Most of the pictures in the folder 2010-07-19 are of the remains of a pair of downtown Boone buildings that caught fire. Then there are some flower pictures as well.
Have a look:
By adding these pictures to the Photography 139 Gallery, I was able to restore the following historic “An Artist’s Notebook” entries to their original glory:
Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve Jen and Derrick.
This is a reminder that at this point you have 1 hour to get your picks in for my NCAA Tournament Pool. Click on the link below to get started:
Good luck!
I need to wish my Aunt Linda a happy birthday today. Happy birthday Aunt Linda!
I hope your birthday is as amazing as you want it to be!
A couple months back I traveled the roads of Jasper County to harvest their town signs. Here is a collection of the non-town sign pictures I took on that trip:
Kellogg, Iowa
Oakland Acres, Iowa – A town that shoves it in the face of towns that don’t “heart” their children.
Lynnville, Iowa
Sully, Iowa
Monroe, Iowa
I absolutely love this church motto.
I want to visit Jasper County again this year and go to their drive-in movie theater. One of only like 3 left in the state.
This is your reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is STREET PHOTOGRAPHY:
It is here. Judgement Day. The last theme that didn’t get double digit submissions. STREET PHOTOGRAPHY. 76 weeks ago. September 23, 2019.
There were only 7 submissions from 7 people:
+ Jen Ensley-Gorshe
+ Andy Sharp
+ Kim Barker
+ Humble Narrator
+ Stephanie Kim
+ Tamara Peterson
+ Jesse Howard
But what is STREET PHOTOGRAPHY? Why is it so scary and intimidating?
Sorry, Chris from 5 seconds ago. I reject your premise. STREET PHOTOGRAPHY isn’t scary or intimidating. It is awesome!
Some of the best and most famous photographers in history were STREET PHOTOGRAPHYers.
+ Dorothea Lange
+ Helen Levitt
+ Diane Arbus
+ Robert Frank
+ Fan Ho
+ Vivian Maier
+ Robert Doisneau
+ Henri Cartier-Bresson
Okay, great, you are thinking, but you still haven’t defined STREET PHOTOGRAPHY. Is it pictures of a street? No, but it is photography that often takes place on the streets.
Here is the best definition: “conducted for art or enquiry that features unmediated chance encounters and random incidents within public places.”
The 2 most important things. RANDOM and PUBLIC. STREET PHOTOGRAPHY is often mistaken for CANDID PORTRAITS. STREET PHOTOGRAPHY has to be done in a public place. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a portrait. It can be a piece of art. It can be a building. It can be a sign. It doesn’t have to be on a street. It can be at a sporting event. It can be at an art festival. A farmer’s market. The most common place would be a business district. It only has to meet those 2 criteria: public and random.
What is public? I mean that is pretty obvious. It can’t be in your house or in your friend’s house. It has to be somewhere in the public. Where other people can be.
What is random? That simply means that you didn’t go to wherever you went with the intent of taking that picture. Something about the place you went to compelled you to take that picture. You may have went there to take a picture, but not a pre-planned picture.
Some people think of STREET PHOTOGRAPHY as candid portraits. It isn’t, but it certainly can be. However, the picture can be of street art like the example. Egene Atget, was the first STREET PHOTOGRAPHYer. He took pictures of buildings.
I’ll make one last comparison. STREET PHOTOGRAPHY is to photography what jazz is to music. It is all about improvisation. This is perhaps why I love it so much.
Okay, one last thing. Most of the great STREET PHOTOGRAPHYers worked in black & white. I’m not saying your submission should be in black & white, but it is something to think about.
Also, think about this quote before thinking about your STREET PHOTOGRAPHY creation:
“The marvels of daily life are exciting; no movie director can arrange the unexpected you find in the street.”
-Robert Doisneau
Happy photo harvesting!
This is a reminder that at this point you have 24 hours to get your picks in for my NCAA Tournament Pool. Click on the link below to get started:
Good luck!
Note: As of this writing, Iowa State hasn’t made it official that T.J. Otzelberger is Iowa State’s head coach. I will write about that when they make it official.
