Why we must cancel the Amazon Prime Trial Membership very soon

1. Danjo loves free two-day shipping a little too much, and Venom seems attracted to it as well.

2. I love getting packages left on my doorstep (unless they are expensive cameras, in which case I'd really rather be home when they arrive). It doesn't matter who the packages are for, I just love getting packages. The cheerleader spy book wasn't really my thing, but it was fun to open. Same with the book with all the talk about aeolian scales and diatonic scales and lowered sevenths, and the quick release guitar strap. The list goes on.

3. Young Adventurer loves getting packages too. He doesn't care what we paid for, he only wants to explode the airbags that serve as packing materials.

4. Shipping may be free, but we haven't yet determined how to get Amazon to send said packages without first paying them for what the packages contain.

Cancel the membership or sell a car...

A six-pack of hard-to-find deodorant arrives next. Summer is coming!

odd collections

This is the hummingbird that felt sorry for me. He looked at me and thought, "that person wants to take my picture but does not have a 300mm lens. I will sit here at eye level, let her walk up within a few feet, and pose for her, showing off my purple shiny feathers, because I am a nice hummingbird."

The mushroom. Could I have done better with my new camera, or was the cell phone sufficient for this task? Good composition doesn't require expensive equipment, but I think I have a lot to learn. So I'm going back to college. I've signed up for a photography class in the fall.

Other thought (which is not accompanied by a photo) from Isaiah 30: Running away on horseback can be bad, even though it seems like a good idea at the time. Sometimes it's best to stay put, and toss out polluted things while shouting, "GOOD RIDDANCE!"

Things that fill the frame

Now that I have spent my entire annual paycheck and a few minutes of Danjo's as well on a shiny new camera, I have to find things to take pictures of. What? You ask? I know, I find plenty of things to take photos of, but my shiny new camera has only one lens, whereas the one that was so graciously loaned to me had several. I've had to shift my 'focus' away from things that are tiny and far away (hummingbirds mock me now), and toward things that are closer. So here are some closer things...

Adventurer Two

All dressed up, with someplace to go.

Danjo and me.

Yes, someone else, a small person,

has been allowed to touch THE CAMERA.

Three crazy adventurers, all with spiffy new haircuts.

New Twist on a Parable

And some thoughts on getting lost, are here

IMG_0001

Friends of the Day

Hmm. Thankful for human friends today. Several of them. They keep me sane.

With the help of a friend's camera, I am learning which lenses are my friends. In the process I am making friends with the large population of hummingbirds which inhabit my yard. "Please, Enjoy the flowers for as long as you like. Take your time. Please! Things come into focus slowly for me!"

Trying iPad

Now can I add text?
I can use this device to update my blog if I use the edit HTML feature to add text, but not in the compose window. Why?
and I can,t seem to add photos to my post. No good. Printing problem solved, blogging problems unresolved. back to a wait to buy...

The Desert With Isaiah 35 Tendencies

Isaiah 35

The desert and the parched land will be glad;

the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.

Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom;

it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.

The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,

the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;

they will see the glory of the LORD,

the splendor of our God.

Strengthen the feeble hands,

steady the knees that give way;

say to those with fearful hearts,

“Be strong, do not fear;

your God will come,

he will come with vengeance;

with divine retribution

he will come to save you.”

Then will the eyes of the blind be opened

and the ears of the deaf unstopped.

Then will the lame leap like a deer,

and the mute tongue shout for joy.

Water will gush forth in the wilderness

and streams in the desert.

The burning sand will become a pool,

the thirsty ground bubbling springs.

In the haunts where jackals once lay,

grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.

And a highway will be there;

it will be called the Way of Holiness.

The unclean will not journey on it;

it will be for those who walk in that Way;

wicked fools will not go about on it.

No lion will be there,

nor will any ferocious beast get up on it;

they will not be found there.

But only the redeemed will walk there,

and the ransomed of the LORD will return.

They will enter Zion with singing;

everlasting joy will crown their heads.

Gladness and joy will overtake them,

and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

Weekend Up North

Stopped here to take pictures, but a few miles down the road it was prettier. Must go back tomorrow.

Cross that?

Well, she did it...

Spring!

This thing has teeth. Click on it and see for yourself...

I want to come back in a couple of weeks and see what this is

Eeek! I have been told it shoots blood from it's eyes, Young Adventurer

We did not hit it with a staff, but there was water coming out from it, therefore, Moses must have been here first

Winter Was Here.

For more photos of our fun, including the tasty looking red caterpillar, head here.

Another little thing that made my day...

I took the photo, Young Adventurer transformed it:

Very Little Things That Make My Day:

When patience

and eating lunch outside,

and planting native flowers three years ago

is rewarded...

She has little toenails.

I think I might cry.

[Danjo the Very Magnificent has said I must buy a camera of my very own and not wait any longer, but I'm going to finish the taxes, and give to Ceasar what is Ceasar's, first, as a deadline is fast approaching...]

dead man

Good Friday

I’ve been thinking this week about what was going on, that last day of Jesus’ life. What struck me this time was one short sentence I read in a book...

“Two men, in the fading light, do what has to be done.”

Doing what has to be done. Burying a man. We ridicule truth, we crucify the WAy, The Truth, and THE Life, hope dies. What it looks like is burying the beat-up body of a man because that’s all that’s left to do, and it has to be done. So Joseph and Nicodemus buried the body of Jesus. They buried their Hope, and that was it. Nothing else to do. Humanity had just sent humanity to the grave. What’s left after that? We did it to ourselves, but what do you do without hope?

Except that Jesus didn’t stay dead. The dead body of a man, the visible, logical outcome of turning against God, didn’t stay dead. Rejecting truth couldn’t make it untrue, killing hope didn’t leave it dead, burying love proved that it doesn’t fit at all in a grave.

There’s nothing left in the way if dead bodies of men don’t stay dead. The worst that men can do isn’t actually enough to limit God. What now, if truth can’t be made untrue? What do you do if Hope doesn’t disappoint? What if the Way can’t be shut? What happens when love is indestructible?

The veil is torn...

Chilled Salmon

I've been sorting through my cookbook collection. Not sure why I have so many, since I really only use three of them, so I'm getting rid of some, but not this one (you just try and write a sentence like that). It used to be mom's. I don't know where she got it. It's Betty Crocker's "Dinner for Two" cookbook. I don't know if I've ever tried one of the recipes, but maybe I should, if there's any chance they are as good as the illustrations...

Chilled Salmon, indeed. And I want to know how that woman swims in a dress. At least she seems to have kicked off her shoes. Maybe I'll try making the apple crisp. I tend to avoid fish.