Category Archives: Religion

Art, Christianity, Road Trip, Self-Portrait, Street Photography, Tenderloining

I Scream: Winterset Field Work

January 28, 2024 Christopher D. Bennett Leave a comment

I am definitely starting to run low on food adventures, but I think that there are a few on my horizon. This food adventure took place in November. I cruised down to a state park near Winterset cause it was on my list of places I wanted to see in 2023. On my way home I stopped at a Mom and Pop ice cream shop called Frostee’s. It was the second to last day it was open in 2023. Here are some pictures:

This year I should go back and buy a Frostee’s shirt!

Even a gross Coke cup can’t ruin ice cream.

Got a raspberry malt as I’m trying to take more risks.

How was it? You know I have the Ted Lasso policy on ice cream:

Ice cream is the best. It’s kinda like seeing Billy Joel perform live. Never disappoints.
-Ted Lasso

Last year May 7 was the first day Frostee’s was open. I imagine it will open about the same date again this year.

Frostee’s is located:

101 East Green Street
Winterset, Iowa

There is one other picture to share from this trip. It wasn’t taken at Frostee’s but on one of the famous Bridges of Madison County. It made me laugh, maybe it will make you smile too:

Next Sunday’s food adventure. Will cover the food I ate on my recent trip to Memphis.

Boone FUMC, Candid Portrait, Formal Portrait, Music, Still Life, Teresa, WPC - Alternate

And You’ll Be the One Who’s Crying

January 17, 2024 Christopher D. Bennett

A couple Sundays back my church honored our Building Engineer. He retired after 43 years with our church. Which is amazing when you think about it. Yesterday was my 18th anniversary with the computer mine. I can’t imagine working another 18 years there. Let alone another 25 years. Wow!

I used it as an opportunity to take pictures for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme SUNDAY MORNING. Here are some of the alternate images I took for the theme:

It was a pretty great Sunday morning at the Boone First United Methodist Church!

Animals, Art, Baseball/Softball, Black & White, Calendar, Christianity, Drone, Flowers, Iowa State, Macro, Nature, Night, Slice of Life, Street Photography

2024 Photography 139 Calendar Rejects: The Ending

January 9, 2024 Christopher D. Bennett

Time to share the rest of the images that were rejected for the 2024 Photography 139 Calendar. Some of these are similar to ones included in the calendar. They come from a wide range of projects. From auxiliary images from THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT to alternates for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE to some just good old flowertography

There is still one more post about the 2024 calendar left. Then we can put it to bed or up on some walls.

Alexis, Andy, Angie, Bill, Boone FUMC, Brandon, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Elizabeth, Funk, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Linda, Logan, Lowell, Mary, Michelle, Micky, Mindi, Nathanial, Sabas, Sarah Toot, Scottie D., Shannon, Sheri, Suzie, Tamara, Teresa, Vest, Willy, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 434 – SUNDAY MORNING

January 8, 2024 Christopher D. Bennett

SUNDAY MORNING. Everybody has one. But did many people take a picture on SUNDAY MORNING or a picture that suggests SUNDAY MORNING to make it a popular theme? You will have to keep scrolling to find out.

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, January 1, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

1-Sara Lockner – 1 week
2-Brandon Kahler – 1 week
3-Carrie Moellers – 1 week
4-Amy Peterson – 1 week (2)
5-Mary Green – 2 weeks (2)
6-Scott Degeneffe – 19 weeks
7-Sabas Hernandez – 20 weeks
8-Mike Vest – 25 weeks
9-Sheri Fakhouri – 29 weeks (2)
10-Logan Kahler – 30 weeks (2)
11-Nathanial Brown – 31 weeks
12-Jesse Howard – 31 weeks (2)
13-Tamara Peterson – 34 weeks
14-Mindi Terrell – 46 weeks (3)
15-Linda Bennett – 75 weeks (3)
16-Sarah Toot – 76 weeks
17-Angie DeWaard – 80 weeks
18-Dawn Krause – 84 weeks
19-Kim Barker – 90 weeks
20-Joe Duff – 91 weeks
21-Teresa Kahler – 102 weeks (3)
22-Carla Stensland – 102 weeks (2)
23-Micky Augustin – 104 weeks
24-Andy Sharp – 105 weeks
25-Bill Wentworth – 106 weeks
26-Cathie Morton – 110 weeks
27-Elizabeth Nordeen – 111 weeks
28-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 113 weeks
29-Kio Dettman – 115 weeks