Today’s collection of old-timey postcard recreations are of churches in Boone. Featured in here is the Central Christian Church, the First Baptist Church, the Augustana Lutheran Church and the Open Bible Church. I’ve already covered some of the history of the Augustana Lutheran Church and the First Baptist Church, so I won’t rehash that, so here is some history of the Central Christian Church. A church that will always have a special place in my heart, because it was the church of my Grandma and Grandpa Paris. I’ve been to many a family function at that church, but now I don’t think I have a single family member that goes there. Here is a brief history:
For well over 100 years, Central Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) has served the community of Boone, Iowa and surrounding areas. Our first church building was dedicated in 1876, the same year the church was founded. A second church structure was erected and dedicated to replace the first building in 1893; that building was destroyed by fire was replaced in 1903. An education building with classrooms and office space was added to the north of the 1903 sanctuary, and was dedicated on Mary 23, 1954. The Fellowship Hall, Fireside Room and kitchen were dedicated in 1970. A modern Sanctuary, Library and Choir Room were dedicated in 1979.
Twenty-nine ministers have served the church as “settled” or permanent pastors since 1884, including one associate minister who served alongside a senior minister from 1993 to 1998. The Rev. G. H. Sutton served the longest pastorate of approximately twelve years from 1930 to 1942. The average pastorate length is four and a half years.
The Open Bible Church has a very weak history section on their website, but here it is:
Open Bible Church has a long history in Boone. The church has been affiliated with Open Bible Churches of Des Moines, Iowa, for over 70 years. It has been at its current location since 1986 and was expanded in 2008.
At least there is something I guess.
Now, I mentioned in the past that the Augustan Lutheran Church and Central Christian Churches swapped buildings in 1895. From the Augustana Lutheran website:
A new church was built in 1879 and a parsonage in 1885. Because passing trains often disturbed the services, in 1895 the property was traded, along with $3000 to the Christian Church for the property at 7th and Carroll Streets. In 1901, a new parsonage was built next to the church. In 1910, a basement was put under the church and extensive repairs were made.
This always confused me because the site of the Central Christian Church is a mere 1 block closer to the railroad tracks than the Augustana Lutheran Church. But there is two things I didn’t understand. That the building that Lutherans traded to the Central Christian Church wasn’t on the corner of 8th and Greene AND the railroad tracks weren’t in the same location as they currently are. Now it makes sense.
Look at this chunk of a map of Boone from 1896:
You can see in that map that in 1896, the year after the trade, the Central Christian Church was on Crawford Street, between 7th and 8th. Not on the corner of 7th and Carroll. And right against the railroad tracks. Also, you will notice that back then Augustana Lutheran was called Swedish Lutheran AND the Open Bible Church had not been built yet.
We’ll also consult this map again in a couple of weeks, but for now, here are some old-timey recreations:
Central Christian Church, Boone, Iowa – Redux
Seventh and Carroll Streets, Boone, Iowa – Original
Seventh and Carroll Streets, Boone, Iowa – Redux
First Baptist Church – Boone – Iowa – 2203 – Original
First Baptist Church – Boone – Iowa – 2203 – Redux
This might be the end of church related postcards. I haven’t really come across any others, but the search continues. The next time we check-in with THE POSTCARD RECREATION PROJECT will involve schools.
I did want to make a personal announcement of minor consequence. Today, my credit card balance is officially back to zero. I didn’t have much credit card balance, but it hadn’t been back down to zero for a few years. Here is the happy moment:
So the only person that has anything on me is my mortgage company. At least until my next car purchase, but that is probably about 2 years away.
This batch of pictures for THE POSTCARD RECREATION PROJECT feature the old Boone depot for the Interurban Railroad. Also known as the Fort Dodge, Des Moines, and Southern Railroad. Also known as The Fort Dodge Line.
