30 June, 2012

Tree

Almost every day I photograph this tree near my office window - always from the same angle, the same zoom, and about the same time of day. This is my favorite image from the past week.
TGB   

Copyright © 2012 Thomas G. Brown

To view a video set to music that contains 135 images taken over 12 months, click here.

For the 2010 collection of images, click here.
For the 2011 collection of images, click here.
For the 2012 collection of images, click here.

29 June, 2012

Desiderata

Gentle Readers, it's hard not to love these words - so I offer them again and will every so often, I suppose. I expect lots of 'sham and drudgery' over the next few months, and this reminder will be valuable.
TGB   


Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace
there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees
and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not
it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe
is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.

Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

Max Ehrmann, 1952.

28 June, 2012

{this memory} 57

This is the story behind last Monday's {this moment}.

It's a little hard to say where we are in this image - somewhere over the North Atlantic at 37,000 feet. I'm not sure of the time either, but my younger daughter is still awake. These flights usually leave around 6:00 pm or so, so it's probably after dinner in mid-July of 1989.

We are on Alitalia and on our way for a first trip to Italy. My wife and older daughter are there too, as are another faculty couple and the couple of dozen college students we are all chaperoning.

It was a great trip - a week in a small hotel in Popoli followed by a week staying with a family in Tocco da Casauria and then a week in Rome. Everyday was filled with food, family, friends, fun, and day trips. The memories will last forever.

Except for my six-year-old daughter - she claims to remember none of it. My wife and I do since we often carried her around in the July/August Mediterranean sun. Even that, however, is a pleasant memory.

So many wonderful memories - I am a fortunate man.
TGB

26 June, 2012

Torn On The Fourth Of July

Lou Gehrig is someone I admire. He died, of course, before I was born, but as a lad looking for role models, I loved baseball, I loved the Yankees, and I played first base, the same as Gehrig. Each year as we inch closer to the Fourth of July, I think of him.

If you know his story, you know him as the Iron Man. He played in 2130 consecutive games between 1925 and 1939, a record that stood until recently. He batted an amazing .340, 14th highest in the history of baseball, and my father watched him play in Yankee Stadium.

You are probably more likely to know him because they named the disease after him - Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Lou Gehrig's Disease. It sapped his strength and ultimately killed him as it does 90% of its victims within six years of diagnosis.

You may also know his name because of Gary Cooper - who starred as Gehrig in Samuel Goldwyn's 1942 production of Pride of the Yankees. The film depicts Gehrig's life including his brave struggle with the disease. Who hasn't at some point heard a reference to the speech Gehrig made on July 4,1939 as he said good-bye to baseball. There's even a reference in Sleepless in Seattle. It must have been unbearably difficult for him to take himself out of the line-up two months earlier - a necessary decision as he came to accept the reality of his illness. To retire on July 4 was surely even harder.

In his portrayal of the speech, Cooper's lines were:

"I have been walking on ball fields for 16 years, and I've never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans.

I have had the great honor to have played with these great veteran ballplayers on my left -- Murderers Row, our championship team of 1927. I have had the further honor of living with and playing with these men on my right -- the Bronx Bombers, the Yankees of today.

I have been given fame and undeserved praise by the boys up there behind the wire in the press box -- my friends, the sports writers. I have worked under the two greatest managers of all time, Miller Huggins and Joe McCarthy.

I have a mother and father who fought to give me health and a solid background in my youth. I have a wife, a companion for life, who has shown me more courage than I ever knew. People all say that I've had a bad break, but today -- today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth."


Very moving - but for some reason I found myself wondering if that was really what Gehrig said that momentous day. You can decide for yourself, but I think the actual speech was even more inspiring than the movie version - although I understand the reasons for the editorial changes Hollywood made.

What I am certain of is that men of this caliber are today few and far between, and we are in desperate more of them (men or women) - those who understand that sometimes one must do what is in the best interests of the team (i.e., the masses) rather than serve your own narrow interests or those of a select few.

Lou Gehrig said:

"Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about a bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.

I have been in ballparks for seventeen years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans. Look at these grand men. Which of you wouldn’t consider it the highlight of his career just to associate with them for even one day?

Sure I’m lucky.

