Animals, Black & White, Faust, Fisheye, Flowers, Football, Iowa State, Lensbaby, Music, Naima, Nature, Self-Portrait, Street Photography, WPC - Alternate

But You Broke Much More Than That

September 30, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

I took a ton of pictures on Saturday that are alternates for the BLACK & WHITE theme for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. So buckle up, this is going to be a long post. Even though most of these images can be broken into two different events.

1. Trip to Jester Park.
2. Iowa State football game.

No reason to keep dinking around. Here are the images from last Saturday:

I believe this is the 1st time I’ve seen Faust since before the pandemic. That is a damn shame!

Jester Park

I didn’t tailgate for the game on Saturday. Derrick and I got to stadium in time to catch the end of the warmups. I took in a cheap point & shoot I bought at a computer mine auction several years ago. I haven’t fired pixels through it in over 4 years. I didn’t take many game pictures for a variety of reasons, but I took plenty of pictures of the things that surround the game.

I love that they still use the Twitter logo. F Elon Musk.

I think it was a pretty good to great day!

Only one more pretty big sized collection of black & white images before we return to our normal broadcast schedule.

Animals, Art, Birthdays, Black & White, Elizabeth, Flowers, Iowa State, Macro, Nature, Still Life, Street Photography, WPC - Alternate

I’d Say You Broke My Heart

September 29, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

Today is Elizabeth’s birthday, so I have to wish her a happy birthday!

I hope your birthday is as amazing as you can handle! Filled with breakfast burritos without hashbrowns and/or Happy Joe’s Pizza!

+++++++

Today I’m going to share a collection of images I took last Friday for last week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. Because I got stuck at the Computer Mine a couple of nights earlier in the week I planned on leaving at 9 AM, but I hung on until 11 since there is a lot of sickly in my department.

I think I made lunch and then probably took a nap. The I took Naima to the vet for her shots. Then I went to Iowa State to maybe pick up some stuff for the game the next day. Then I went down to Ankeny to pickup a bunch of Iowa State stuff for future tailgates. I took pictures on a bunch of it.

Here is the collection of pictures from the day:

That is it for Friday, but there are two more days of black & white images left to share!

Animals, Flowers

Party of One

September 28, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

“Waiter, send this to the table, the party of one”
The only other lonely soul in this place
And so you’re finishing up your coffee, but then where you’re gonna run?
Where’d you get that look on your face?

You should always let the sun go down on your anger
Let it burn you to sleep
Bring it closer to danger, to surrender and retreat
Sing your sad soul to sleep

Don’t even think about your freedom or taking that flight
Or going back upon your promise after fighting for the right
Because your eggshells and your right statements
And your weaponized words, are paper tigers now

Oh, your constant overthinking and your secretive drinking
Are making it more and more alone
And girl, I could slam the door behind you, it ain’t never gonna close
Because when you’re home, you’re already home

I am tired
I am tired

I don’t wanna go home anymore
I don’t wanna throw stones anymore
I don’t wanna take part in the war

I loved you the first time I saw you
And you know I love you still
But I am tired
And I am yours

Oh, I am tired
But I’m coming home
-Brandi Carlile

This is the last song from the album “By the Way, I Forgive You” that I will use as a entry title. Leaving only one album of Brandi songs to use as entry titles for our Thursdays together.

While this song is about the complexity of any relationship, it was written in particular about the unique struggles same-sex couples face.

She told Billboard:

“I don’t think marriage is work, but I hear straight couples asked all the time, ‘Do you feel different now that you’re married?’ And they’re like, ‘Hell, no,’ because marriage is an institution they’ve had access to since the beginning of time. But it is different for us. That’s what [album-closer] ‘Party of One’ is about: No matter how epic the fight is, you always have to ask yourself what you can do to stay.”

And

This is a song about deep and enduring compassion. It’s about trying to navigate domesticity, love and particularly marriage whilst being willed to fail by those that would revoke that right if they could.

Brandi went on to re-record this song as a duet with Sam Smith to raise money for Children in Conflict.

But what does Children in Conflict do? From their website:

“When conflict happens our teams are one of the first to arrive. And when the dust settles, we are the last to leave. We respond to the urgent needs of vulnerable children in war-torn areas by providing critical support such as psychosocial care, reunification with families, places to feel safe, providing an education and equipping them with the skills for the future in Ukraine, Yemen, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic, Afghanistan and Iraq.”

