Beautiful area you live in!

    And thanks for your comment on my blog.

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  2. I think you have the camera mastered! These are gorgeous photos. I can feel the air crisp as I breathe.

    We took the kids for a camping trip when they were little -- our baby was 4, and she's 39 today. Back when camping meant tents or you slept in the van. Showered whenever you found one. Washed in freezing streams.

    We covered Colorado in 14 days, and I have never forgotten my reaction to the beauty in that state. We froze on the Grand Mesa, ate trout from the mountain streams for breakfast and dinner, and drooled over the lakes and evergreens and under the bluest skies I've ever seen. We stripped to shorts and tank tops in Mesa Verde, climbing through the cliff dwellings. We climbed the great Sand Dunes -- yes, even our 4-year-old. No one carried anyone that trip. We stood in awe looking into the Devil's Punchbowl. And made snowballs with our bare hands, comfortable in sweatshirts and jeans, on Pike's Peak.

    I said then that God must have expressed every human emotion when designing Colorado. And felt the emotions himself. A true work of art... by a master artist.

    Someday I'll tell you about our trip to Nevada... :)

    I appreciate your small church community. Ours was small, and has grown to nearly 3000. We keep growing small though, as we grow larger.

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  3. My favorite is the one with the white fence in the hills. Beautiful!

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  4. Thank you Paul, ajay, Barb and hope42day for visiting and commenting! Barb, you not only paint beautiful pictures on canvas, but in words. I'm looking forward to hearing about your Nevada trip!

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