The old Boone depot doesn’t exist any longer, so I had to do a little bit of research to figure out where it once was and I had to do that research because I thought I knew where it was, but I was wrong. I knew it was on Story Street, but I thought it was on the west side of the street and on the south side of the tracks. Where the current Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad Downtown Depot stands. However, it was actually on the east side of Story Street and the north side of the railroad tracks. I deduced this by looking at addresses in old phone books, a video on YouTube of trains on the line from 1950-55 and also, I confirmed it with my Mom, who used to ride the Interurban to visit family in Fraser as a kid.
Here is some historic information on this railroad from American Rails.com:
The Fort Dodge, Des Moines & Southern Railway (reporting marks FDDM) was officially incorporated during the first decade of the 20th century to serve the state capitol of Iowa with points north as an interurban road. However, the history of its line dates as far back as the 1880s, as a standard rail line moving coal from mines in the northern regions of the state. In many ways the FDDM&S (or sometimes referred to as the FtDDM&S or just as its slogan, “The Fort Dodge Line”) never acted like a true interurban although it was once electrically operated and used trolley/interurban equipment. Freight was just as important as passengers and this concept allowed the company to thrive for many years, well after the interurban industry collapsed after the 1920s despite its very high operating ratio. Eventually, the road dieselized and was acquired by the Chicago & North Western in the late 1960s which promptly abandoned it less than 20 years later. Today, part of the route is operated by the Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad.
The earliest beginnings of the Fort Dodge, Des Moines and Southern Railway started with the Crooked Creek Railroad, a three-foot narrow-gauge line chartered in 1875. The CCR would complete an eight-mile route from Judd, near Fort Dodge and a connection with the Illinois Central, to Lehigh and a cluster of coal mines. Ten years after it began the CCR upgraded its route to standard-gauge and shortly thereafter in 1892 it purchased the Webster City & Southwestern Railroad. The WC&S was another coal hauler, connecting to the CCR and running 14 miles east to Webster City. These two railroads essentially made up the northern lines of what would later become the FDDM&S. To the south, in 1893, another predecessor was chartered, the Boone Valley Coal & Railway Company.
This system, also a coal hauler, built a small line serving mines near Fraser (northwest of Boone) to nearby Fraser Junction and a connection with the much larger Minneapolis & St. Louis Railway. In 1899, the owners of the BVC&R chartered the Marshalltown & Dakota Railway as an additional coal route with high aspirations of pushing this system from Newton (east of Des Moines) to Sibley, Iowa in the state’s northwest corner. Along the way the line would pass through towns such as Fraser, Story City, Gowerie, and Rockwell City. In 1901 it was renamed as the Boone, Rockwell City & Northwestern Railway, and again in 1902 as the Newton & Northwestern. By 1905 the line was opened from Newton to Rockwell City and also had a branch to Colfax. While over 100 miles in length it never made it any further towards Sibley. New owners acquired the N&NW in 1905 and again renamed property, this time as the Fort Dodge, Des Moines and Southern Railroad.
While the FDDM&S continued to concentrate on coal it also began to focus on the movement of gypsum near Fort Dodge and general industry located around Des Moines. Additionally, its owners began looking at electrifying part of the railroad as an interurban. It remained focused, however, on freight and in 1906 purchased the Ames & College Street Railway to serve that town. After completing an extension from Hope to Fort Dodge, and establishing an interchange with the Des Moines & Central Iowa it now had a through route between both of the state’s major cities (easily Iowa’s largest interurban). Service along the entire route opened on November 4, 1907. Soon after, its owners realized that the the N&NW’s route from Newton to Rockwell City offered a non-sustainable freight potential and decided to electrifying only part of the route between Hope and Midvale on a 1,200-volt, DC system.
In 1911 the Midvale to Newton section of the N&NW was abandoned and much of the entire FDDM&S route was electrified to some extent. Small editions continued to be added, including a branch from Kelley to Ames (which finally directly connected its Ames & College Street subsidiary) and the purchase of the aforementioned Crooked Creek Railroad in 1916. This route was also energized. For freight service the railroad utilized second-hand General Electric-built freight motors (it acquired more beginning in 1942 from the Oregon Electric) and used Niles Car & Manufacturing Company interurban cars for passenger operations. Part of the reason for the road’s success was not only due to its freight traffic but also had numerous interchange partners (sometimes in more than one location) with Class I lines including the Milwaukee Road, Illinois Central, Chicago & North Western, Burlington, and Rock Island.