Reminder. Here is the updated list of rules for Year 11 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE:

1. The picture must 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 and take pictures challenge!
2. There is a limit of 2 submissions per person per theme. If you send me more than 2, I will use the first 2 that you submit.
3. Deadline to submit your submission is 11 AM next Monday.
4. To be considered the photographer of an image, you have to be the one clicks the shutter. If you hand your camera over to somebody else to take a picture of you, you are NOT the photographer of that image.
5. No screen captures. This is a photography challenge. Not a “look at what I found on the internet” challenge.

There are still 2 ways to submit:
1. Email your submission to bennett@photography39.com.
2. Text your submission to my Google Pixel 5.
3. Sometimes, for special people, for special circumstances, we can negotiate something.

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

WPC 434 - SUNDAY MORNING - ALEXIS STENSLAND

Alexis Stensland (Iowa) – 1 week

Andy Sharp (Iowa) – 106 weeks

Andy Sharp (Iowa)

Angie DeWaard (Ames, Iowa) – 81 weeks

Bill Wentworth (Nebraska) – 107 weeks

Brandon Kahler (Iowa) – 2 weeks

Carla Stensland (Ogden, Iowa) – 103 weeks

Carla Stensland (Ogden, Iowa)

Cathie Morton (Waukee, Iowa) – 111 weeks

Christopher D. Bennett (Boone First United Methodist Church – Boone, Iowa)

Dawn Krause (Iowa) – 85 weeks

Dawn Krause (Iowa)

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa) – 112 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa)

Jesse Howard (Iowa) – 32 weeks

Joe Duff (League City, Texas) – 92 weeks

Kio Dettman (Iowa) – 116 weeks

Kio Dettman (Iowa)

Kim Barker (Iowa) – 91 weeks

Linda Bennett (Kansas) – 76 weeks

Linda Bennett (Kansas)

Logan Kahler (Iowa) – 31 weeks

Lowell Davis (Iowa) – 1 week

Mary Green (Michigan) – 3 weeks

Mary Green (Michigan)

Michelle Haupt (Iowa) – 1 week

Micky Augustin (Iowa) – 105 weeks

Mike Vest (Iowa) – 26 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa) – 47 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa)

Nathanial Brown (Iowa) – 32 weeks

Sabas Hernandez (Iowa) – 21 weeks

Sarah Toot (E. Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania) – 77 weeks

Scott Degeneffe (Boone County, Iowa) – 20 weeks

Shannon Bardole-Foley (Iowa) – 114 weeks

Sheri Fakhouri (Iowa) – 30 weeks

Sheri Fakhouri (Iowa)

Susanna Funk (Iowa) – 1 week

Suzie Brannen (Iowa) – 1 week

Tamara Peterson (Iowa) – 35 weeks

Tamara Peterson (Iowa)

Teresa Kahler (Iowa) – 103 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Iowa)

Willy McAlpine (Ledges State Park – Boone County, Iowa) – 1 week

32 participants! That is a pretty great week!

There were submissions this week taken in the following places:

+ Kansas
+ Iowa
+ Michigan
+ Nebraska
+ Pennsylvania
+ Texas

Here is the Year 11 list of states where submissions have been taken:

+ Kansas
+ Iowa
+ Michigan
+ Nebraska
+ Pennsylvania
+ Texas

Particularly exciting about this week’s participants was Lowell’s first ever submission! WooHoo! Also, Michelle came out of retirement! WooHoo! Hoping for big things from both of them in the future.

The big milestone this week was Vest joining the Half Year Streak Club!! WooHoo! I wonder if I can get Monica to design badges for these clubs? First I have to get Monica to start submitting again. Horse before the cart.

But it wasn’t all new participants, old friends coming back into the fold and major streak accomplishments! There was some heartache involved. Sara, Carrie, and Amy could not build on their submissions last week and 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:

UGLY – SUGGESTED BY SARAH TOOT

UGLY! What a great theme for Year 11 of THE WEEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

I look forward to seeing your interpretation!

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 UGLY in this place that finds most things beautiful next Monday.

