Tag: Photography

Worship

~ oneletterup ~ 3 Comments

This post inspired by Frank at Dutch goes the Photo

The prompt: Worship

 

When my daughter was 10 months old, we brought her with us to the Christmas Eve service at the local First Congregational Church. In the town we had moved to a few years earlier. She sat on our laps, quietly eating Cheerios, entranced by the other people…the organ music…the choirs…the candlelight. A few months later she was baptized in this same church. We became members and six years later her brother was baptized there as well.

We attended worship services as a family throughout their childhoods. Making friends at Sunday School. Children’s choir. High School Youth Group. Mission trips. Holiday fairs. Christmas pageants. Church dinners. They grew up knowing a church family as well as their own. Who watched them change from toddlers who raced around during coffee hour…to poised young adults speaking from the lectern.

When a new baby is born into a church member’s family, a celebratory rose is placed on the chancel rail in the sanctuary.

Three years ago a rose was displayed…to celebrate the birth of our grandson…

One bright sunny Sunday morning…near the spot…
where his mother was baptized over 30 years before.

chancel rail
June 2016

Numbers

~ oneletterup ~ 10 Comments

This post inspired by V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #44: Numerology

 

7 tomatoes

 

Did you notice the unit number?

Yes, I did.

Well?

…I’m going to let it go.

…and that was that. My husband could exhale.

The 3 digit unit number for our potential new condo added up to 13. A possible deal breaker. Theoretically. Based on past history. I won’t even book plane seats in row 13.

I hold fast to the significance of there being almost exactly 3 months between the birth dates of my husband, my 2 children and myself. And that my birth date involves multiples of the same number. The symmetry of their birth date numbers (all containing an 8) offers a strange comfort…which I have never questioned.

I was the first child of 5, born into a family of 7. Odd numbers. Still pondering that.

When bad things happen, I’m not surprised when the 3rd follows the first 2.

Even – rather than odd – numbers just make more sense. After all, you have 10 fingers. 10 toes. 2 hands. And so on. At least that’s the plan, if you’re born lucky.

Using V.J.’s link, I looked up my life path number. Which turned out to be 7. The personality traits, according to the Numerology theory…are surprisingly (or not so surprisingly…) spot on for the most part. Especially the part about “always looking for the answers….”

When we bought our first home in 1980 and realized the house number matched what had been our first apartment number, I knew it was meant to be. And it was.

However…36 years later…in 2016…I could not make the rest of our lives contingent on such things as…numbers. And, one might say, superstition.

Fortunately the square footage numbers added up to 17.

So far, so good.

 

Delicious

~ oneletterup ~ 26 Comments

This post inspired by the Lens-Artist Challenge #41

The prompt: Delicious.

 

So many choices for delicious.

I’ll start with my favorite dinner…

salmon dinner
My favorite dinner: salmon and veggies

 

and one of my favorite fruits…

peaches
fresh peaches

 

and last, but certainly not least, my favorite cookies…

Pineapple Nut cookies
Pineapple Nut Cookies

Frosted Pineapple Nut Cookies…a recipe originating with my Nursery School teacher Mrs. Milton.

The very definition of deliciousness. Even made gluten free.

My daughter baked these for me.
An extra special Christmas gift.

 

April 17th Update:

Recipe for delicious cookies as requested by Shelley at Quaint Revival
Screen Shot 2019-04-17 at 12.03.05 PM

 

 

 

Fire

~ oneletterup ~ 5 Comments

Nancy Merrill is hosting a photo challenge. The theme this week – Fire

 
“Parents’ Weekend” (and later, as it became known…”Family Weekend”) for those of us who had kids in college…was a chance to visit at the beginning of the school year. To check in with our college student. Perhaps sit in on a class. Eat in the dining hall. Meet their new friends. Get a small glimpse of what this new life was like. I looked forward to those weekends every year.

However, it could be awkward. For newly independent 18 year olds shepherding their parents around campus. Fortunately, activities were planned. Tours. Speakers. Student performances and Acapella groups abounded.

One year…something extra special happened…

My daughter went to college in Providence, Rhode Island. One parents’ weekend evening we experienced WaterFire. A yearly event that began in 1994. Close to 100 floating braziers/bonfires lit up the river running through downtown. Accompanied by beautiful recorded instrumental music. An almost mystical experience. Definitely unique. And memorable.

 

waterfire 2001
WaterFire Providence
October 2001

Photo: 35mm

Tuesday Photo Challenge – Cake

~ oneletterup ~ 16 Comments

This post inspired by Frank at Dutch goes the Photo

The prompt: Cake

 

“Honey, could you please get me a cake of soap?”

I remember my grandmother asking me that question – under what circumstances I have no idea.

I asked her what she meant…and she explained.

It was the term used back in her day. When soap was made in large blocks. A slice for personal use was called a cake. She preferred Camay. And later on, Ivory.

 

 

cakes of soap
Cakes of Soap 2019

 

And…oddly enough…now that I think about it…she was also the grandmother who made all of her grandchildren’s birthday cakes.
Every year. From scratch!
We chose the flavor.
Mine was coconut.

 

1971 oma cake
Oma 1971

 

 

 

 

 

Path

~ oneletterup ~ 17 Comments

If you stop to be kind you must swerve often from your path.

Mary Webb

 

I have stopped watching the nightly news. Which is totally unlike me. Usually wanting to know…What Is Going On. The importance of being informed and up-to-date was always at the top of my list. Part of being a responsible citizen.

It seems to me there used to be more balance. The good and the evil. The positive and the negative. Now all I do is wince. Our leaders fighting. Shouting. Accusing. Deaf to the voices of reason…or fairness…or empathy. Especially empathy. Unwilling to even pause and consider a different path.

Nightly Breaking News punches story after story. Announcements line up in 10 second sound bites. Assault…Abuse…Cheating…Lying…. Young child missing…young child found in a shallow grave. Inconsolable parent. Another shooting. Blurry security camera video. One more senseless loss of a sister, a brother.

The news anchor drones on, his face barely changing expression. Night after night.

Rarely would I see kindness…until the final 2 minutes of the broadcast. Showcasing an act of generosity. Compassion. Selflessness.

Good to know there are people still out there…
On a different path.

They deserve more than two minutes of air time.

 

 

walking trail

 

CFFC – Walks, Trails, Sidewalks

 

 

Photo a Week – Sunshine

~ oneletterup ~ 8 Comments

Nancy Merrill is hosting a photo challenge. The theme this week – Sunshine

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO (OR MORE) OF SUNSHINE

 

When the sun is shining, everything feels a bit better.
Warmer.
Creating a bright space for peeking.
Out a doorway.
Or a window.
Through the trees.

Inspiring songs, poems, smiles…and photographs.

A favorite part of living across the street from the ocean for 3 months?
This view out the balcony door on a magnificent sunny day…

sunshine beach

 

 

A favorite part of taking a walk last Saturday?
Discovering the sunshine…framing the trees.
Behind the main street…down a short hill…next to the river…
In my new hometown.

sunshine river