Clearing Away the Fog

This morning arrived with heavy fog and the bright morning sun trying to push its way through. I dropped Lenore off at work and by the time I got back home there were angel rays breaking over the ridge top. I grabbed my camera and photographed the sunshine peeking through the branches of the tan oak in our front yard. Now I'm off to varnish the woodwork in our house. God's light and love to all, chris Image created with a handheld Canon 7D and a Canon 28-105 lens at 40mm. AV mode, ISO 800, F 16.0 at 1/200th of a sec.

Thank You Lord for the Rain

Today is sweater weather and I'm having hot soup for lunch. Right now it is raining softly and I've got all of the doors open to let out the fumes from the wood stain. After I finished staining all the woodwork this morning I noticed I was starting to feel a little heavy headed. I think I'm better off with a little chill in the air than the stain fumes. It is so awesome to hear the rain coming down. I pray it is drenching Lake County to the east helping with the Valley Fire. God bless, chris Image taken handheld with a Canon 7D and a Canon 28-105 lens at 78mm. ISO 800, f16.0 at 1/20th of a sec.

Sanding Away

Today and the next few days are going to be non photography days. Right now our house looks like one of those abandoned houses with all of the furniture covered up in drop cloths. After 24 years of living the woodwork in our house is in need of a major overhaul. Most of the wood will be fine as most of the nicks and scratches can be sanded out. Some of the windowsills are too far gone from the ravages of the sun. Those we have already sanded and painted. Today I am finishing up all of the sanding and tomorrow I will stain it all with a pretty neutral natural looking stain. Then on Thursday I will start laying down some marine varnish to protect it. It's going to look practically new again. I think God does that with us sometimes too. He lets us go and do our own thing and then he brings us back around to where we should be by knocking off all the rough edges we have begun accumulating. God bless, chris

Steaming It Up

There wasn't a sunrise to be seen yesterday morning due to the heavy smoke from the devastating fire to the east of us in Lake County. Please hold them in your prayers as so many people have lost their homes in this fire. Willits was a buzz of activity yesterday. They had Airport Day at the Willits Airport and Howard Hospital had an open house with tours of the brand new hospital. Wow, is it fabulous! What an incredible facility. Last but not least Roots of Motive Power had its big fall steam up. They had stationary steam engines, steam donkeys,a steam shovel and a steam crane as well rides on the steam locomotive and train. The Roots volunteers were on hand demonstrating the equipment and explaining how things worked.What an incredible collection of train and logging equipment.

Just a Peek

Do you ever have one of those days where you don't feel creative? Today is one of those days for me. There are too many home projects that need to be done right now that are cluttering my mind. This mornings sunrise was a bit delayed due to the cloud cover over the Mendocino Range. Here is the sun just breaking out above the clouds. May you have a blessed day.I'll be sanding and painting, chris

Some Call'em Weeds

The past four mornings I have driven with Lenore to work. Every time we have made the turn off of Highway 101 onto Commercial Street in Willits there has been a nice patch of color that has caught my eye as we have made the turn. In the strip between the sidewalk and the road a gorgeous patch of Chicory was blooming. This morning I made the effort to stop and photograph it on the way back home. As I was photographing one of the blossoms a bee came in and fed off of the nectar of the blossom. On my drive home I was thinking the Chicory was beautiful and it had something to give. Some people consider Chicory to be a weed. Aren't we lucky that God doesn't think of us that way? He has the same love for all of us regardless of who and what we are. Like the Chicory we also all have something wonderful to give. What can you give today? chris Image created with a handheld Canon 50D and a Canon 28-105 lens at 93mm. Camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 200, F 11.0 at 1/200th of a sec.

The Face Only a Mother Could Love

Last night when I was working on the computer a shield bug landed on the wall above the computer probably drawn in by the lamp light. Shield bugs get their name from the fact that the back of the exoskeleton resembles a shield like a knight or soldier would carry into battle. I captured the little insect and this morning I very carefully transferred the bug onto a seed head to photograph it. Many shield bugs can protect themselves by emitting a blast of foul chemicals. That is why they have earned the name "Stink Bug" from many people. Enjoy a couple of close ups of one of God's creations, chris Image created with a Canon 7D and a 100mm macro lens. AV mode, ISO 400, F 8.0 at 1/160th of a sec.