Who wouldn’t consider it an honor to have known Jacob Ruppert? Also, the builder of baseball’s greatest empire, Ed Barrow? To have spent six years with that wonderful little fellow, Miller Huggins? Then to have spent the next nine years with that outstanding leader, that smart student of psychology, the best manager in baseball today, Joe McCarthy?

Sure I’m lucky.

When the New York Giants, a team you would give your right arm to beat, and vice versa, sends you a gift -- that’s something.

When everybody down to the groundskeepers and those boys in white coats remember you with trophies -- that’s something.

When you have a wonderful mother-in-law who takes sides with you in squabbles with her own daughter -- that’s something.

When you have a father and a mother who work all their lives so you can have an education and build your body -- it’s a blessing.

When you have a wife who has been a tower of strength and shown more courage than you dreamed existed -- that’s the finest I know.

So, I close in saying that I might have been given a bad break, but I've got an awful lot to live for."

TGB   


25 June, 2012

{this moment} 57

A Monday ritual. A single image - no words - capturing a moment from the past - sometimes a place with many moments - but somewhere along my life's Journey over which I wish to linger a bit and savor each treasured aspect of the memories it evokes. If you are moved or intrigued by my {this moment}, please leave a comment. On Thursday in a companion ritual called {this memory}, I'll share the story of this moment.
{this moment}
Copyright © 2012 Thomas G. Brown

{this moment} is a ritual copied and adapted from cath's wonderful blog ~just my thoughts. She, in turn, borrowed it from Pamanner's Blog. Check out their blogs, and if you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your {this moment} in the comments for each of us to find and see.
TGB   

24 June, 2012

The New Testament

When the Old Testament was done, they started the New Testament. Jesus was the Star. He was born in a barn in the town of Bethlehem. I wish I had been born in a barn too, because then, when my mother says to me, "Close the door. Were you born in a barn?" I could say, "As a matter of fact, I was."

Jesus argued a lot with the Chief Priests and Democrats. He had twelve opossums. Most of them were good, but Judas Asparagus was not. He was so bad that they named a really yucky vegetable after him.

Jesus healed some people and leopards. Then He preached to the Germans on the Mount, but the Chief Priests and Democrats were mad at him and put Him on trial. Pilot was too chicken to stick up for Him, so he just washed his hands.

Jesus died for our sins and came back to life again. He went to heaven but will come back at the end of the aluminum. We can read all about this in the Book of the Revolution.
Author Unknown   

23 June, 2012

Tree

Almost every day I photograph this tree near my office window - always from the same angle, the same zoom, and about the same time of day. This is my favorite image from the past week.
TGB   

Copyright © 2012 Thomas G. Brown

To view a video set to music that contains 135 images taken over 12 months, click here.

For the 2010 collection of images, click here.
For the 2011 collection of images, click here.
For the 2012 collection of images, click here.

21 June, 2012

{this memory} 56

This is the story behind last Monday's {this moment}.

You're in New York - behind my home and around 1986 or so. After building this home, we moved into it in 1985. The next year I built a deck and added this swingset - so obviously home-made. Slide, fort, swings, ladders, bridge - it had it all.

The lady in front and in red is my mother, and the little girl is my older daughter. Both are wearing huge smiles, and in those smiles I find a moment to savor. As my readers know, my little girl is now a mom, and my mom is now a great grandmother. The river of life.

The swings are gone today, and where they stood is now a swimming pool. For some reason though, I kept the ladder that brought you to the top of the slide. It leans in a secluded corner on the deck - which does still stand although today it is roofed and screened and has it's own swing.

So many wonderful memories - I am a fortunate man.
TGB

19 June, 2012

A Gentle And Tender Touch

I have occasionally offered some personal reflection on something Henri Nouwen has written. I do so again today.

He has suggested when we ask ourselves who means the most to us, it is often those who, instead of offering advice or solutions or cures, chose to share our pain and touch our wounds with gentle and tender hands. If this be the case, then there are several who have surely grown to mean a great deal to me. I am a fortunate man.

The hands of which Nouwen wrote can be interpreted quite literally or far more symbolically - just as the wounds can be either physical or emotional, and the moments represented by this gentle and tender touch are exceedingly special - especially if at the same time I can similarly touch in return.