Animals, Art, Black & White, Calendar, Christianity, Flowers, Kim, Lensbaby, Macro, Nature, Night, Ruins, Street Photography, Travel

2024 Photography 139 Calendar Rejects: The Beginning

January 7, 2024 Christopher D. Bennett

Time to share the final image for the 2024 Photography 139 Calendar. The December image. It is an image of an abandoned (methinks) church I found in northeast Iowa on a THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT road trip:

DECEMBER

I chose this image for December because I usually like to either use a cold picture or some religious imagery for the December image. This picture might not scream “Christ is born!” but it is of a church. Not a lines are straight.

TECHNICAL DETAILS
CAMERA: Sony ILCE-7M4
DATE: August 20, 2022 – 12:34 PM
LENS: 28-75 f/2.8
FOCAL LENGTH: 28mm
EXPOSURE TIME: 1/5000
ISO: 100

It was converted to black & white in Photoshop.

That is it, that is the final image for the 2024 Photography 139 Calendar. But while those 13 images were selected for the calendar, they weren’t the only ones considered. Not by a long shot. There were 73 other images considered and not included. But I would like to give them some love.

Here is the first collection of reject images:

There still another 36 images that didn’t make the cut. That doesn’t mean that won’t make the cut next year. The cover image for the 2024 Calendar was rejected for the 2023 calendar. Share the rest on Tuesday. Maybe Wednesday.

Alexis, Andy, Angie, Art, Bill, Boone FUMC, Calendar, Carla, Cathie, Christianity, Dawn, Elainie, Elizabeth, Evie, Holidays, Iowa State, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Linda, Logan, Mary, Micky, Mindi, Nathanial, Sabas, Sarah Toot, Scottie D., Shannon, Sheri, Tamara, Teresa, Vest, Willy, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 432 – GREEN

December 25, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

Friendly Reminder: Next Monday is New Year’s Day. While the bank and government employees get the day off, there are no holidays for Photography 139. If you are busy around the New Year’s holidays (and a lot of people are) plan on getting your submission in early this week.

+++++++

Merry Christmas! Christ is born!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I hope you have a great Christmas!

+++++++

As most of the Photography 139 Calendars have been distributed it seems like a good time to start sharing the images for the 2024 calendar.

Here is the cover:

FRONT COVER

I don’t usually include pictures of people in the calendar, but I included this one of Jesse and Willy because it was the picture that was displayed at the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon this year.

TECHNICAL DETAILS:

CAMERA: Sony ILCE-7M4
DATE: May 29, 2022 – 6:13 PM
LENS: 105mm f/2.8 Sigma Art Macro
FOCAL LENGTH: 105 mm
APERTURE: f/2.8
EXPOSURE: 1/8000
ISO: 800

Tomorrow I will share the image from January.

+++++++

It is the last collection of submissions of the month, so it is a good time revisit the THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE FAQ:

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS – WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE

IT SHOULD BE POINTED OUT THAT SOME OF THESE MIGHT CHANGE STARTING NEXT YEAR. FOR EXAMPLY THE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF SUBMISSIONS WILL CHANGE TO 2 STARTING NEXT YEAR.

What skill level photographer can participate?

THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE is open to photographers of all skill levels. From award winning photographers to professionals to the highly ranked amateurs to those that are just beginning to those who don’t even know how to focus a camera. All skill levels are encouraged and welcome. You can’t be too bad and you can’t be too good! Everyone has room to learn and be challenged!

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.

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.

This limit will change to 2 starting with next year’s first theme.

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.

GREEN! A great theme! But was it great enough to make it a popular theme. You will have to keep scrolling to find out!

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

1-Suzie Brannen – 1 week (2)
2-Jen Ensley-Gorshe – 2 weeks
3-Sara Lockner – 4 weeks
4-Scott Degeneffe – 17 weeks
5-Sabas Hernandez – 18 weeks
6-Mike Vest – 23 weeks
7-Sheri Fakhouri – 27 weeks (2)
8-Logan Kahler – 28 weeks
9-Nathanial Brown – 29 weeks
10-Jesse Howard – 29 weeks
11-Tamara Peterson – 32 weeks
12-Mindi Terrell – 44 weeks
13-Brandon Kahler – 67 weeks
14-Linda Bennett – 73 weeks
15-Sarah Toot – 74 weeks
16-Angie DeWaard – 78 weeks
17-Dawn Krause – 82 weeks (2)
18-Kim Barker – 88 weeks
19-Joe Duff – 89 weeks
20-Teresa Kahler – 100 weeks (3)
21-Carla Stensland – 100 weeks (2)
22-Micky Augustin – 102 weeks
23-Andy Sharp – 103 weeks
24-Bill Wentworth – 104 weeks
25-Cathie Morton – 108 weeks
26-Elizabeth Nordeen – 109 weeks
27-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 111 weeks
28-Kio Dettman – 113 weeks (2)