The Great Depression hit the line hard and it fell into receivership in 1930, emerging in 1942 as the Fort Dodge, Des Moines and Southern Railway. Beginning in 1954 the FDDM&S began dieselizing its motive power roster while at the same time ended virtually all of its remaining passenger services (branch line services began to be discontinued as early as 1926). Its diesels consisted almost entirely of General Electric products, 44-tonners and 70-tonners along with a Plymouth 65-ton switcher. In 1955 the railroad was purchased by the Salzburg family, which owned a number of shortlines including the Louisiana & North West and Wellsville, Addison & Galeton.By the 1960s the railroad had cut back to its main line between Des Moines and Fort Dodge with the eastern extension to Webster City. It also was still operating a remaining section of the N&NW between Hope and Gowrie. In 1968 the C&NW acquired the FDDM&S from Salzburg and, unfortunately, was not kind to the road. It immediately began cutting back services and by 1983 was looking to abandon the entire Fort Dodge-Des Moines route. Part of the system, a 12-mile section between Wolf and Boone was spared, and is now operated as the tourist line Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad.
That is a lot of history to digest. I found 3 postcards of the old depot and it is a shame that it was torn down. It might not have been a beautiful building, but it was interesting. I hope that somewhere the big concrete Boone at the top of the depot has been preserved, but I’m sure it was probably destroyed with the building.
I decided to only recreate 2 of the 3 postcards, because 2 postcards of a building that doesn’t exist is enough. I also created a modern interpretation of a postcard of the Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad’s downtown depot:
FTDDMS Depot at Boone Iowa – Redux
Interurban Depot, Boone, Iowa – Original
Interurban Depot, Boone, Iowa – Redux
Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad Downtown Depot – Modern Interpretation
Next time we check in with THE POSTCARD RECREATION PROJECT, it will involve some Boone churches.
This is your reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is PICTURE IN PICTURE:
A PICTURE IN PICTURE image isn’t just an outdated feature on a television (maybe it still exists but I haven’t used it since 1983), but it is an existing picture(s) put in your PICTURE. There are several ways to do this. One is simply to photograph an photograph that is on your wall. Another way to do this is grab a box of old prints (for you young bucks, people used to get their pictures “developed” and printed on photo paper) and spread them across a table or floor and take a picture of it. You can organize them in a way that makes sense to you, or just spread them out and enjoy the chaos. Another way to do this would be to open up a folder of images on your computer and use the Snipping tool to create an image of digital thumbnails. I’m sure there is also a way to do this on a Mac, but it probably involves paying an extra $200 for less functionality and a cute little fruit logo. Hopefully, you will find away to take an old picture and find a new way of thinking about it.
Let me just throw this out there… Photomosaic?!?!?
Think about the following quote by Ansel Adams when composing your image:
There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer.
-Ansel Adams
In this project, you are both the photographer and the viewer, even if you weren’t the photographer of the initial image. Meditate on that and I have no doubt you will create a great PICTURE IN PICTURE interpretation.
Happy photo harvesting!
Today is the second Sunday of Lent. I’m going to share a devotional by Reverend Ron Carlson:
Giving up and letting go
Rev. Ron Carlson
John 2:13-22It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. He found in the temple those who were selling cattle, sheep, and doves, as well as those involved in exchanging currency sitting there. He made a whip from ropes and chased them all out of the temple, including the cattle and the sheep. He scattered the coins and overturned the tables of those who exchanged currency. He said to the dove sellers, “Get these things out of here! Don’t make my Father’s house a place of business.” His disciples remembered that it is written, Passion for your house consumes me.
Then the Jewish leaders asked him, “By what authority are you doing these things? What miraculous sign will you show us?”Jesus answered, “Destroy this temple and in three days I’ll raise it up.”