But while I hope that provides you an even greater appreciation for Brandi, Thursday are for flowers! Yes, I know some of my flowertography haters were hoping this week’s dedication to black & white photography would give them a Thursday respite from flowertography. But my hater friends, there is no rest for the wicked.

Here is a small collection of flower pictures taken in my yard:

Next Thursday’s flowertography images will be even more pictures from my yard!

Animals, Art, Black & White, Candid Portrait, Flowers, Macro, Naima, Nature, Railroad, Self-Portrait, Still Life, Street Photography, Vest, Work

About Someone Who Loved You More

September 27, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

This collection of alternate images for last week’s theme for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE will include pictures I took on Wednesday and Thursday of last week. Most of them I took on my lunch break from the computer mine on Wednesday. I went to downtown Ames to talk to Derrick about the upcoming football game on Saturday, but he was actually at the bank. So I did wander around a little bit and do some street photography.

I got stuck working late yet again on Wednesday night, so I didn’t take many pictures in the evening.

Here is the collection of images from Wednesday:

On Thursday I woke up to a foggy morning. I had to work at the Computer Mine worldwide headquarters. So I snapped some pictures on the way there. Then I snapped a few pictures at work and then did some shopping after work. Then took a few more when I got home.

Here are the Thursday pictures:

A lot of examples in this collection for why I love black & white photography so much. Or one of the reasons. There is just so much play in the exposure control that you get with black & white that you don’t get with color photography. Which isn’t to say that it is less demanding, because if anything, it can be more demanding. However, there is so much latitude in exposure and some of the things that can destroy a color photo like grain (or digital noise) can actually enhance a black & white image.

4 days down, but believe you me… we are just starting to get warmed up.

Black & White, Christianity, Fisheye, Flowers, Naima, Nature, Railroad, Self-Portrait, Still Life, Street Photography, WPC - Alternate

But God, You Couldn’t Have Cared Less

September 26, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

I told you that BLACK & WHITE was my favorite theme and I wasn’t joking. I took a ton of BLACK & WHITE pictures for last week’s theme and every day (well almost every day) this week I’m going to share another collection of alternates. This first collection consists of the pictures that I took on Monday and Tuesday.

There is a rule in digital photography that you should never take pictures in black & white. You should take them in color and convert the images to black & white with editing software. The reason for this is because you can always take color away from a digital image, but you can’t add color back to it, if it was never there. (I mean, that is close enough to the truth. If you really wanted to you could make an attempt to add color to a black & white image, but it would probably come out looking like an outtake from THE INFENRAL CAULDRON.

Any Georges Méliès fans in the house? No? I’ll move on.

But I decided to ignore the rules and took all my pictures in “High Contrast Monochrome”. Cause you know how I feel about rules.

Rules are for fools.
Rules are for tools.
Rules are for ghouls.
Rules are for pools.

But rules for photography? Well, mostly they are guidelines that can and should be broken. From time to time.

I had big plans to get out there everyday and take plenty of beautiful, dare I say, tasty High Contrast Monochrome images. But right out of the bat, my Monday went south on me. There was a virtual mine collapse at the Computer Mine and I ended up working from 7 AM to nearly 11 PM. I only got a few pictures taken here and there while I was able to take a few breaks.

So most of the Monday images are just testing camera settings, playing with my old friend the fisheye and testing a point and shoot that I would need to use later in the week.

Here are the Monday images:

I swear that when I saw this image on the small screen I thought there was a reflection of Naima staring back at me from the lid of my grill. I mean it is an uncanny likeness.

This is actually “Rich Monochrome”. Basically a HDR black & white image. A setting, that has its uses, but I don’t love it.

My desk. Been thinking about building my own desk lately.

Test shot with the point & shoot

Tuesday I also wasn’t as active as I originally thought I might be. I actually got out of work on time, but I think Monday sucked my will to live out of me. I had a pretty lazy Tuesday. But I did get out of the house for a little bit to take Naima on a car ride and to take my neighbor’s cans to the can redemption center. I took a bit of street photography while I was out and about.

