Category Archives: Nature

Rapid City Mission Trip – Day 1

Mission Trip Day 1 started with a 6 AM walk around Rapid City. This is a Mission Trip tradition started by Andy. He takes people out for a 6 AM walk every day of the mission trip. I don’t join every day, but I usually join a couple times during the mission trip.

The church we were staying at was in downtown Rapid City and walking around that area, I loved the Rapid City downtown area. They have statues of all the president on their street corners. There are plenty of local businesses, but perhaps my favorite part of the the downtown area is the “Art Alley” where people are allowed to put graffiti, during designated areas, if you have a permit. I admit that all these things are the antithesis of graffiti. Kind of like a Republican claiming to be punk rock, but that being putting aside, it was a pretty cool alley.

At about 9 AM I headed to my worksite with my group. I don’t even remember the name of my group, which is rare, but as the official “trip leader” this year, I decided to dial down the amount of trash I talked to other groups. My group consisted of Andy, Megan, Anna, Jentry, Wyatt, and Noah.

We were assigned to work at Black Hills Works. This is an organization that works with people with physical and mental disabilities. We worked it what was essentially their day care program. They have a ton of other programs, but this is the one where we worked.

This was not physically demanding work, but boy was it hard. I split my time among 3 rooms. 2 learning centers and a fitness center. Our job was to interact and assist the clients.

That could mean anything from playing games with them or talking to them or taking them on a walk or helping them with an iPad or taking them for a bike ride or doing crafts with them or just doing a puzzle next to them.

The first day was hard. The first day was a lot of figuring out how to best communicate with each client. I don’t think I would be exaggerating to say that most of us or even all of us left the worksite on the first day and thinking, “I don’t know if I can do this for 3 more days.”

Even though, I feel like I made connections with at least a couple of clients.

The evening Monday cultural event was going to Bear Butte. It is a state park near Sturgis. It is a mountain that is considered sacred by the Lakota. We got a lesson on the mountain and then we climbed it.

They split people into 3 groups. 1 group that was going to try to summit the mountain. 1 group that was going to go halfway up the mountain. 1 group that was going to stay at base camp.

I was on the fence on whether I wanted to try to climb the mountain or go halfway. We had 5 adults. 3 of them decided to go for the summit. 1 adult decided to stay at base camp. I decided that we needed 1 adult to be with our group that was going halfway up.

I’m not sure how far I made it up the mountain. One of our kids had trouble breathing, so I went back down the mountain with her.

Even the limited distance I got up the mountain was beautiful. Some day I would like to go back up the mountain. We’ll see if it ever comes back in my sphere of influence.

We are not allowed to take pictures at our worksite, but here are some pictures from the day:


Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019
Buffalo!

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

After leaving the mountain we returned to the church. We had our worship time and our church time. I had Anna run our Church Time because I wanted to have the seniors have a leadership role on the mission trip.

On Sunday night I got about 45 minutes of sleep. I went to bed on Monday night hoping for a solid 6 hours…

Rapid City Mission Trip – Day 0

At 6:30 in the morning on Sunday, June 23, the Boone First United Methodist Church Youth Group loaded up 3 vans and headed to Rapid City. There were 20 youth and 5 adults. It was an interesting crew, but we were ready to take on a mission trip. Serving others and preaching God’s love… using words when necessary.

The 5 Adults:

Christopher D. Bennett
Andy Sharp
Donovan Olson
Jonnie Becker
Shannon Fitzgerald.

The 20 Youth:

Anna Olson
Megan Osborn
Autumn Sharp
Kyle Sharp
Jentry Schoff
Jaxon Schoff
Akela Salter
Sarah Hay
Nick Laube
Hector Garcia
Emily Bridges
Haley Graham
Kassidy West
Dylan Pestotnik
Kayla Miller
Hailey Fizgerald
Treva Sawyer
Leah Becker
Wyatt Sharp
Noah Moyer

On the day that I’m calling Day 0 of the Mission Trip consists mostly of driving. We left at 6:30 AM CDT with the goal of arriving at Trinity Lutheran Church in Rapid City at 5 PM MDT.