Although I can identify most of my wounds, that knowledge is far from complete. At the same time, I believe that most of them have healed - although not without scars. Yes - I did manage to tend to a few myself, but a loving wife has touched and continues to touch others. I have been favored with a physical therapist who is also teacher and guide, and her wondrous touch has been with me for over twenty years. And grace, however defined, brought to me one or two special friends with remarkable understanding. All have touched me gently and tenderly, and I cannot imagine my present health and happiness without them. They do, indeed, mean a great deal to me.

As our respective Journeys along life's river unfold, it is my fervent desire that you, Dear Reader, will also encounter those with this special touch, and I hope I can nourish the "touching" relationships I have been given. Navigating successfully the full length of the river will likely depend on constructing a map from all of the pieces we each gain in those moments, and on this Journey we should never be alone.
TGB   

18 June, 2012

{this moment} 56

A Monday ritual. A single image - no words - capturing a moment from the past - sometimes a place with many moments - but somewhere along my life's Journey over which I wish to linger a bit and savor each treasured aspect of the memories it evokes. If you are moved or intrigued by my {this moment}, please leave a comment. On Thursday in a companion ritual called {this memory}, I'll share the story of this moment.
{this moment}
Copyright © 2012 Thomas G. Brown

{this moment} is a ritual copied and adapted from cath's wonderful blog ~just my thoughts. She, in turn, borrowed it from Pamanner's Blog. Check out their blogs, and if you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your {this moment} in the comments for each of us to find and see.
TGB   

17 June, 2012

The Hikers

One day, Joe, Bob, and Dave were hiking in a wilderness area when they came upon a rather wide river, raging and violent. They needed to get to the other side, but had no idea of how to do so.

Joe prayed to God, saying, "Please God, give me the strength to cross this river."

Poof! God gave him big arms and strong legs, and he was able to swim across the river in about two hours, although he almost drowned a couple of times.

Seeing this, Dave prayed to God, saying, "Please God, give me the strength and the tools to cross this river."

Poof! God gave him a rowboat, and he was able to row across the river in about an hour, after almost capsizing the boat a couple of times.

Bob had seen how it worked out for the other two, so he also prayed to God saying, "Please God, give me the strength, the tools, and the intelligence to cross this river."

Poof! God turned him into a woman. She looked at the map, hiked upstream a couple of hundred yards, and then walked across the bridge.
Author Unknown   

16 June, 2012

Tree

Almost every day I photograph this tree near my office window - always from the same angle, the same zoom, and about the same time of day. This is my favorite image from the past week.
TGB   

Copyright © 2012 Thomas G. Brown

To view a video set to music that contains 135 images taken over 12 months, click here.

For the 2010 collection of images, click here.
For the 2011 collection of images, click here.
For the 2012 collection of images, click here.

14 June, 2012

{this memory} 55

This is the story behind last Monday's {this moment}.

You're in New York - in my bedroom around 1986 or so. The two young ladies enjoying that bed are, of course, my daughters at about three and five years of age. The brass headboard is now in the basement, the sheets are long ago retired, and the table cloth spread upon the bed ... well, who knows what happened to that.

I'm not sure there is much of a story to tell here, but what child doesn't love to climb into their parents bed?! I'll assume this was on a weekend so I was available to take a photo, and it's oh so clear that mom has catered to their every desire with breakfast in bed. I'm pretty sure those are pancakes she made into various shapes - animals, initials, etc. A childhood favorite.

None of that matters, of course. What really matters is how much I love these two girls, and as Father's Day approaches, my heart swells and overwhelms me with that love and the pride I feel at seeing what beautiful and talented young women they have become.

So many wonderful memories - I am a fortunate man.
TGB

12 June, 2012

Poetically Mysterious

In January I participated in a "30 poems in 30 days" challenge. On Day 21, the challenge was to write a poem that answers a question. First I needed a question, a timeless question that I could answer with awe-inspiring profundity. "Why do we exist?"

Answered

          With care and calm we think upon
          the mysteries of life.
          In ancient quest we probe the depths,
          but genius is denied.

          Such mysteries are hard to see,
          obscure though quite sublime.
          I question whether we shall ever
          fathom what we find.

