Illinois River

Taken during a ride this past Tuesday. The weather here has been exceptional for August: refreshingly cool days and near chilly nights! The Illinois River is not what I would call a “majestic” river, but in this image, the river looks pretty good!

Custer National Forest

We have finished our work with campers who are in the foster care system of the state of Montana. We had a wonderful experience loving on these children and enjoying the activities with them. The state of Montana partners with Beartooth Mountain Christian Ranch to provide a camping experience for kids in their foster care system. It was also a bittersweet time, knowing that many of these campers are in hard circumstances in their young lives. We are grateful for the opportunity to serve and hope to return next year. This year we took an extra day in our schedule to enjoy this part of the world. This was taken during a hike in the Woodbine Campground Area of the Custer National Forest. We hiked a little over a mile to a spectacular view of a waterfall in the mountains.

marina sky

We recently had the opportunity to spend some time in New Buffalo, MI. This is a small, beautiful lakeside town.

Happy Birthday Tony!

This post is to honor my oldest son on his 25th birthday. This was taken back in April when we went exploring and hiking in Wisconsin. I am the very proud father of this fine young man. I am looking forward to more adventures with him!

gotta love the midwest part 2

This was taken just a few moments after my previous post. There is a little story behind this image. The sky was stunning that day, so I began to think, "How could I be creative?" Then, it came to me! I' take a picture upside down. I know!! BRILLIANT! So-- I laid down on the road (yes... the brilliance is just oozing out!) and took this shot with the camera upside down. It was many hours later when I remembered that Lightroom, Photoshop, Pixelmator, etc., can easily flip and image. So much for artistic brilliance! — This was taken just a few moments after my previous post. There is a little story behind this image. The sky was stunning that day, so I began to think, “How could I be creative?” Then, it came to me! I’ll take a picture upside down. I know!! BRILLIANT! So– I laid down on the road (yes… the brilliance is just oozing out!) and took this shot with the camera upside down. It was many hours later when I remembered that Lightroom, Photoshop, Pixelmator, and just about every other image editing program known to mankind can easily flip an image. So much for artistic brilliance!

gotta love the Midwest

This is a short walk from my home. I am originally from New York, so, it took me along time to get over not living near an ocean (actually, I am still not over that!), not being able to bum around Manhattan, and, no mountains. It is VERY flat around here, however, over time, I have come top appreciate the 360 degree horizon, beautiful skies. This is the first of two shots taken moments apart that are examples of beautiful skies. — This is a short walk from my home. I am originally from New York, so, it took me a long time to get over not living near an ocean (actually, I am still not over that!), not being able to bum around Manhattan, and, no mountains. It is VERY flat around here. However, over time, I have come to appreciate the 360 degree horizon and the beautiful skies. This is the first of two shots taken moments apart that are examples of beautiful skies.

T-95

In addition to riding my bicycle, I also REALLY enjoy riding a motorcycle. This can be challenging, since I don’t own a motorcycle, but, I have a very generous friend who allows me to ride his. On this particular ride I decided to just “get lost”. I rode south on a route that I have never been on before. It was a beautiful day… clouds dotted the sky… the Midwest sky just seemed especially expansive, giving me that sense of smallness that I think each of us needs every once in a while. My journey then took me through a wind farm. I have seen these from a distance, but never up close. They are massive and possess their own beauty as much as they are also out of place on corn and soybean fields. T-95 was standing proud, making a definite “whoosh” sound as its enormous blades lazily turned… giant pinwheels making energy…. pretty cool.