We made a couple of stops along the way. We stopped at Falls Park in Sioux Falls and ate lunch. Then we stopped at the Corn Palace in Mitchell.

Here are a few pictures of our travels:


Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019
Group photo at the church.

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019
Lots of sleeping in the big van.

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

Rapid City Mission Trip - 2019

We made our goal of arriving by 5 PM. We ate supper. I broke our group up into teams. We had our first worship service. Then we went to bed, ready to take on the world the next day.

Misc. Flora

Hitting the 2018 backlog. Here are some pictures of flowers, all from my yard that I took on June 10.


Yellow Rose

Yellow Rose

Flower

Daisy

Daisy

Daisy

Daisy

The roses are just starting to bloom now, but I didn’t have any daisies this year. Daisies seem to be an unreliable flower, but the weather has also been crazy this year.

+++++++

This is your reminder that this week’s WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is TREE:


WEEK 198 - TREE
TREE

A TREE picture is any picture that involves a TREE or a TREE byproduct.

Happy photo harvesting!

WPC – WEEK 195 – PARK

Insert comment on reaching double digits in submissions again.

Insert vague reference to GONE WITH THE WIND.

Submissions:


WEEK 195 - PARK - LOGAN KAHLER
Logan Kahler

WEEK 195 - PARK - LOGAN KAHLER
Logan Kahler

WEEK 195 - PARK - ANDY SHARP
Andy Sharp

WEEK 195 - PARK - KIM BARKER
Kim Barker

WEEK 195 - PARK - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT
Christopher D. Bennett

WEEK 195 - PARK - CARLA STENSLAND
Carla Stensland

WEEK 195 - PARK - CARLA STENSLAND
Carla Stensland

WEEK 195 - PARK - CARLA STENSLAND
Carla Stensland

WEEK 195 - PARK - MICKY AUGUSTIN
Micky Augustin

WEEK 195 - PARK - CATHIE RALEY
Cathie Raley

WEEK 195 - PARK - CATHIE RALEY
Cathie Raley

WEEK 195 - PARK - AUBREY and KATELYN AUGUSTIN
Aubrey and Katelyn Augustin

Insert reference to PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE:


WEEK 198 - TREE
TREE

TREE! Insert an explanation of what a TREE is, as if there is anybody in the world that doesn’t know what a TREE is.

HOUSEKEEPING


A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

The picture has to be taken the week of the theme. This isn’t a curate your pictures challenge. This is a get your butt off the couch (my personal experience) and put your camera in your hands challenge. Don’t send me a picture of you next to the Eiffel Tower, when I know you were in Iowa all week. I will point out that I have let that slide some in the past. I will not in the future. Since it is literally about the only rule.

Your submission needs to be emailed to bennett@photography139.com by 11 AM on the Monday of the challenge due date. It should be pointed out that this blog auto-publishes at 12:01 on Mondays. So it wouldn’t hurt to get your picture in earlier.

That is it, them’s the rules.


A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DIVISION

Nobody this week showed taste, grace, and sophistication by signing up for a Photography 139 email subscription.

+++++++

Insert reference to Hank Willimas Sr.

2009-02-04 – Arizona Day 5

The pictures on from the folder 2009-02-04/Arizona Day 5 are from Day 5 of the Arizona Work Vacation. This was the first day I actually had to work on the occasion.

The Computer Mine hosts this event where they invites all of its customers to someplace exotic for a few days to learn more about our product and to learn from many of the industry leaders. This is the only time I’ve ever attended the Computer Mine Meeting, from now on referred to from now on as the CMM.

I didn’t take many pictures on Day 5 because I don’t know that there was a lot to photograph where we were at. We were in a casino in the middle of nowhere Arizona. The casino smelled like Satan’s ashtray. Satan’s ashtray smelled much worse back then because it was before he started vaping. Satan learned that constantly talking about vaping is actually even more annoying that smelling like garbage. That Satan is a tricky one.