          So if you ask ‘Why we exist,’
          an existential cry,
          I simply say to you ‘Why not’
          and answer with a smile.

TGB   

11 June, 2012

{this moment} 55

A Monday ritual. A single image - no words - capturing a moment from the past - sometimes a place with many moments - but somewhere along my life's Journey over which I wish to linger a bit and savor each treasured aspect of the memories it evokes. If you are moved or intrigued by my {this moment}, please leave a comment. On Thursday in a companion ritual called {this memory}, I'll share the story of this moment.
{this moment}
Copyright © 2012 Thomas G. Brown

{this moment} is a ritual copied and adapted from cath's wonderful blog ~just my thoughts. She, in turn, borrowed it from Pamanner's Blog. Check out their blogs, and if you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your {this moment} in the comments for each of us to find and see.
TGB   

10 June, 2012

Earning A Promotion


A Catholic Priest and a Rabbi were chatting one day when the conversation turned to a discussion of job descriptions and promotion.

"What do you have to look forward to in way of a promotion in your job?" asked the Rabbi. "Well, I'm next in line for the Monsignor's job," replied the Priest. "Yes, and then what?" asked the Rabbi.

"Well, next I can become Arch-Bishop," said the Priest. "Yes, and then?" asked the Rabbi. "If I work real hard and do a good job as Arch-Bishop, it's possible for me to become a full Bishop," said the Priest.

"O.K., then what?" asked the Rabbi.

The Priest, beginning to get a bit exasperated replied, "With some luck and real hard work, maybe I can become a Cardinal."

"And then?" asked the Rabbi.

The Priest is really starting to get angry now and replies, "With lots and lots of luck AND some real difficult work AND if I'm in just the right places at just the right times AND play my political games just right, maybe, just maybe, I can get elected Pope."

"Yes, and then what?" asked the Rabbi.

"Good grief!" shouted the Priest. "What do you expect me to become, GOD?"

"Well," said the Rabbi, "according to you guys, one of our boys made it!"
Author Unknown   

09 June, 2012

Tree

Almost every day I photograph this tree near my office window - always from the same angle, the same zoom, and about the same time of day. This is my favorite image from the past week.
TGB   

Copyright © 2012 Thomas G. Brown

To view a video set to music that contains 135 images taken over 12 months, click here.

For the 2010 collection of images, click here.
For the 2011 collection of images, click here.
For the 2012 collection of images, click here.

08 June, 2012

Mnemosyne's Daughters

Neuroscience research suggests the brain, as it traverses middle age, gets better at recognizing the central idea - the big picture - by changing in ways that allow greater complexity and deeper understanding.

Furthermore, the brain can continue building new pathways that help us recognize patterns and that see significance and find solutions much faster than a young person. The trick evidently is to keep the connections we already have in good working order and then to grow more of them.

As it turns out we can nudge our neurons to be so and do so by challenging the very assumptions we worked hard to accumulate throughout life, and while it is important to bump up against people and ideas that are different, we need to go further and challenge our long held perceptions of the world.

We used to rely on the Muses to grace us with such inspiration and keep our minds in peak condition. My favorites always been the three original Boeotian muses, especially Mneme, but I'll happily receive inspiration from any of the more traditional nine that Zeus fathered with Mnemosyne.

Since these goddesses can be capricious, only one thing is certain. With one eye on senescence, I shall cherish any number of real life Muses - those most significant of others from among friends and family who can help keep my mind and soul growing.
TGB

07 June, 2012

{this memory} 54

This is the story behind last Monday's {this moment}.

You're in New York - in my living room around 1977 or so. This is Dixie. You met Miss Bo Jangles last month in {this memory} 50. Now it's Dixie's turn.

Dixie was with me from 1972 to 1989. A very long time. She was a mutt (probably some cocker and some small terrier) I selected from the shelter in Virginia Beach - because she stuck her paw through the bars at me. She was quite small then. I could hold her almost entirely in the palm of my hand. She grew up to weigh about 20 pounds.

She was my first dog actually - although I named her after the family dog of my infancy. That Dixie, of course, I have no memory of whatsoever. I did have a stray puppy briefly in my early teens, but my parents didn't let me keep him. I never knew why.

