Where I’ve been lately

Manassas, the Battle of Bull Run 

Arlington National Cemetery

Pentagon 9/11 Memorial

Transparent and Reflective

“If our consciences were clear, we would have no need to confess. But we stand transparent before God, who knows our thoughts, our hearts, our misdeeds. Let us speak to the One who has promised not to put us to shame, but to forgive us of our sins.”
~Thom M. Shuman

*Psalm 139

The view from here

After many, many days of rain and thunderstorms, our weather is finally clearing.

I think the bluebirds are happy about it, too!

31

May 18, 1980.  8:32 am in the southwest region of Washington State.

It’s been 31 years since the the old lady blew her top.

Her eruption was a real pain in the ash for those directly affected. You can see more photographs and read a good article from last year here.

Me at Mount St. Helens in 2005

Good with Chicks

Muffed Target: treed

There was an explosion of pink in my neighborhood.

Pink Dogwoods, that is…

Unfortunately, by the time I discovered how badly out-of-focus these 2 pictures were, the sun had set — and now the blooms are mostly gone.  Ah, well.

Thom has given us the opportunity to share our fuzzy photos via his meme, MUFFED TARGET.

Whether it was a moving target (I plead blowing winds), a shaky hand at the camera, or a subject “oops” — I know you must have something to share!  😀
Head on over to Thom’s place today to play along!

And at least I managed a good close-up shot!

The Birds

This is the water tower that we see from our elementary school parking lot: (taken on a beautiful June day)

And this was the scene worthy of Alfred Hitchcock at that same water tower a few months ago…  I dare you to click on the picture to enlarge it!

The turkey vultures have returned

Thankful Thursday: photo o[o]ps

As I watched a bit of the royal wedding last Friday (thank you, PBS and BBC America for helping me avoid the talking heads spewing blather) I was struck by the photographic opportunities I missed 15 years ago when we spent 3 days in London.  At least, I’m pretty sure I missed them — the photo albums are already packed in boxes for our move this summer.  I had scanned the Mannheim Wasserturm photo in yesterday’s post prior to packing the albums, but I can’t recall taking a lot of architectural photographs during that era. And that’s a pity, because were so many lovely old buildings I saw while living and traveling in Europe.

My camera and I were a bit preoccupied. Instead of buildings, I was busy photographing sights like this:

I’m sorry to not have amazing architectual photographs (or at least mediocre photographs of amazing architecture) in my scrapbooks, but I’m incredibly thankful to have captured moments like the one above.

Water in the Sky

Der Wasserturm. Mannheim, Germany

Isn’t it beautiful?

I know that Seattle, Washington, has some interesting water towers. The one in Volunteer Park on Capital Hill reminds me of a fortress, but unfortunately I don’t have a picture of it.

Out here on the other side of the country where I currently live, there are so many interesting shapes and designs within a mere hour of my house.

I think these two look like alien spaceships.

And this one? What do you think?

This last one reminds me of the many water towers seen in small towns across the Midwestern U.S., with local school pride on display.

Friday 5: Hope

For those of you in the Northern Hemisphere who have yet to see Spring, I offer you hope:

Wishing for you a weekend of warmth. ♥