May 19, 2012
Linden Cherry Festival
What a wonderful time we had today in Linden for our first ever visit to their annual Cherry Festival. After enjoying the Pioneer Day Parade in Paso Robles for the past many years, it was refreshing to experience a 1/2 hour parade, a massive group walk to the elementary school for the day's events.
Don't miss it next year! We'll go with you!
April 13, 2012
Given the Choice . . .
Guess I'll choose the lightning, thunder and hail over the always present crime storm here in Stockton.
April 8, 2012
He is Not Here, He is Risen
Chris Donato writes:
"If the resurrection did not happen, then we followers of Jesus, along with Saint Paul, “are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Cor. 15:19). In other words, if Christ has not been raised we are the most wretched, unhappy, sorry lot the world has ever seen, because we have believed the cruelest deceit — the hope of a glorious salvation when all we are truly left with is sin, weeds, and death. But happen it did, and it is believed, for Jesus Himself said, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). This was, of course, the very reason the apostle John wrote the gospel: “These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (v. 31). The resurrection is part and parcel of that Gospel message of life in Jesus’ name. It is non-negotiable. One cannot consider himself or herself in line with “apostolic Christianity” without affirming the bodily resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. This is the clear testimony of the New Testament writings, captured most succinctly in Romans 10:9: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”"
April 1, 2012
March Madness
Our theme for the March Challenge was "Water." Any form of water fit the criteria, and so there was a large variety of entries. Thanks to all for their hard work, although we had plenty of moisture this last month to make things easier. Everyone could post up to five pictures, so there will be plenty of viewing this time.
Megen has captured the green of Spring with her closeup of tiny water droplets perfectly placed on these strawberry leaves. Yummy. (If they're not strawberries, humor me)
Dave's first two shots were taken at Delta College, while the last three were taken on the Mokolumne River.
Linda's entries emphasize the different forms water takes, along with it's man-made retrieval and storage elements.
Robert gets the 'prize' for his post of the "God in the Cloud" photo, where you can visualize a face looking earthward. He says, "I almost ran off the road trying to get out of the car before it changed. No time to check camera settings, two shots and it was gone."
His first picture of Becky is explained, "Walnut Grove, we were getting an ice cream at a little cafe. I didn't quite get the angle that I wanted because of some steep steps in front so I had to cut Becky out and move her up."
The river shot is near Clarksburg and the tide pool photo is south of San Francisco at Moss Beach (I think).
Harry's frozen Kentucky photos remind us of winter. He tells us, "They were taken 3/5/2012 between 12:58 and 1:08pm from Parking Structure 5 and looking back onto campus. They were taken from the 3,4,5,6 floors with a Nikon D7000 using a Nikkor 24-120 F4 lens, focal length from 38mm to 120mm. Campus was incredibly gorgeous that day, burning off later into the next day. We get much less snow in Danville and it burns off quickly."
Ginnie posted:
"Our plein aire group painted in the Chimney Rock area this morning. This photo and the next are of the ranch lake/reservoir. Lots of Canadian geese and sign of wild boar who tear up everything in sight. Hellie (whose ranch we painted on) says the tule elk have moved in from the Camp Roberts/Hunter Liggett area and they have seen as many as 15 swimming around in the lake."
Other shots are of Morro Bay and north of it on Morro Strand. She included a non-water picture taken between the power plant and the rock which gives you the flavor and color of the area.
Bruce just can't get away from two-parts hydrogen and one-part oxygen where he lives outside of Portland. He quips, "It's really difficult to find water up here. NOT! By tomorrow morning we will have a new record for rainfall amount in the month of March. Previous record was 7.5 inches. We were at 7.25 inches during the 5:00 news and it's supposed to rain all night and all day tomorrow. Sorry about the drought down there, but we are more than willing to share.
"I wanna go home (Paso). I'll go where God leads me. Just want to see the sun again."
His photo notes:
Another muddy creek from much rain.
Muddy Waters near Canby.
Rock and Water feature at Oregon City Mall.
Willamette Falls High Water.
Willamette River Under 205 Freeway in Oregon City.
Last, but not least is Mr. Just-Under-The-Wire's entry. Thanks, Don, for this great composition.
Thanks to everyone for their participation and interest in our little endeavor. Five posted pictures seems to be a bit overwhelming to me, so we'll go back to only featuring two, like before, next month. You can still send me up to five, but I'll only post two. Got it?