Here are Tuesday’s images:

Still so very, very, very, many black & white pictures to share with you guys!

Alexis, Amy, Andy, Angie, Bill, Black & White, Boone FUMC, Brandon, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Elizabeth, Faust, Funk, Jen, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Linda, Logan, Mary, Micky, Mindi, Monica, Nathanial, Sabas, Sara, Sarah Toot, Scottie D., Shannon, Sheri, Still Life, Tamara, Teresa, Vest, Willy, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 419 – BLACK AND WHITE

September 25, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

It is the last collection of submissions for the month of September, so it is a good time to revisit the THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE FAQ. I’ve noticed an uptick in small-sized submissions lately. It wouldn’t hurt to review the resolution FAQ if you haven’t looked at it lately.

Award winning photographers? Really?

Yes. I can think of at least 10 photographers that participate regularly that have won a photography award of some kind.

Is this a competition?
NO.

Is there a limit to the number of submissions I can have each week?

Yes. That limit is 3. If you send me more than 3, I will post the first 3 that you send. I’m not trying to harsh your photography buzz, but any more than that starts to overwhelm the other submissions and it takes me about 5 minutes to take a picture from my inbox to code it on the website. So I have to manage my workload. This limit is tentatively scheduled to go down to 2 at the beginning of 2024. Unless there is a sudden big falloff in participants.

If you are going to submit more than one picture, I strongly urge you to choose completely different subjects for each submission. If you are submitting multiple pictures of the same subject, make sure that each picture is saying something unique.

If participation rates climb, that limit of 3 is subject to lower.

Can I send you several pictures and have you pick the best one?

No! No! NO! If those words come out of your mouth or your keyboard, I consider that to be a non-submission.

Do you ever question whether somebody’s submission fits the theme?

Meh. Only if I think somebody is clearly confusing this week’s theme with last week or next week’s theme. Otherwise, if the submission makes sense in your head, that is good enough for me. However, I would urge you to not try to fit your favorite subject into the theme. This isn’t a challenge to share a picture every week of your kid or your business or your pet. It is a challenge to take pictures of different things every week. Which isn’t to say subjects can’t be repeated, but you shouldn’t become reliant on the same ones.

Why can’t I submit after 11 AM on Mondays if the post doesn’t publish until 12:01 PM?

I go to lunch at 11 AM. I leave my office. I’m not near a computer. At 11 AM I hit “Schedule” and then I go throw food down my throat. 167 hours is more than enough time to send a submission. Okay, 166 hours and 59 minutes. You got me.

Do I have to wait until Monday morning to submit?

Absolutely not! In fact I appreciate the submissions that make it to me by Sunday evening. Makes the job of putting this together on Monday morning much easier!

Are there resolution requirements for submissions?

I won’t turn down submissions that are too small. I will probably ask you for a picture of greater resolution if it is really small. The typical 4 x 6 image posted to my website has a resolution of 1280 pixels x 853 pixels. While a 400 x 300 image might look okay on your phone, it looks like trash on a computer monitor. I prefer images that are at least 1000 pixels at their widest point, but don’t ban smaller pictures at this point.

What format should my submission be?

.JPG but .PNG also works.

If I write a description of my image will you include that in your post?

No. Photography is art that should stand on its own. Only exception is the SLICE OF LIFE theme. But if you let me know where the picture was taken, I will include that.

When will you start accepting suggestions for next year’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE themes?

I will take suggestions only and ONLY in the comments sections of the THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE posts the last week of October and the 1st week of November.

+++++++

BLACK & WHITE! Everybody knows that it is my favorite theme, but did a bunch of people love it as much as I do to make it a popular theme? You’ll have to keep scrolling to find out!

