Distractions

I am both fascinated and appalled by this statue. The hands on his back are what get to me. Yet I love both photographs. The teacher in the online class I am taking says the background is too distracting and it takes away from the focal point.

Technically that may be true. But metaphorically, isn't this how it sometimes is in life itself? Too many background details pulling us in too many directions? And how often are those distractions things that are dead, things that we should release, so that we can move forward?

Fragile Vessels

(click on image to make it bigger)

I've just been thinking how amazing it is that God chooses to work in and through us (often weak and flaky!) human beings. And I struggle so much with my imperfections.

I've also missed writing on this blog. And I don't know what I am going to do about that.

Stony Ground

These flowers are growing up through a crack in my parents' driveway. I am posting some of these on FB too, so I apologize to those of you who might see it twice...

If you click on the image, it will make it bigger so the words are easier to read.

Field Trip!!

We went to take pictures of a wooden bridge that the state is supposed to be replacing sometime this year. We saw all sorts of interesting things.

You have to wonder about things when you strike out in search of photo opps and the first thing you see is a baby deer standing by the highway. We did not see hide nor hair of him on the way back so I assume he eventually found his way back to mama.

Don't ask how many miles down the road the bridge is out. In Louisiana, it is enough to say the bridge is out. It doesn't much matter anyway. There is a pile of dirt at the beginning of the bridge but the locals all drive right over the bridge anyway.


I was walking a little behind my nephew on the bridge, lollygagging along, and I noticed him kicking at something in the dirt. I wonder what the story is on this. They did not look like my size so I left them there.

Here is one side of the bridge that is being replaced.

And here is the other side.

We swung by my grandparents' abandoned house because I wanted to get this photograph. It may be hard to tell from this photo but the tree has grown up through the porch floor and through the swing!

The berries were lagniappe, discovered as we walked through the woods to get to my great grandparents house. I am a berry picking fool! All we had to put them in was a dollar store sack and I ended up getting the sack hung up in briers which tore a hole in it.


We lost a bigger handful than this through the hole in the sack but we still ended up getting enough berries for a cobbler. We probably would have gotten more if we'd had something better to put them in. There are plenty of red ones left so there will be another crop sometime next week.

This guy is guarding the watermelon patch. They had several of them out in this field. It was funny to see them all.

The watermelon stem is up at the top of this melon. That is some kind of black plastic behind the melon. When I saw it, I was sure it had grown this way. Now I am not so sure. The rusty looking thing at the bottom of the photo is barbed wire, which I very nearly fell into while trying to get this picture.

Bloom

It was an interesting Sunday at church. I played with this photo yesterday and could not think of what I wanted it to say. This is what came to me after the service today.

Words to Remember

A quote from a book I read recently (A Friendship Like No Other) and a photo from a friend that I altered considerably in Photoshop. (Friend, do you recognize your banana blossom and how are you Photoshop studies coming along? Umm, and may I use your photo as a background for my "thang" here?)

Sometimes I Play With My Food

(and my camera phone). This was not entirely my creation. I only cut up the pineapple ring. Someone else reversed the pieces to make the sunburst and add the peanuts and salt and pepper.

On a more serious note, my dad had something happen to the one good eye he has. I think it is called a colloital detachment. At this moment he can't see out it so he is effectively blind. He is taking steroids and using steroids drops which are supposed to make it better. If that does not work they will have to do surgery and it is a complicated surgery to do. Please pray that the medicine will make things better, that he will have his sight restored to him. He was doing so well after his cornea transplant two years ago. He was able to see well enough to be confident to drive again and that was a blessing to him. He goes back to two different doctors this coming week. For now, all he can do is sit and wait. He seems to be in good spirits but I can't imagine how hard it is to sit around for so long not being able to see, hoping and praying things will get better.