The Jewish leaders replied, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and you will raise it up in three days?” But the temple Jesus was talking about was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered what he had said, and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
It is ironic that the communications folks asked me to develop a devotion based on this passage, known by many as Jesus cleansing the Temple. It is ironic because I can have a bit of a temper and have at times in my life gotten pretty upset. Many times, in an effort to calm me, my wife has reminded me that Jesus did not operate out of anger, but love. I believe that every time she has tried to hold me accountable in this way, I have brought up this story. While many of us have used this story to justify a moment of anger, I don’t necessarily believe Jesus was angry.
Our passage takes place in the temple, as the time of Passover is approaching. When I look at the picture the writer of the Gospel is laying out for us, I imagine more of an open-air market than a sacred space. I picture crowds of people, fast talking vendors, loud noises and enough cattle to keep some of my rural neighbors very busy. It is no wonder that we find it easy to think Jesus was upset when he experienced this in his Father’s house.
We need to remember that Passover was a feast where many traveled to the temple from great distances. We also need to recall that cattle, sheep, and doves were required for burnt offerings, and that the required offerings needed to be perfect. It would not have been possible for travelers to have brought with them the proper offerings. Also, the Roman and Greek coins the pilgrims would have brought along would not have sufficed for their temple tax. Due to the human images on their coins, they needed to be exchanged for Tyrian currency in Jerusalem. While the atmosphere might seem awkward to us, it was needed for worship to occur.
There are some scholars who see Jesus’ actions as an attack on those who are taking advantage of the worshipers. I think we see something broader in scope, In my opinion he was confronting the systems of worship, not the abuse of those systems. Jesus complains that his father’s house has become a place of business. Since this business was necessary to maintain the system of sacrifice and tithes, I see this as Jesus issuing a powerful challenge to the authority of the temple and its worship.
In doing this, Jesus echoes the great tradition of Old Testament prophets who cried out about sacrilegious activities in the temple, against corrupting the worship of God, and substituting ritual for devotion. Prophets who usually began their addresses with “This is the word of God…” Their messages were filled with God’s judgment and grace, they often pointed out where God’s people had strayed from God’s way. Like many prophets before, Jesus’ message is not understood initially, we see that it is only understood through the lens of his death and resurrection.
In the words of Gail R. O’Day, “Jesus challenges a religious system so embedded in its own rules and practices that it is no longer open to a fresh revelation from God, a temptation that exists for contemporary Christianity as well as for the Judaism of Jesus’ day.” What does this challenge mean to you and me? Where are we closed to the idea of something different and what are we holding onto so tightly that we will not be open to the idea of reformation, change or renewal?
Lent is a perfect time for us to reflect on these questions and others like them. Others in this space have noted that Lent is traditionally a season of giving up. Giving up and letting go is an important individual spiritual discipline in this season, because it allows us to draw closer to God. What do we need to give up and let go so that we may draw closer to God? What idols are we clutching so tightly that we are losing feeling in our hands? Would Jesus take the whip and chase these things from the temple?
Almost a year ago we were just beginning to truly understand the pandemic that was upon us as people of this world. Since that time, there have been many things that have changed about Sunday morning. In this time, we have learned to let go of some things that we would not have ever dreamed letting go. Things like responsive readings, singing with gusto and even fellowship time. At some point we will pick some of those things back up because we can, and they are important to us. Are they important to God? I am quite sure there will be other things we will look back on and wonder why we thought they were so important. The important thing is that we have still been able to worship God.
There are many things that we do in our lives because that is just the way we do them. These things may not be important to the desired end result, but they are important because they feel comfortable. I am pretty sure the vendors and coin changers in the Temple were comfortable. They were making a good living, and it looked like nothing would get in the way. They were doing God’s work, helping others to worship God. Then Jesus pointed out where change was needed.