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, September 18, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

1-Becky Parmelee – 1 week
2-Amy Peterson – 1 week
3-Ernie Redd – 1 week
4-Jen Ensley-Gorshe – 2 weeks
5-Susanna Funk – 3 weeks (2)
6-Scott Degeneffe – 4 weeks (2)
7-Sabas Hernandez – 5 weeks
8-Willy McAlpine – 5 weeks
9-Mary Green – 7 weeks (3)
10-Mike Vest – 11 weeks
11-Sheri Fakhouri – 14 weeks
12-Monica Jennings – 15 weeks
13-Logan Kahler – 15 weeks
14-Nathanial Brown – 16 weeks
15-Jesse Howard – 16 weeks
16-Tamara Peterson – 19 weeks
17-Alexis Stensland – 24 weeks (3)
18-Mindi Terrell – 31 weeks (3)
19-Brandon Kahler – 55 weeks
20-Linda Bennett – 60 weeks (3)
21-Sarah Toot – 61 weeks (2)
22-Angie DeWaard – 65 weeks
23-Dawn Krause – 69 weeks (2)
24-Kim Barker – 75 weeks (2)
25-Joe Duff – 76 weeks (3)
26-Teresa Kahler – 87 weeks (2)
27-Carla Stensland – 87 weeks (3)
28-Micky Augustin – 89 weeks
29-Andy Sharp – 90 weeks
30-Bill Wentworth – 91 weeks
31-Cathie Morton – 95 weeks
32-Elizabeth Nordeen – 96 weeks
33-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 98 weeks
34-Kio Dettman – 100 weeks (3)

But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates or streaks. You came to see the submissions and what streaks continued and what streaks flamed out:

Kio Dettman (Rural Ogden, Iowa) – 101 weeks

Kio Dettman (Boone, Iowa)

Shannon Bardole-Foley (Iowa) – 99 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Jack Trice Stadium – Ames, Iowa) – 97 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Jack Trice Stadium – Ames, Iowa)

Cathie Morton (Des Moines, Iowa) – 96 weeks

Cathie Morton (Ames, Iowa)

Bill Wentworth (Omaha, Nebraska) – 92 weeks

Andy Sharp (Boone, Iowa) – 91 weeks

Micky Augustin (Iowa) – 90 weeks

Carla Stensland (Ogden, Iowa) – 88 weeks

Carla Stensland (Sioux City, Iowa)

Carla Stensland (Boxholm, Iowa)

Teresa Kahler (Iowa) – 88 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Boone, Iowa)

Teresa Kahler (Iowa State University – Ames, Iowa)

Joe Duff (Houston, Texas) – 77 weeks

Kim Barker (Ames, Iowa) – 76 weeks

Dawn Krause (Cannes, France) – 70 weeks

Dawn Krause (Rome, Italy)

Dawn Krause (Koper, Slovenia)

Angie DeWaard (Scottsdale, Arizona) – 66 weeks

Sarah Toot (Baltimore, Maryland) 62 weeks

Sarah Toot (Baltimore, Maryland)

Linda Bennett (Kansas) – 61 weeks

Brandon Kahler (Iowa) – 56 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa) – 32 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa)

Alexis Stensland (Iowa) – 25 weeks

Alexis Stensland (Iowa)

Tamara Peterson (Iowa) – 20 weeks

Nathanial Brown (Galesburg, Illinois) – 17 weeks

Nathanial Brown (Princeton, Illinois)

Jesse Howard (Grimes, Iowa) – 17 weeks

Logan Kahler (Near Luther, Iowa) – 16 weeks

Logan Kahler (High Trestle Trail Bridge – Boone County, Iowa)

Monica Jennings (Ogden, Iowa) – 16 weeks

Monica Jennings (Ogden, Iowa)

Sheri Fakhouri (Elite Eye Care – Ankeny, Iowa) – 15 weeks

Sheri Fakhouri (Elite Eye Care – Ankeny, Iowa)

Mike Vest (Madrid, Iowa) – 12 weeks

Mary Green (Holt, Michigan) – 8 weeks

Willy McAlpine (Albuergue in Foncebadón – Spain) – 6 weeks

Sabas Hernandez (Niagara Falls, New York) – 6 weeks

Scott Degeneffe (Boone County, Iowa) – 5 weeks

Scott Degeneffe (Carroll, Iowa)

Susanna Funk (Dallas County, Iowa) – 4 weeks

Jen Ensley-Gorshe (Houston, Texas) – 3 weeks

Amy Peterson (Iowa) – 2 weeks

Amy Peterson (Iowa)

Corey Faust (Jack Trice Stadium – Ames, Iowa) – 1 week

Sara Lockner (Johnston, Iowa) – 1 week

Christopher D. Bennett (Boone, Iowa)

35 participants!! That is a great week! I know I’m prejudiced, but I think this is one of the best collection of submissions. Every week there are at least a couple of pictures where i think, “I wish I had taken that picture.” This week there were more than usual!

