I guess I’m a bit late on this one, but here it is anyway – Lens-Artists Photo Challenge of the season of autumn.
Autumn means…
Fall colors
and even some flowers
Halloween
And my favorite: family time at Thanksgiving
CB&WPC: Engines
A few years ago, we took a 3-day trip to Indianapolis and a nearby town, Columbus, Indiana, which had a variety of architectural styles. Columbus has a walking tour you can take on your own to see these architectural marvels. We started out doing the tour but my husband got bored so we just wandered around. We came to a company that made engines. There were engines on display in the first floor atrium.
The two photos below were taken at the Overlord Museum at Omaha Beach in Normandy, France, which we visited last year. There was an extensive display of the vehicles and equipment used during the D-Day invasion.
WWTW: Political and Personal
For Fandango’s challenge Who Won the Week? I picked two: one political and one personal.
First, the political:Â House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her remarks to a right-wing reporter, who asked her if she “hated” Trump. Pelosi said she didn’t hate anyone, that her Catholic faith had taught her not to hate, and that she prays for Trump “all the time.” Hear her full reply here: Don’t Mess With Me.
My personal pick is the Show Choir and other choirs at Chesterton High School in Chesterton, Indiana. Yesterday, Dale and I and my sister & brother-in-law attended a madrigal dinner at Chesterton High School hosted by the school’s music department. It was an elaborate affair, with all the participating students in full Renaissance costumes, with singers, servers, jesters, lords and ladies, and lackeys. (My grand-nephew, Josh, was one of the lackeys!)
They all played their roles to the letter, even using British accents when possible! Not only were we served a three-course dinner but we were also treated to the most wonderful performance of Christmas songs and carols. This is an amazingly talented group of young people. The videos I made aren’t great because it was dark and no flash photography was allowed and my view was partially obstructed by a pole with an advent wreath and candle on top. But one can hear how wonderful the singing is.
Some other photos I managed to take without flash:
This is an exceptionally musically gifted group of high school students, who worked very hard to put this all together, which is why I chose them as winners of the week. We all were very impressed and loved the entire event!
A footnote: We were seated at Table 11, called “Duke of Normandy” – I noticed this coincidence, because our family had all gone to Normandy, France together last June, and pointed it out to Josh, who’d had no idea and also appreciated the coincidence!
CB&WPC: Stairways
The topic for Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge this week is Steps: Indoors or Outdoors.
Iowa State Capitol, Des Moines
Iowa State Capitol, Des Moines
Lake Street Church, Evanston, Illinois
Art Institute, Chicago, Illinois
War Memorial, Indianapolis, Indiana
River Walk, San Antonio, Texas
WPC: Twisted
When I saw that the theme of WP’s Weekly Photo Challenge this week was twisted, I immediately thought of two things: trees and cactus.
Winter is a good time to photograph twisted branches.
Springtime in the park
Sometimes even trees need a hug!
There’s a bird hiding in this tangle of branches!
At Saguaro National Park near Tucson, Arizona, the mighty saguaro starts growing arms when it is about 60 years of age and these arms twist every which way as they grow!
Saguaros live up to 200 years of age, sometimes older. They provide shelter and sustenance for many species of animals.
Anther twisty cactus is common throughout southern Arizona, but I don’t remember its name.
Photos taken in Des Plaines, a state park in Indiana, Sonora Desert Museum (Tucson) and Saguaro National Park West (Tucson).Â
Finally, a video by the band Twisted Sister, We’re Not Gonna Take It.
WPC: Making the Temporary Permanent
The Weekly Photo Challenge theme this week is Temporary. Nature’s beauty has an element of permanence, in that there is always beauty to appreciate at any time of year and the fact that the seasons come and go and nature “repeats itself.” Still, in spite of this repetition, none of nature’s beauties are ever exactly the same, and as summer changes to autumn, and autumn to winter, I find myself nostalgic for warm weather, for flowers, for the brilliant color of sugar maples in the fall, and the wonder of growing children.
Here are some temporary beauties I have appreciated over the last several months.
I often pass a house in my walks around the neighborhood, where beautiful and changing flowers bloom along a white fence, such as these pink cone flowers, white lilies and purple phlox.
A special moment is getting close to a loon on a Wisconsin lake…
and the full moon rising through the trees over that same lake.
I love the beauty of a sunset behind a marina in San Diego…
…or accented by the streak of a jet stream in Indiana…
…as well as the perfect fall leaf.
Most wonderful of all is watching nieces and nephews grow and change (clockwise from top left: Rosie, Leslie with sons Max & McKay, Maggie with daughter Frances, Xavier, Grace & Sylvia.)
Although all these wonders are temporary, I am comforted by having captured them all permanently in photographs, which I am able to admire again and again!
CFFC: President Harrison’s House
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge this week is “Dishes, Pots, Pans, Silverware.” When visiting Indianapolis a year ago, my husband and I toured the home of PresidentBenjamin Harrison, the only president from Indiana that established residence there. Guided tours take visitors through the house.
Benjamin Harrison (grandson of president William Henry Harrison who died after one month in office( was a Republican, the 23rd president, serving from 1889 to 1893. He married twice, first to Caroline Scott, who died in 1892 and with whom he had two children, Russell and Mary.
He married his second wife, Mary Scott Lord, in 1896 and they had one child, Elizabeth. Harrison served only one term as president. He lost his reelection bid to Grover Cleveland, due to the unpopularity of high tariffs and high government spending.
Harrison was a conservationist and he created a number of national forest reserves. Six states were admitted to the Union during his tenure as president. (Source: Wikipedia).
Saturday Statues: Syrinx and Pan
In Indianapolis, we were in a park where on one side was this statue of Pan playing his flute:
On the other end was Syrinx, her hand to her ear, straining to hear Pan’s flute from afar.
CFFC: Feet and shoes
Pedicures
Footwear (sans feet!)
Thursday Doors: Mixture of styles in Indiana
On our short trip to Indiana in June, we visited Indianapolis and Columbus. Indianapolis has an eclectic mix of architectural styles, and Columbus is famous for its architecture (it’s rated 6th in the country for innovative architecture, superseded only by 5 large cities).
A mixture of styles, a mixture of doors…