On Day 5. In the middle of nowhere Arizona and actually working, there wasn’t much to photograph. So I photographed a few cacti. Have a looksie:


Arizona Work Vacation

Arizona Work Vacation

Arizona Work Vacation

Arizona Work Vacation

Arizona Work Vacation

I’ve never published any of these pictures before, so adding these pictures to the Photography 139 Gallery did not allow me to restore any historic “An Artist’s Notebook” posts.

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve more Arizona.

2009-02-18 – Arizona Day 4

The pictures in the folder called 2009-02-18/Arizona Day 4 are from my work/vacation to Arizona.

Jesse and I spent the night at his brother’s house. We got up in the morning and ate at a local eatery. Then we visited a National Park called the Casa Grande Ruins. I think later that day we actually had to show up for work and the vacation became work.

Here are some pictures from that day:


Arizona Day 4

Arizona Day 4

Arizona Day 4

Arizona Day 4

Arizona Day 4

Arizona Day 4

Arizona Day 4

Arizona Day 4

Arizona Day 4

Arizona Day 4

Arizona Day 4

Arizona Day 4

Arizona Day 4

Arizona Day 4

Arizona Day 4

By adding these images to the Photography 139 Gallery, I was able to restore the following historic “An Artist’s Notebook” entry to it’s original glory:

Arizona Day 4

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve even more from my trip to Arizona.

Rodan139 – Fraser

On Sunday before May Movie Night/Grill-out, I went out by the Fraser Spring to fly Rodan139. My original intention was to take a picture for the aerial photography class of the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon. However, I didn’t really love any images I got enough to enter them in the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon. I still definitely am entering the aerial photography category, but I’m going to use a different image.

The lighting was harsh on Sunday, the Boone Scenic Valley Railroad wasn’t running the steam engine and there was never quite the image that I wanted. I will be back for the image I want though. Oh yes, I will be back.

However, even though I didn’t get the picture I drew up in my head, I still got quite a few images that I like. Here they are:


Drone Photography

Drone Photography

Drone Photography

Drone Photography

Drone Photography

Drone Photography

Drone Photography

Drone Photography

Drone Photography

Drone Photography

Drone Photography

Drone Photography

Drone Photography

Drone Photography

Drone Photography

Drone Photography

Drone Photography

Drone Photography

Drone Photography

Drone Photography

Drone Photography

Drone Photography

That concludes all of the drone picture I currently have. Not sure when Rodan139 will be flying again, but there is a good chance it will be this weekend.

Rodan 139 – Don Williams

A month or so ago I took Rodan139 out to Don Williams to do a little drone photography. There was no crash or anything that was anything that even remotely resembled a crash, but there was a weird issue where my phone kept disconnecting from the drone.

It wasn’t an issue because the controller never came disconnected, but it was a cause for some concern. However, after going through everything having taken Rodan139 from several flights since then, I have figured out it was a phone issue and I have since corrected it.

Here are some pictures I took on my weird trip to Don Williams:


Drone Photography - Don Williams

Drone Photography - Don Williams

Drone Photography - Don Williams

Drone Photography - Don Williams

Drone Photography - Don Williams

Drone Photography - Don Williams

Drone Photography - Don Williams

Drone Photography - Don Williams

Drone Photography - Don Williams

More pictures from more flights still in the hopper!

2009-02-18 – Arizona Day 3B

The pictures in the folder called 2009-02-18/Arizona_Day_3B are from the work/vacation to Arizona. The pictures are all from after Jesse and I met up with Lowell and Strabala and went back to the mini-mountain thing in Phoenix.

As it would just so happen, while we were there, Air Force One flew overhead. Looking at those pictures really made me nostalgic for when our country wasn’t the laughingstock of the entire world. Good times. Good times.


Arizona Day 3

Arizona Day 3

Arizona Day 3

Arizona Day 3

Arizona Day 3

Arizona Day 3

Arizona Day 3

Arizona Day 3

Arizona Day 3

Arizona Day 3

Arizona Day 3

Arizona Day 3

Arizona Day 3

Arizona Day 3

By adding these pictures to the Photography 139 Gallery I was able to restore the following historic “An Artist’s Notebook” entry to its original glory:

Arizona Day 3 – Part B

Next week’s walk down memory lane will once again involve this Arizona work/vacation.