What is Jesus pointing to today in your life? We need to be open to change. To be open to change we need to let go of our idols. What better time than Lent to begin that process. Through Christ and by Christ we can go where we need to be, closer to him.As we go our separate ways receive this blessing – may “The Lord bless you and protect you. The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his face to you and grant you peace.” Amen.
Next Sunday I will share a devotional from Rev. Dr. Heecheo Jeon.
A few months back when Sabas and Ealinie were back from California for Christmas, I met the Stenslands up at Amanda’s office to do a quick family portrait photo shoot. I only got to see Elainie and Sabas twice while they were back because of the incredibly mismanaged pandemic, just another reason I can’t wait for this to be over. Or at least until I can get vaccinated.
Any ways, here is my first collection of favorites from the photo shoot:
If you want to see more pictures from this photo shoot, click on the link below:
Also, if you have any kind of real estate needs in Boone or anywhere near Boone, you should 100% hit up Amanda and iHome Realty!
There aren’t all that many pictures in the folders 2010-07-07 and 2010-07-12, so I decided to combine them and share them together. These are mostly flowers in these folders, but also a couple of fly pictures.
By adding these pictures to the Photography 139 Gallery, I was able to restore the following historic “An Artist’s Notebook” entries to their original glory:
Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve some attempts to photograph lightning.
There weren’t many pictures in the folder 2010-07-05, so I decided to combine it with 2010-07-01 Skydive 2.
The pictures in the folder 2010-07-01 Skydive 2 are from when Shannon did get to go skydiving. The pictures from 2010-07-05 Market are from when I did a quick spin around Beaver, Iowa to look at the ruins of the once mighty city. Just kidding, Beaver was never mighty, but at least it was the embarrassment that it has become.
By adding these pictures to the Photography 139 Gallery, I was able to restore the following historic “An Artist’s Notebook” entries to their original glory:
In the post about Beaver, Iowa, there is an interesting discussion in the comments section about which town is worse: Beaver or Dana.
Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will definitely involve flowers.
I need to start today by wishing Micky a happy birthday. Happy birthday Micky!
Every once in awhile I will let people behind the curtain at Photography 139. Very few people and not very often. But Micky is the reason (more or less) for my using the term “harvest” so many times when referencing taking pictures.
You see, back in the day, the west bathrooms at the Computer Mine were loaded up with hunting magazines. Now Micky isn’t necessarily the person that brought them in and dumped them in the dumping station and while I’m definitely no hunter, when you are about your business, you read what is handy.
The writing in hunting magazines is amateurish at best. Plus they try to whitewash the fact that they are murderizing animals that never really did anything to them. So these articles about personal hunting experiences almost always include a sentence about how before or after the hunter murderized the animal they said a prayer thanking God for the opportunity to murderize the animal. But they never use the term murderize (and not because it is just a word I invented) or shoot or kill. They always whitewash it with the word harvest. Like they just picked an ear of corn or some tomatoes from their grandma’s garden.
I would frequently discuss these articles with Micky and I started to use the term “harvest” to mock hunting magazines. I’m not anti-hunting, it just isn’t for me. However, I am very strongly anti-bad writing.
All of that being said, Micky, I hope your birthday is amazing as you want it to be and you get to murderize all the animals you want. But only the ones that have it coming. Like the beavers that destroyed your dock*.
This collection of pictures from THE POSTCARD RECREATION PROJECT is another collection of postcards of downtown Boone intersections. I wish Boone still had that sign that hung over Story Street near 9th greeting people to Boone. I have wondered why they chose that location for it. I get that Story Street is the main street in Boone, but back in the day there would have been 2 depots that served railroad passengers. The Fort Dodge, Des Moines and Southern depot was a block north of the sign. The Chicago & Northwestern Depot was about a block to two blocks west. I guess they chose the location because it was about equidistant from both depots.
Here are the postcards. You can see the old sign in three of them:
Boone, IR 787 – Redux
Story Street from 10th Street – North – Original
Story Street from 10th Street – North – Redux
Story Street Looking South – Original
Story Street Looking South – Redux
The Main (Story) Street – Original
The Main (Story) Street – Redux
The Story St. from 10th St. postcard put me on the right path for a future THE POSTCARD RECREATION PROJECT post. However, the next THE POSTCARD RECREATION PROJECT post will feature a church.