April is Spring Flower Month for me, so do your best to capture the excitement, color and the unusual as we tackle another challenge. And please, no artificial blooms and no artwork, just real flowers, preferably alive.
Megen has captured the green of Spring with her closeup of tiny water droplets perfectly placed on these strawberry leaves. Yummy. (If they're not strawberries, humor me)
Dave's first two shots were taken at Delta College, while the last three were taken on the Mokolumne River.
Linda's entries emphasize the different forms water takes, along with it's man-made retrieval and storage elements.
Robert gets the 'prize' for his post of the "God in the Cloud" photo, where you can visualize a face looking earthward. He says, "I almost ran off the road trying to get out of the car before it changed. No time to check camera settings, two shots and it was gone."
His first picture of Becky is explained, "Walnut Grove, we were getting an ice cream at a little cafe. I didn't quite get the angle that I wanted because of some steep steps in front so I had to cut Becky out and move her up."
The river shot is near Clarksburg and the tide pool photo is south of San Francisco at Moss Beach (I think).
Harry's frozen Kentucky photos remind us of winter. He tells us, "They were taken 3/5/2012 between 12:58 and 1:08pm from Parking Structure 5 and looking back onto campus. They were taken from the 3,4,5,6 floors with a Nikon D7000 using a Nikkor 24-120 F4 lens, focal length from 38mm to 120mm. Campus was incredibly gorgeous that day, burning off later into the next day. We get much less snow in Danville and it burns off quickly."
Ginnie posted:
"Our plein aire group painted in the Chimney Rock area this morning. This photo and the next are of the ranch lake/reservoir. Lots of Canadian geese and sign of wild boar who tear up everything in sight. Hellie (whose ranch we painted on) says the tule elk have moved in from the Camp Roberts/Hunter Liggett area and they have seen as many as 15 swimming around in the lake."
Other shots are of Morro Bay and north of it on Morro Strand. She included a non-water picture taken between the power plant and the rock which gives you the flavor and color of the area.
Bruce just can't get away from two-parts hydrogen and one-part oxygen where he lives outside of Portland. He quips, "It's really difficult to find water up here. NOT! By tomorrow morning we will have a new record for rainfall amount in the month of March. Previous record was 7.5 inches. We were at 7.25 inches during the 5:00 news and it's supposed to rain all night and all day tomorrow. Sorry about the drought down there, but we are more than willing to share.
"I wanna go home (Paso). I'll go where God leads me. Just want to see the sun again."
His photo notes:
Another muddy creek from much rain.
Muddy Waters near Canby.
Rock and Water feature at Oregon City Mall.
Willamette Falls High Water.
Willamette River Under 205 Freeway in Oregon City.
Last, but not least is Mr. Just-Under-The-Wire's entry. Thanks, Don, for this great composition.
Thanks to everyone for their participation and interest in our little endeavor. Five posted pictures seems to be a bit overwhelming to me, so we'll go back to only featuring two, like before, next month. You can still send me up to five, but I'll only post two. Got it?
April is Spring Flower Month for me, so do your best to capture the excitement, color and the unusual as we tackle another challenge. And please, no artificial blooms and no artwork, just real flowers, preferably alive.
March 11, 2012
Another adventure scouting for spring color yesterday. We drove to Valley Springs, then on to some uncharted territory northeast through Paloma, continuing on Gwin Mine Road down to the Mokolumne River and the Middle Bar Bridge, then on up to Hwy 49 just south of Jackson. We stopped at the new access parking lot right across the bridge below Electra Road for a few shots, then back to Electra Road.
It is sad to report too little rain will most likely give far less color this year than the past few. We were early, though, and I only saw a few poppies, some spring vetch and a 2" lupine standing alone by the side of the road. We'll try to come back in a few weeks and see how much things have improved.
The water in the river is extremely low this year compared to last . . . down maybe 3' or more. Kayakers, beware!
March 10, 2012
Spring's the Thing
Wow! It's here! Well, almost. Hasn't rained all that much and a lot of last year's dead grass can still be seen in the countryside and foothills. No blooming to speak of going on yet out in the wild. But here in luverly ol' Stockton, you can drive over to Delta College and feast your eyes on some beautiful blooms, including a newly landscaped (this is year two) "Meadow Garden." Not huge, but it gives you the flavor of hillside lupine and a lot of other flowers thrown in.
Enjoy and thank God for giving us "all things beautiful" to enjoy.
March 2, 2012
Photo Tips and Hints
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