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 (Iowa) – 114 weeks

Kio Dettman (Iowa)

Shannon Bardole Foley (Honey Hollow – Rural Warren County) – 112 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa) – 110 weeks

Cathie Morton (Waukee, Iowa) – 109 weeks

Bill Wentworth (Saint Louis, Missouri) – 105 weeks

Bill Wentworth (Saint Louis, Missouri)

Bill Wentworth (Omaha, Nebraska)

Andy Sharp (Boone, Iowa) – 104 weeks

Micky Augustin (Orlando, Florida)- 103 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Ames, Iowa) – 101 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Reiman Gardens – Ames, Iowa)

Teresa Kahler (Iowa)

Carla Stensland (Boone – Ogden, Iowa) – 101 weeks

Carla Stensland (Iowa)

Joe Duff (Houston, Texas) – 90 weeks

Joe Duff (Houston, Texas)

Kim Barker (Ames, Iowa) – 89 weeks

Dawn Krause (Iowa) – 83 weeks

Angie DeWaard (Reiman Gardens – Ames, Iowa) – 79 weeks

Sarah Toot (Chicago, Illinois) – 75 weeks

Sarah Toot (Chicago, Illinois)

Linda Bennett (Kansas) – 74 weeks

Linda Bennett (Kansas)

Mindi Terrell (Iowa) – 45 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa)

Tamara Peterson (Iowa) – 33 weeks

Tamara Peterson (Iowa)

Nathanial Brown (Branson, Missouri) – 30 weeks

Nathanial Brown (Branson, Missouri)

Jesse Howard (Ames, Iowa) – 30 weeks

Jesse Howard (Le Mars, Iowa)

Jesse Howard (Ames, Iowa)

Logan Kahler (Boone, Iowa) – 29 weeks

Logan Kahler (Boone, Iowa)

Logan Kahler (Reiman Gardens – Ames, Iowa)

Sheri Fakhouri (Ankeny, Iowa) – 28 weeks

Sheri Fakhouri (Ankeny, Iowa)

Mike Vest (Madrid, Iowa) – 24 weeks

Sabas Hernandez (Ankeny, Iowa) – 19 weeks

Scott Degeneffe (Boone County, Iowa) – 18 weeks

Evie Gorshe (Iowa) – 1 week

Mary Green (Iowa) – 1 week

Mary Green (Iowa)

Elainie Hernandez (Iowa) – 1 week

Willy McAlpine (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) – 1 week

Alexis Stensland (Parkersburg, Iowa) – 1 week

Alexis Stensland (Parkersburg, Iowa)

Christopher D. Bennett (Reiman Gardens – Ames, Iowa)

30 participants! That is a pretty great week, considering the holiday!

There were submissions this week taken in the following places:

+ Florida
+ Kansas
+ Illinois
+ Iowa
+ Missouri
+ Nebraska
+ New York
+ Texas

Here is the current calendar year list for states:

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

41 states and 1 district and 1 territory! That is pretty impressive! Over 80% of the way there!

The missing states are:
+ Alabama
+ Alaska
+ Connecticut
+ Delaware
+ Maine
+ Massachusetts
+ Rhode Island
+ Virginia
+ West Virginia

The Outside of the United States map is currently:

+ Spain
+ British Virgin Islands
+ Mexico
+ Nassau Bahamas
+ Canada
+ Peru
+ France
+ Austria
+ Germany
+ Italy
+ Slovenia
+ Belize

The major milestone stone this week was Andy joining the 2 Year Streak Club.

But it wasn’t all fun and reindeer games. Suzie couldn’t build on last week’s submission. Jen’s streak ends at 2. Sara’s streak ends at 4. Sadly, Brandon’s streak ends at 67.

