camping in montana

here's another holga taken in montana. there's not much special about it, but i like how old it looks. it's us waiting for my dad to cook us breakfast before going on a hike. 

holga. finally.

i got a holga camera back in june. the main interesting thing about holgas are they take imperfect photos, which isn't as possible now with digital.  So they let light in where they shouldn't and blur the edges, etc.  I envisioned myself taking incredible photos like the ones I found on google images. that's not really what happened. It's a bummer because while on a learning curve, incredible scenery all across north america went by me. so far I have a few photos that are...alright. 

robbie the dog

double exposure of...I think the same thing

south dakota

yesterday's sky

The sky was so pretty yesterday. We're starting to get proper fall weather. these are from throughout my day: going for a walk in the park, cooking for my grandparents, cooking for my family, and then driving to my friends house in Cleveland for the first official dinner she made in her new place.  As usual, I only took pictures of the sky and not the people I was with. I'll probably regret that tendency when I'm 50.

going for a walk

taking photos while driving is almost as bad as texting while driving.  on rt 90

oh clev-a-land.  you looked kinda pretty last night! the view from the end of monica's street. 

i want to be empty. but i don't want to be hollow.

purity and danger. is a book about food practices.

Blue Bottles

Camembert, Cranberry, Orange & Wine.

Work

Class.

the endless fields of Idaho

and the sun set.

Banago Beach Resort in Sulangan, Guiuan, Eastern Samar, Philippines.

natural art exhibit

I was recently in Florida with my family. We went to watch the sunset at a beach called 'Lovers Key'. Way down on the end was a group of uprooted trees that had been drying out in the sun for a long time. One of them had fallen over and the roots were sideways. When you got closer you could see little shells hanging on the tiny root bits. Maybe it happened by itself, but I don't think so. It looks like people have been contributing to this peice of natural artwork for awhile, so I took a few pictures and then added a few shells. Enjoy.

home sweet ohio

Right now I am in exotic Ohio.  To many people, Ohio is one of the last places you would consider exotic.  I get to travel so many places that people do consider that, that Ohio feels like the exotic exception.  It's not beautiful, it's not touristy, the local sounds are rap music and traffic.  But it is most definitely where I grew up and full of some of the most comforting people and places anywhere. Enjoy a small look into my little state. 

 

 

 

 

fourth of july

what c.s. lewis and I think about beauty.

I've been thinking a lot about beauty.  It's one of my favorite topics because I'm in awe of how God's way of how we should live causes our lives to look incredibly beautiful.  His "rules" and do's and do not's give our lives a shine and glow that making choices based on the world's values does not.  We are kept free from a lot of filth and a lot of heartache.

C.S. Lewis talks about how we can look into the past to try to find beauty and good feelings and good times.  We disguise our longings by calling it reminiscing or being nostalgic.  He says if we constantly look into the past at "the good old days" our hearts are going to be continuously broken by what we don't find.  He states that God uses situations and people in our lives to shine his beauty through, but that it is not contained in those moments.  If we are constantly staring into the past to feel how we once felt, we will find empty shells of what God used at the time to enrich our lives.

This encouraged me so much to look at what God is using every single day, in our very present present, to shine his beauty and incredibleness into our lives.  Beauty and everything good and perfect is contained in God. Everything else is just a vessel created to show it off.  There's nothing wrong with looking at what God has done in the past and thanking him for the good that happened, but when it prevents you from seeing the goodness in the day in front of you, it's reflecting in a way that sucks a bit of joy out of our lives. We don't have to think the good days have come and gone, or on the flip side, that the good is yet to come.  God is not boxed into time frames and certain moments of our lives.  He flows continuously through our lives, moment by moment as it's happening to us.  We can be encouraged knowing that God is working today to make our lives more incredible.

Disclaimer:  there may be some theological flaws in those statement, but I felt I could safely put this out there as a musing :)

Earth Scabs.

 

this is a picture of the trail i was just just about to walk, its all volcanic rock which felt like and sounded like glass to walk over, you may not be able to see but there are sulphur clouds coming up out of the ground far far into the picture, the mount on the left is the lava spout which erupted in 1969. anyways i was pretty impressed with nature that day, and i highly considered becoming a geologist.

His favour.

Taken on an iphone in Kaiua bay Kona, Hawaii.

Do not worry.

courtesy of Miss Kayla Norris

dusk last night

Last night we went on a picnic to farewell our friend Wing. This is what the sky looked like at dusk.

Take a look through my window