Cee’s Midweek Madness Challenge this week is Pick a Topic from her photo (see it here). My first picture picks up a few of Cee’s suggested topics: candid, fence, bird, wild grass, blue, and green.
The telescope in Cee’s photo, the camera being used by one of the birdwatchers, and the cell phone all have lenses. It may be a stretch, but I picked the topic “through a lens.”
These last two candid shots are just for the fun of it!
Knowing that amber was Cee’s Midweek Madness January Color Challenge, I’ve been looking for amber colored items for the last week or so. The only thing I found in my house is a bar of soap!
I found a few images in my digital archives I thought might work. When Cee included a color palette in her post (see it here), I decided to include several mores photos.
The rose is probably not quite amber, but its color is somewhere between yellow and orange so I think it counts.
I was surprised by the amber rings of color in the candles when I was trying to get a candle picture for my Christmas cards. Here’s one of the photos I didn’t use.
Frost on bridge railings, Riverfront Park, Billings, Montana. January 2, 2023.
Posted in response to Cee’s Midweek Madness Challenge: January Close-Up.
I Will Light Candles this Christmas
I will light Candles this Christmas:
Candles of joy despite all sadness,
Candles of hope where despair keeps watch,
Candles of courage for fears ever present,Candles of peace for tempest-tossed days,
by Howard Thurman
Candles of grace to ease heavy burdens,
Candles of love to inspire all my living,
Candles that will burn all year long.
Just the other day one of my nephews asked what I hoped for the new year. At least I think he used the word “hope.”
After a brief pause I replied that I hoped the same thing I hope every day: shalom – the Hebrew word for peace.
As I understand it, it’s so much more than the absence of conflict. I hope that of course: the end of war between nations, the end of hostility between neighbors, the end of animosity within families.
I also hope for shalom/peace, in the sense of good health, healing, and wholeness. I hope for communities where all are truly welcomed and treated with respect. I hope for safe places where the gifts of each and every person are held sacred and celebrated. I hope for generosity and good will among all.
I hope that for you.
And I pray that after I light candles, I will have the integrity and courage to act in ways that further shalom/peace in our world.
I knew immediately which picture I wanted to share for this week’s Midweek Madness Challenge when I saw Cee’s challenge photo (see it here)! I’m mesmerized by the reflection in the surface ripples of water – both in Cee’s photo and mine (above).
This next photo is of the same area – just further away and from a different angle.
The last three photos were taken in quick succession a little earlier on the same day in the same place – November 4, 2022 at Riverfront Park, Billings, Montana. I was just starting my walk when a flock of geese flew overhead, circled and landed on the water.
Cee’s Midweek Madness November Color Challenge is tangerine orange. What I found in my digital files is an eclectic mix: the top of a hot air balloon as it is being inflated, a globemallow flower, an Icelandic poppy, and some of the ingredients for making sundaes and orange (or root beer) floats.
This picture of bubbling chokecherry syrup was the first I considered in response to Cee’s Midweek Madness Challenge of words with two letters “r.” A friend had given us a bottle of chokecherry juice to make into syrup and after adding sugar and bringing the mixture to a boil, I had to grab a camera. The bubbles were prettier in person, but chokecheRRY fits this week’s challenge!
Riverfront Park was on the agenda for a walk yesterday. It wasn’t until on my way there I realized the words river and riverfront meet the challenge! The Yellowstone River is pictured above and some meRRy friends at RiverfRont Park are shown below.
Heading home on Rimrock Road after running errands, I realized the largest feature of the landscape here in Billings also fits the challenge: rimrocks! The city is located in the Yellowstone Valley, bordered to the south by the Yellowstone RiveR and to the north by the RimRocks. Read more about the rims on Wikipedia.
This picture of the rimrocks was taken at Phipps Park on the northwest corner of Billings. Bonus for this week’s challenge: a railroad line!
Just because I have it, here’s a picture taken a week ago from the top of the rimrocks, looking SSW over the city.
Cee’s Midweek Madness Challenge “Pick a Topic” photo this week included a park with playground equipment, people, and trees. If you look closely, you can see all three in the photo above.
A visit to Zoo Montana / Yellowstone Arboretum last weekend yielded more than a few pictures of trees in park setting.
Two of my favorite people happen to be standing on the bridge.
A few autumn leaves and other fall color. These photos were all taken at Riverfront Park, Billings, Montana on Saturday, October 8, 2022.
Yellow becomes brown in a hurry!
Blue and white aren’t typically thought of as “fall” colors. But ripening berries and the seeds of milkweed are part of the landscape!
Posted as part of Cee’s Flower of the Day Challenge. Although I certainly could have used it for her Midweek Madness Challenge yesterday!
Another LQQK 