This is your reminder that THIS WEEK’S THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is LINES:
A LINES image is simply an image that heavily incorporates LINES into the composition of the image.LINES that appear in a photograph CAN BE framed and positioned by the photographer to draw the viewer’s eye towards a specific point of interest. LINES draw the viewer’s eye to a specific direction of an image.
You can use all sorts of lines in your composition. You can use horizontal LINES. You can use vertical LINES. You can use diagonal LINES. You can use converging LINES. There are just so many options!
Of course, the term LINES has more than one meaning.
Think about the following quote from Martin Luther while considering your LINES image:
God can draw a straight line with a crooked stick.
Meditate on these words and you will no doubt create a fascinating LINES image. No matter how crooked you think you are.
Happy photo murderizing… I mean happy photo harvesting!
*Truth is that I wish he would’ve live trapped the beavers and rehabilitated them.
Today I’m going to share some pictures I took of Jesse in a culvert that goes under the Senholz Trail near Linwood Cemetery. These pictures were alternates for Week 268 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. The theme was FRAMED:
This originally was going to start out a burning steel wool picture, but Jesse broke the lighter, but in the end, I am very pleased with the images we made on the fly.
If your church is like my church and hasn’t had a worship service in months, it is possible that the fact that today is Ash Wednesday may have snuck up on you. My church is actually having its first worship service tonight since October. However, if you can’t get to church tonight or are choosing not to go to church tonight, I have your back.
Below is a Lenten Devotion from Bishop Laurie Haller.
“Practicing Our Faith”
Matthew 6:1-4, 16-21 (CEB)
By: Bishop Laurie Haller“Be careful that you don’t practice your religion in front of people to draw their attention. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. 2 Whenever you give to the poor, don’t blow your trumpet as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets so that they may get praise from people. I assure you, that’s the only reward they’ll get. 3 But when you give to the poor, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing 4 so that you may give to the poor in secret. Your Father who sees what you do in secret will reward you.”
16 “And when you fast, don’t put on a sad face like the hypocrites. They distort their faces so people will know they are fasting. I assure you that they have their reward. 17 When you fast, brush your hair and wash your face. 18 Then you won’t look like you are fasting to people, but only to your Father who is present in that secret place. Your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 19 Stop collecting treasures for your own benefit on earth, where moth and rust eat them and where thieves break in and steal them. 20 Instead, collect treasures for yourselves in heaven, where moth and rust don’t eat them and where thieves don’t break in and steal them. 21 Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
I’ll never forget that morning. In 1993, my husband Gary and I were appointed to be co-pastors of First United Methodist Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. After twelve years of pastoring separately in different churches, Gary and I were going to be serving together. I have to admit I was a little apprehensive about being in a big steeple city church after serving much smaller churches.
On our first Sunday in July, our three children, who were going to enter sixth, fourth, and first grade, sat alone in the front pew of this large Gothic style sanctuary. After all, we didn’t know anyone yet, and that way we could keep an eye out on the kids. That was our first mistake. When the time came for the children to be introduced, they marched up the stairs to the chancel area, whereupon our middle child, Garth, started waving his hands to the congregation just like a politician. I could feel my face turning red with embarrassment. But that was nothing compared to Garth making a paper airplane from the church bulletin and flying it from the front pew during the sermon.
What does it mean to practice your religion in front of others? In our human quest to be acknowledged and recognized, how do we act? What is fame, anyway? What is success? What does it mean to be honored? Does it mean our name is splattered all over the tabloids? Does it mean that every action we take is scrutinized by an adoring public? Where should the reward for living a good life come from? From an adoring public, from our colleagues, or from the church?
And what about Lent? The six weeks preceding Easter are often seen as a time of not only giving up something for Lent, but more often adding something. Some people give up candy for Lent, or chocolate, or coffee, or desserts. Others fast on a certain day during Lent. The idea is that when we give up something that meaningful to us, we learn about spiritual disciplines.
