Time to reveal the September image for the 2026 Photography 139 Calendar. SEPTEMBER – 2026 The subject of the September image was Virgil the Owl. Virgil took up residence in a tree outside of Lagomarcino on the Iowa State campus this spring. So fortunately this owl was an easy owl… Read More »Des Moining II
Time to reveal the May image for the 2026 Photography 139 Calendar. MAY – 2026 Technical Details The subject of the May image is a spider sculpture in the Pappajohn Sculpture Park in Des Moines. This is one of those pictures that when I distributed the calendars I learned that… Read More »Selfie Project – December 2025
Time to reveal the January image for the 2026 Photography 139 Calendar. JANUARY – 2026 Technical Details The subject for the January image is the rotunda of the Iowa Capital. It is a part of a series of the Iowa Capital photos called “Where Basic Human Rights Go to Die”.… Read More »Philadelphia Day 2: I Didn’t Hear No Bell
Back in June I went down to Des Moines with Teresa. The ultimate goal was to hit the Greek Food Fair, but we also went to the Downtown Des Moines Famer’s Market and the Capital Pride Event. It was a pretty fantastic day. Here is the first collection of images… Read More »Des Moining I
Merry Christmas everyone!! I honestly don’t think a better sermon on the meaning of Christmas has ever been given than the one given by Linus in the Charlie Brown Christmas Special. So I’ll just share that again. I will assume everyone in the sound of these words has seen “A… Read More »Merry Christmas!!!! (2025)
It is Christmas Eve!! Time to light our final virtual candle. The Christ Candle!! There is no script for this from Matt Rawle’s book. So this one I took from the UMC Discipleship website: We have heard the call to keep watch. But what are we keeping watch over? Maybe… Read More »Where Basic Human Rights Go to Die – I
It is Week 4 of Advent and I would once again like to light a virtual candle and use the script for it from the book we are using for our Advent Season at Boone First United Methodist Church this year. The book is “The Redemption of Scrooge” by Matt… Read More »Cluck! Cluck! Kansas City Field Work
Last Sunday was the annual Christmas Pageant at Boone First United Methodist Church. It was great in all the ways that a Christmas Pageant should be great. Here are a few pictures: I already look forward to next year’s Christmas Pageant!
It is Week 3 of Advent and I would once again like to light a virtual calendar and use the script for it from the book we are using for our Advent Season at Boone First United Methodist Church this year. The book is “The Redemption of Scrooge” by Matt… Read More »The Swell Season Road Trip
It is week 2 of Advent and I would once again like to light a virtual calendar and use the script for it from the book we are using for our Advent Season at Boone First United Methodist Church this year. The book is “The Redemption of Scrooge” by Matt… Read More »I Scream: Decorah Field Work
One of the little used benefits at the Computer Mine is that everybody gets 8 hours of VTO every year to use. I’m pretty sure next to nobody uses it, which is a shame. An extra day off. To do something fun? Why wouldn’t you do that? I guess some… Read More »Boone FUMC 2025 Thanksgiving Prep
Day 2 in Philadelphia was supposed to be the first day of work. It wasn’t real clear in the early morning if we would work or when we would work. It was dependent on when the contractors got finished putting the Computer Mine Booth together. Fortunately for us, they didn’t… Read More »Philadelphia Day 2: City Hall
The second day of December. No better day to share THE SELFIE PROJECT images from November. Once again, my travel was pretty minimal. I think the farthest I made it from my front step was Des Moines. Gross. But I promise that I will do better in December! Here are… Read More »Selfie Project – November 2025
FRIENDS! A great theme! But did enough people at least get see acts of friendship to make it a popular theme? You will have to keep scrolling to find out! As of 12:01 PM on Monday, November 24, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks: 1-Jen Ensley-Gorshe – 1… Read More »WPC – WEEK 533 – FRIENDS
It is something I’d like to say I do every year, but I don’t. But I’m going to try this year. And that thing is to light a candle every Sunday during Advent Season. A virtual candle. Yes, but still a candle. So this week we are lighting the Peace… Read More »Big Pizza Pie: Decorah Field Work
Thursday was the annual Boone First United Methodist Church’s Free Community Thanksgiving Meal. I’ll share final details later, but I do know that we served over 500 people in the drive-thru lane alone! I thought I would start by sharing a few drone photos I took of the event: I’ll… Read More »Rodan139: Boone FUMC Thanksgiving 2025
A reminder that if you are looking for a Thanksgiving meal on Thursday, the Boone First United Methodist Church is hosting one. And it’s free! All the information you need to know is below: With turkey prices up 25% this year and the average Thanksgiving meal up 4.1%, there will… Read More »Mutual Aid Rally II
A reminder that if you are looking for a Thanksgiving meal on Thursday, the Boone First United Methodist Church is hosting one. And it’s free! All the information you need to know is below: With turkey prices up 25% this year and the average Thanksgiving meal up 4.1%, there will… Read More »Baby, Time Meant Nothin’
Can you believe that this is the 5,750th entry in the blog known as “An Artist’s Notebook”? Every 250 posts or so I like to take a moment to reflect on where this post has been and post a lot of meaningless stats. As always on these posts, I like… Read More »Post 5,750
Hey you! Are you looking for a Thanksgiving meal that is absolutely free! Have I got news for you! Check out the flyer below: (I don’t like our flyer, so I had it redesigned – Thanks Monica! – and am efforting to replace our flyer, if not this year, next)… Read More »WPC – WEEK 531 – STICKERS
Happy Veterans Day! Today, we pause to honor the brave men and women who have served our nation with courage, integrity, and unwavering commitment. Veterans Day is a time to reflect on the sacrifices made by those who stood ready to protect our freedoms — and to recognize the families… Read More »Some 35 Firsts