HUMANS

ONCE AGAIN. DON’T FORGET THAT NEXT MONDAY IS NEW YEARS DAY! PLAN ON GETTING YOUR SUBMISSION IN AROUND THE HOLIDAY! OTHERWISE, THERE COULD BE A TON OF STREAKS BITING THE DUST.

HUMANS! What a great theme for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE! Even if HUMANS are mostly a failed species.

But what exactly is a HUMANS image? Simply put it is a picture that captures either a collection of HUMANS (or just one HUMAN) or the effects of HUMANity. A place where you can look at for inspiration is Humans of New York. After all, it did inspire this theme.

While thinking about possible subjects for your submission, meditate on the following quote and I have no doubt you will come up with a great image:

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former.
-Albert Einstein

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 HUMANS in this place that is ran by one next Monday.

Boone FUMC, FNSC, Holidays, Jesse, Still Life, Tenderloining

Tenderloin Trail 2.0: New Hampton Field Work

December 24, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

Happy Christmas Eve everybody!

Christmas Eve Worship Service is my favorite worship service of the year.

I hope you had/have a magical Christmas Eve.

+++++++

A couple of months ago Jesse and I hit the Tenderloin Trail 2.0 for Friday Night Supper Club. We drove all the way to New Hampton to try the tenderloin at The Pub at the Pinicon. The winner for the Best Tenderloin in Iowa in 2019.

I have to say that the experience was two-fold. On one hand, the food was amazing. Loved every bit of it. On the other hand, the service was atrocious. This is not an exaggeration. We waited over 30 minutes from the time we were seated before somebody came to even take our drink order. If it would have been a restaurant in Ames or Boone or Des Moines, we would have left. But we had driven 2 hours and 30 minutes ( 2 hours of this Jesse screaming at somebody from DirectTV on the phone) for this tenderloin, so we sat and waited and waited and waited and waited. We watched 4 different servers walk by us and not even look our way. Finally a 5th server entered the room and actually spoke to us.

On the third hand, we got the pleasure of the guy sitting in the booth across from us ask their server to pee in pop so he could have…

Wait for it…

A Dr. Peeper!!!

Comic gold!

I expect that guy to have his own Netflix special sometime in 2024.

Here are the pictures of what was a fantastic meal… once it arrived:

Tenderloin Trail 2.0: The Pub at the Pinicon

Some of the best onion rings I’ve ever had.

That is a lot of freaking onion rings for 2 dudes, that also ordered cheese curds

The tenderloin was excellent. The onion rings were amongst the best I’ve ever had. Despite the fact that the service was awful, I would gladly eat there again. I think the service on this night was an outlier.

The Pub at the Pinicon is located here:

2205 S Linn Ave
New Hampton, Iowa

Next Sunday’s food adventure will involve pizza!

Boone FUMC, Music

Boone FUMC Christmas Pageant

December 19, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett 1 Comment

Sunday was the Christmas Pageant at Boone First United Methodist Church. I think it was the first one that we’ve had since the pandemic, but I could be wrong about that. The play the kids put on was call “The Three Wise Guys” and told the story of how a mafia Godfather Don Amato gave the three gifts that the three wise guys gave to baby Jesus. It was messy, chaotic, hilarious, meaningful, and everything a Christmas pageant should be.

Here are some pictures of it:

I think they should put on a play every week!

Anders, Animals, Art, Candid Portrait, Christianity, Jay, Jesse, Movies, Naima, Road Trip, Self-Portrait, WPC - Alternate

‘Cause Someday I’ll Be Everything to Somebody Else

December 16, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett 1 Comment

Time to clean out the April backlog. Lots of pictures that didn’t quite make their way into previous “An Artist’s Notebook” entries. Including some that were alternates for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE and some that were taken in Jester Park and some at the end of a flowertography road trip. And some that include Naima.

It always feels good when the backlog gets a little more cleaned out!

Boone FUMC, Drone, Event, Holidays

Rodan139: Boone FUMC Thanksgiving

November 28, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

On Thanksgiving I took Rodan139 out for a very brief spin to take some pictures of the Boone First United Methodist Church’s Community Thanksgiving Dinner. It was very brief as Rodan139 was constantly be harassed by a flock of birds (the same flock of birds I photographed for my ANIMAL submission) so I brought the drone down after only a few minutes.

Here are some of the pictures I took:

Hopefully I can get Rodan139 out again sometime soon. We will have to see.