So Dixie was my first, and I loved this dog. She was with me through graduate school in Maine and went on dozens of camping and cross country skiing excursions. She moved with me to my first home in New York. And the second home a year later where she had three acres to run around in. And a third home when I moved into the dorms over the summer while I started construction on this house. And a fourth home when construction stretched out. And, of course, she moved into my present home.

Sometime in the early summer of 1989 she disappeared. We called her and looked for her everywhere. We visited the dog shelter here, and I called the animal control warden for my town. Nothing.

Nothing but sadness - compounded by the fact that all four of us were scheduled to go to Italy in early July, which we did. A couple of weeks after we returned, I received a call from the warden who had put two and two together. Neighbors down at the bottom of our hill had reported finding a dead dog in a remote part of their yard while we were gone. No one knows for sure, but I'm guessing she just died suddenly while happily running or exploring. She was 17 years old after all.

I loved watching her run with that tail waving high in the air like those flags they put on tricycles so you know where they are - at least while she could. She was hit by a car once just hard enough to injure her tail so that she could no longer hold it aloft. It didn't slow her down a bit.

I still miss her. A lot. She would get into my oversized chair with me and nestle between my right leg and the right arm of the chair. We watched a lot of TV together. Graded a lot of papers too, I suppose. And she helped me through some dark days.

So ... ever have one of those pets in particular who will be with you forever? For me, that's Dixie. It's an unconditional thing.

So many wonderful memories - I am a fortunate man.
TGB

The photo was taken on Kodachrome 64 (slide) film with a Canon FTb. 
Settings: long ago forgotten.

06 June, 2012

Poetically Over

In January I participated in a "30 poems in 30 days" challenge. On Day 12, the challenge was to write a poem about doing something for the last time. What emerged from my pen is sadness over the day that will surely come - all the more reason to live in the present.
TGB   

The Last Time

          The day will burst upon my soul
          as if a thousand suns
          and leave behind a trail of tears
          to blind me for a while.

          To gain and keep a healing peace
          I must remember all
          the perfect moments deep and pure,
          the smiles so often shared.

          Yet all too soon the day shall come,
          the last time we shall gaze
          into each other’s eyes and speak
          without a word or sound.

          A final kiss, a last embrace
          and all that will remain
          are dreams that paint what might have been
          to cherish for all time.


05 June, 2012

Around The World In 90 Minutes

NASA constructed five shuttlecraft. Both Challenger and Columbia were destroyed in tragic accidents, and Endeavour landed on June 1 after the last of her 25 missions. I wrote and posted most of what follows after watching the shuttle Discovery blast off for her 39th and final mission. The shuttle program has ended, but last week I caught up with Discovery again - this time at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington Dulles International Airport. It's a companion facility to the Museum on the National Mall. Awesome - but then I have always been a space junkie.

I remember President Kennedy in 1962 saying "We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard ... " I grew up with the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs. The family of Alan Shepard, the first American in space, lived in my hometown of Virginia Beach. I recall the unbridled excitement of the great CBS newsman Walter Cronkite as he covered every emerging space race milestone, and I watched television, utterly transfixed, as Neil Armstrong took mankind's first steps on the moon.

Until a few years ago, what I never got to do was watch an actual launch. I was in Florida frequently but my trips never corresponded with the launch dates. In 2007, however, I was in Orlando for a conference, and a launch was scheduled. Wild horses could not have kept me away. I jumped in the car and headed for Cape Canaveral - being certain to arrive early so I could park close (in spite of the crowds) to the spot where I had decided to view the majesty.

So there I was - sitting in the car beside US 1 near Kennedy Point Park in Titusville. It's about three hours until launch, and there wasn't much to do except listen to the radio. Wow - I was excited though. Even without binoculars and 11 miles from Launch Complex 39A, I knew it was going to be spectacular. And what a beautiful day - not a cloud in the sky and warm, with only calm winds.

The time came, and the hundreds of viewers around me were counting down to zero. As I looked east across the Indian River, I could see the shuttle rising above the trees. Silence. Where's the noise? Then it dawned on me that it was 11 miles away, and at a mile every five seconds, it would be almost a minute before I heard anything. About the time I figured that out, the roar hit. It was like an earthquake - crack, rumble, roar. Everything shook. You felt it in your bones. The thunder continued for what seemed like forever with the only change being that it just became louder.