No new states added this week, but at this point that is to be expected. One new country though. Dawn submitted the first picture from Italy this calendar year!

There were submissions this week taken in the following places:

+ Arizona
+ France
+ Kansas
+ Illinois
+ Iowa
+ Italy
+ Maryland
+ Michigan
+ New York
+ Slovenia
+ Spain
+ Texas

Here is the current calendar year list for states:

+ Arizona
+ Arkansas
+ California
+ Colorado
+ Florida
+ Georgia
+ Idaho
+ Illinois
+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Kentucky
+ Louisiana
+ Maryland
+ Michigan
+ Minnesota
+ Missouri
+ Montana
+ Nebraska
+ New Hampshire
+ New Jersey
+ New York
+ Nevada
+ North Carolina
+ North Dakota
+ Ohio
+ Oklahoma
+ Oregon
+ Pennsylvania
+ South Carolina
+ South Dakota
+ Tennessee
+ Texas
+ Utah
+ Vermont
+ Washington
+ Washington D.C.
+ Wisconsin
+ Wyoming

37 states and 1 district! That is pretty impressive! Over 70% of the way there!

he Outside of the United States map is currently:

+ Alto del Perdon – Spain
+ British Virgin Islands
+ Mexico (General)
+ Isla Mujeres, Mexico
+ Riviera Maya, Mexico
+ Nassau Bahamas
+ Ontario, Canada
+ Vallunareju Norte – Peru
+ Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
+ Puenta de la Reina, Spain
+ St. John pied de port, France
+ Vienna, Austria
+ Munich, Germany
+ Rome, Italy
+ Cannes, France
+ Koper, Slovenia

The big milestone this week was Faust’s first ever submission!! I don’t know if it will lead to more submissions in the future, but I certainly hope it does.

On a personal note, watching the Iowa State-Ohio “football” game last week was an absolutely soul crushing experience. The only reason I didn’t give up on the season is because the Big 12 is hot garbage this year and I thought there was still the chance to win a few games.

Then this week… an entirely different football team showed up. I know part of that was that they were over the virus that plagued the team last week. However, you may have noticed that both Elizabeth and Faust were at the game (not together, they don’t know each other) for the first time this season. Suddenly Iowa State doesn’t suck. One of them is clearly good luck and they both better go to every game the rest of the season.

One thing I’ve learned in my long tenure as an Iowa State fan, I am not good luck. But I digress…

There weren’t any other big milestones reached this week. But we are closing in on some big ones next week. However, there was some heartache. Becky and Ernie could not build on their submissions from last week. Their streaks are over before they even began.

But enough dwelling on the past. Time to look to the future. We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives. And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future! This week’s theme:

ARCHITECTURE

ARCHITECTURE! What a great theme for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what exactly is an ARCHITECTURE image? It is an image where the focus is on buildings or structures. It is image of the interior or exterior of buildings, bridges, structures, or cityscapes.

While considering the building and/or structure you want to photograph, meditate on the following quote and I have no doubt you will create a great image:

Buildings are deeply emotive structures which form our psyche.
-David Adjaye

I look forward to seeing your interpretation!

RULES

The picture has to be taken between 12:01 PM today and 11 AM next Monday. This isn’t a curate your photos project. This is a get your butt off the couch (unless you are taking your picture from the couch) and take pictures challenge. There is a limit of 3 submissions per participant. To be considered the photographer, you have to be the one that takes the picture. Don’t be stealing the work of other artists. You can submit pictures for other photographers that took pictures with your camera or phone, but give credit where credit is due.

You can send your images to either bennett@photography139.com OR you may text them to my Pixel 5.

That is it. Thems the rules!

That is all I got, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will all be sharing your idea of ARCHITECTURE in this place that is built on an Apache infrastructure I should next Monday.

Elizabeth, Self-Portrait, Still Life, Tenderloining

Food Truckin’: Lincoln Way and Duff Field Work

September 24, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

I have to give credit to Elizabeth. She would get the finder’s fee for this place if I gave people finder’s fee. Which isn’t to say that she has eaten there, but she recommended that I try it. She’s pretty good at making recommendations for restaurants she hasn’t tried. Curious.