On the other hand, some people add things to their lives during Lent. Perhaps it’s joining a short-term study group, reading through the gospels, visiting someone in a nursing home once a week, or giving extra money to a mission cause.
In Jesus’ day there were three great works of the religious life: almsgiving (or giving to the poor), prayer, and fasting. To the Jews, almsgiving was the most sacred of all religious duties. Jesus certainly does not dispute here that giving to the poor is important. What troubled Jesus was the motive of many of the Jews, who made a big show of giving their money in the synagogues so that others could see how much God had blessed them.
In the same way, it was tempting for the Jews to flaunt their prayer life, which was the second work of the religious life. Some liked to parade their righteousness publicly by praying on the street corners. This is how it was known that they were carrying out exactly what God wanted them to do.
And then there was fasting. The Jews fasted as a sign of mourning; in order to atone for sin; as an outward expression of an inward sorrow; and as a symbol of national penitence. Or they would fast in preparation for a revelation from God.
Could it be that Jesus wants us to learn from this scripture that we shouldn’t practice our religion in front of others in order to be recognized? What do you do in secret? Are you doing anything in secret? Are you pleasing God at all?
Henri Nouwen, who was one of the most perceptive spiritual writers of his time and was one of my professors at Yale Divinity School, wrote a book entitled Letters to Marc about Jesus. It was addressed to his 19-year-old nephew in Holland.
Listen to what Nouwen wrote to Marc, “I don’t think you’ll ever be able to penetrate the mystery of God’s revelation in Jesus until it strikes you that the major part of Jesus’ life was hidden and that even the public years remained invisible as far as most people were concerned. Whereas the way of the world is to insist on publicity, celebrity, popularity, and getting maximum exposure, God prefers to work in secret. In God’s sight, the things that really matter seldom take place in public.”
As we enter the holy season of Lent on Ash Wednesday, how is God calling you to practice your faith? What spiritual disciplines might you embrace to help others claim the good news of Jesus Christ and seek treasures in heaven?
Let us pray. God, grant that we would discover the secret of living in your presence. Grant us wisdom and courage to yield to your intentions and purpose for our lives. Grant us insight to discern what is pleasing to you and give us strength to do it. Help us not to live glib and superficial lives but cleanse us by our confessions and make us worthy disciples, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
I will share another devotion from Reverend Melissa Drake on Sunday.
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This week’s POSTCARD RECREATION PROJECT subject is the Sacred Heart Catholic Church. I actually couldn’t find much on the history of the church. There isn’t a “history” section on their website. However, I did find some information on the church on the website of the artist that decorated the church in 1937, John Mallin. Unfortunately, all his decorations have since been covered up, removed, or destroyed.
From his website:
The first Catholic mass was said in Boone, Iowa in 1860 for two Catholic families. A frame church in West Boone was dedicated in 1865 to St. Joseph, and later changed to St. Patrick after the acquisition of a parish cemetery to St. Patrick. A new frame church was built in the lartger community of Boone on the corner of 12th and Marshall Streets in 1880, and the church was renamed Church of the Sacred Heart. The parsonage burned in 1891, and was replaced with a brick structure that same year. In 1894, a cornerstone was laid for the current Sacred Heart church, which is a large Romanesque stone structure. It was dedicated in December of 1894.
Here are the postcards:
Catholic Church. Boone. Iowa – 2233 – Redux
Church of the Sacred Heart – Boone, IA – Original
Church of the Sacred Heart – Boone, IA – Redux
Church of Sacred Heart Boone, Iowa – Original
Church of Sacred Heart Boone, Iowa – Redux
Sacred Heart Catholic Church – Modern Interpretation
I confess that on this project, I didn’t do a great job recreating angles on a couple of the postcards. Although I’m pleased with the modern interpretation postcard, if Rodan139 wasn’t grounded for the winter, I would probably have used it to capture the modern interpretation base image.
The next time we check-in on this project, it will involve more downtown intersections.