And the plume of smoke was incredibly beautiful. I watched until it was out of sight, but by then it was hundreds of miles away. I wiped away the tears and returned to the car for a decidedly earthbound drive back to Orlando and dinner with my wife. If the truth be told, I was as happy as a puppy with two tails.

I hoped then that maybe I could get closer someday - if the universe aligned just right and if I could wrangle a VIP pass to the Kennedy Space Center. Standing beside it in a museum doesn't count. Of course, I now know it will never be. Even then, however, I felt it might be difficult since our country seemed to have forgotten Kennedy's words. We seem to have become a nation who can't be bothered or inconvenienced, a nation who looks for the easy way.

Today there are so many who demand their special piece of the action that the possibility of shared sacrifice or a collective rising to meet a genuinely grand challenge seems quite remote. We need to build a high speed rail system or wean ourselves from oil or conquer cancer or maybe, just maybe, go back to the moon. We dearly need something to inspire us so that we all once again cheer for the same accomplishment, something so that we all once again pull in the same direction.

We've been warned about a house divided ...
TGB   

04 June, 2012

{this moment} 54

A Monday ritual. A single image - no words - capturing a moment from the past - sometimes a place with many moments - but somewhere along my life's Journey over which I wish to linger and savor each treasured aspect of the memories it evokes. If you are moved or intrigued by my {this moment}, please leave a comment. On Thursday in a companion ritual called {this memory}, I'll share the story of this moment.
{this moment}
Copyright © 2012 Thomas G. Brown

{this moment} is a ritual copied and adapted from cath's wonderful blog ~just my thoughts. She, in turn, borrowed it from Pamanner's Blog. Check out their blogs, and if you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your {this moment} in the comments for each of us to find and see.
TGB   

03 June, 2012

Preacher's New Mower

A preacher retired and moved to the country to enjoy life and practice his hobby of yard work. Needing a lawn mower, he headed into town to buy one. On the way he saw a sign advertising a lawn mower for sale.

He stopped at the house, and a young lad came out to greet him. The preacher asked about the lawn mower, and the boy said it was behind the house. The two went to look at the lawn mower. When the engine was sputtering along at idle speed, the preacher increased the speed of the engine and mowed a few strips. Satisfied that the mower would do the job, the preacher settled on a price of $25.00.

Later in the day, the young lad was riding his bicycle when he spied the preacher pulling on the engine starter rope. The kid stopped and watched for a couple of minutes. He asked, "What's wrong?"

The reply came, "I can't get this mower started. Do you know how?" The boy said, "Yep."

"Well, how do you do it? Tell me!" the preacher yelled. The boy replied, "You have to cuss at it."

The preacher rose up indignantly. "Now you listen here. I am a preacher, and if I ever did cuss, not saying I have, I've forgotten how to do it after all these years."

With a wise look on his face well beyond his years, the young lad said, "Preacher, you keep on pulling that rope, and it'll all come back to you."
Author Unknown   

02 June, 2012

Tree

Almost every day I photograph this tree near my office window - always from the same angle, the same zoom, and about the same time of day. This is my favorite image from the past week.
TGB   

Copyright © 2012 Thomas G. Brown

To view a video set to music that contains 135 images taken over 12 months, click here.

For the 2010 collection of images, click here.
For the 2011 collection of images, click here.
For the 2012 collection of images, click here.

01 June, 2012

Mighty Finn - Update #2

What fun!

Grandson Finn joined us in Washington last week.

His mom and auntie took him to the National Zoo, which was actually pretty close to our hotel. Someone told me it's all happening at the Zoo.

On another day we drove out to Alexandria so the Mighty Finn could meet his great uncle and his 92-year-old great grandmother who
traveled from her
home in Virginia
Beach.

And, of course, I got to play with him, now that he was old enough to begin to react. Leaning over him, I made raspberry noises and stuck my tongue out. His eyes would get big as he attempted to imitate. Big smiles all around. When I exaggerated the word "busy" repeatedly, the smile got even larger until he would erupt in a brief laugh or squeal, and of course, what's left of my heart melted into a puddle of love.
TGB