Based on this “recommendation”, I made my way down to the corner of Lincoln Way and Duff to give a food truck by the name of The Sandwich Stop a try.

Here are some pictures:

I went with the Turkey Melt. Their menu describes it like this:

“Our turkey melt sandwich is piled on our house bread with tender turkey slices, tomatoes, mayo and crispy bacon between two pieces of gooey melted swiss cheese.”

It was 12 bucks and came with chips and a free drink. I’m not sure the drink was normally free or if they just threw me a free drink cause they like the cut of my jib.

The turkey melt was fantastic. Not a giant sandwich for somebody of my known appetites, but definitely delicious. I would get it again in a second.

However, this trip isn’t without its cautionary tale. Because the drink was unexpectedly free and I am mostly off the high fructose corn syrup sauce these days, I decided to go with the True North Black Cherry Pure Energy Seltzer. This was a huge mistake and I should have known it was going to be a huge mistake. I don’t like energy drinks and I don’t like seltzer. This drink was the worst of both worlds. I had maybe 2 swigs of it and then threw the demon spawn juice into the woods behind the Computer Mine.

I quickly took another bite of the delectable turkey melt and tried to forget about what had just transpired.

Here is a little bit about the Sandwich Stop from their website:

What can we say? We’re obsessed with sandwiches.

We are three brothers, Niko, Lukas & NJ Savage, with a special love for food and cooking. After we graduated from Iowa State we decided to get together and open our own Sandwich Stop Food Truck. The truck will specialize in rich, juicy, hot grilled sandwiches. We will also feature our very unique Brazilian sweet sandwiches. Come check us out and experience eating your sandwich with our own dipping sauce.

They are based out of The Quarters Apartments in Ames based on their website (sandwichstoptruck.com). But I have seen them out and about at other festivals. Including Jefferson, just 8 day ago. I’m not sure if they have a Facebook or an Instagram because there are links built into the website, but it doesn’t seem like the website has been fully programmed.

So to cut to the chase. Would I eat their again? I definitely would. Someday I want to try their Nutella Banana Grilled Cheese or their Touchdown Melt.

Next Sunday’s food adventure will involve another stop on the Tenderloin Trail 2.0.

Animals, Art, Logan, Macro, Naima, Railroad, Self-Portrait

As the Girls You Had Before

September 23, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

Time to start firing away on the 2023 backlog. This is a collection of pictures I took in January that really didn’t fit into any other posts. Some were pictures of my beard before I shaved. Some are from Madrid. Some are of elk in Jester Park. Some might be disturbing. Some might not be disturbing enough.

I hope you enjoy this collection:

Logan took these first 2 pictures.

It always feels good to clear up some of the backlog. There is still more backlog from January left to share.

Art, Carla, Music, Road Trip, Still Life, Street Photography, Teresa

What Cheer Flea Market – 2023

September 22, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

Back in early May Teresa, Carla, and I loaded up in the car and trucked to What Cheer for one of their flea markets. It is one of (maybe the) the largest flea markets in Iowa. I’ve never been to a bigger one. They hold it 3 times a year and it takes up the entirety of the Keokuk County Fairgrounds.

We got there on Sunday, so some of the vendors were tearing down or had already left, so we didn’t get to see the flea market in all of its majesty, but that is okay. There still is one more this year from October 6 through October 7.

Here are some pictures from the day:

Do you call it Walking Taco or Taco in a Bag? Think carefully. There is only one right answer.

I want this in my yard so bad!

The only thing I came home with, besides a bunch of memories and photos is and Iowa State squirrel feeder. Unfortunately I’m currently out of corn because the ground squirrels (I assume) found my bag of corn and broke into it and ate all the corn. Leaving me nothing but a bag of cobs.

If you are interested in more information of the What Cheer Flea Market, you can visit their website here:

What Cheer Flea Market

5 stars. Would recommend.

Next Friday I will share pictures from a trip to the Orange City Tulip Festival I made with Nader and Jesse.

Flowers, Nature, Photoshop

Harder to Forgive

September 21, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

I love the songs I hated when I was young
Because they take me back where I come from
When every broken heart seemed like the end
When everyone was someone different then

But I can’t be alone in a crowded room
Where my thoughts, they run like water down a flume
There are days when I will let the darkness rise
I don’t always choose to stay on the sunny side

Yes, my life has seen some wasted time
I have suffered for the peace inside my mind
And some things are better left unsaid
While some things work out different when they’re in your head

But I’m not sorry for the things I say
Sometimes I let my mouth just run away
And I believe that all souls are born kind
And that all love lost comes back in time

And even if the world is really round
And all the maps are painted upside down
So if you stand in one place for too long
Everything around you will be gone

Well, I’m not gonna miss you when I go
Now the part of me that’s left wants you to know
That I’m not gonna jump towards the light
The one to believe choose the night

Sometimes I pretend we never met (ooh)
Because it’s harder to forgive than to forget
Sometimes it’s harder to forgive
-Brandi Carlile

This is the second to last song title I’m going use as a journal entry title from Brandi’s 2018 album “By the Way, I Forgive You”. Obviously the theme of the album is forgiveness and it spawns from Brandi’s forgiveness of a Pastor.

She said this in a NPR interview:

Well,(forgiveness) it kind of appeared out of my record, and my writing process, like a sculpture would appear when you take the pieces of stone away that don’t belong: I didn’t realize that that’s what I was writing about until I was looking back on it. But it’s a word that I think is kind of evangelicalized … or glossed over by kind of a “hashtag blessed” way of looking at it. It’s a really radical and ugly, difficult process that, you know, great beauty comes from.

She took to social media to write about the pastor and to urge people to share their stories about forgiveness. This is what she wrote:

I forgive you for deciding not to baptize me when I was a teenager for being gay.
It was not so much that you wouldn’t or couldn’t do it because of the tenants put in place by the baptist rules and traditions, but because you waited until all my family and friends were present and waiting in the pews for the ceremony.

I don’t believe you did it to humiliate me – I think you struggled with the decision and simply ran out of time… I think you probably still do struggle with it.

I’d like you to know that I still love you and that I understand we’re all on a journey together, trying our best to walk through the world with honor and dignity – but what I want you to know most of all is that you did not damage my faith. Not in god, not in humanity and not in myself.

The experience inspired me to help other gay kids and my spiritual LGBTQ brothers and sisters come to terms with the disappointments they’ve endured on the rugged road to peace and acceptance. I think you’d appreciate that process.

You’ve helped far more people than you’ve hurt and you helped me too.

Thank you

I admire Brandi for her forgiveness and for not letting this pastor damage her faith in god, humanity or herself. It is easier to say you forgive than it is to actually forgive and that is another reason I admire Brandi.

But enough on forgiveness. I need to share some flower pictures, since Thursdays are for flowers and if I don’t share some flowertography some you may not forgive me. Others won’t forgive me because I will share flowertography. I forgive those people too.

These flower pictures were taken of the red bud trees in Red Haw State Park near Chariton. I’m sharing more than usual, so buckle up:

I know there are people that will hate this technique. I get it, but I think it is okay in the right way. Is this the right way? I’ll let the people being the judge.

I don’t know if anybody else experiences this or this is a failing that is exclusive to me, but on occasion I’m photographing a place this is just so naturally beautiful, but I get the feeling I’m absolutely failing to remotely do it justice in any way shape or form. This is one of those times.

Sometimes I get back home and start scrolling through the pictures on the big screen and that feeling wins. I didn’t do it justice. This wasn’t one of those times. I’m actually pleased with these images. Even if I am danger of breaking an arm to pat myself on my back.

Red Haw State Park was hit by a tornado in 2022. You can definitely tell it was hit pretty hard as there are so many trees gone and parts of the park that still aren’t open. I can only imagine how beautiful it was before the tornado.

The next collection of flower images will come from flowers in my yard.

Photography 139

Monthly Archives: September 2023

But You Broke Much More Than That

I’d Say You Broke My Heart

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Party of One

About Someone Who Loved You More

But God, You Couldn’t Have Cared Less

WPC – WEEK 419 – BLACK AND WHITE

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RULES

Food Truckin’: Lincoln Way and Duff Field Work

As the Girls You Had Before

What Cheer Flea Market – 2023

What Cheer Flea Market

Harder to Forgive