Contrails in the Sky @ Sunset

Tonight I was out at sunset.

But it wasn't sunset that caught my eye.

It was the contrails criss-crossing the sky, all around.

I was able to capture the most prominent one just for you to enjoy!

Autumn, so far is offering plenty of color to enjoy, everywhere you look!

 Take a little time and see what you can find.  :)

Simple Sundays: Country Beauties

Some country beauty...seen on our neighbor's farm here is our neighbor girl Sumer riding at sunset.  I asked her to stop when I saw the sunbeams lighting up her horse.  Sumer is a beautiful girl and she rides Mac, what a pair!


Thanks, Sumer, for letting me take your picture!


The sunsets lately where I live have been remarkable!  

The Lofty Skies

I live in a prairie-like area.  Flat land, you can see for a couple miles in one direction or another from just about anywhere out here.


Sometimes, folks might think that to be quite dull.


But in the evenings, at sunset, it's not dull very often.


I get gifts like this all the time, given free for the taking!


It never ceases to amaze.  


I might not have mountains to look at, but there are mountainous clouds to frame our landscape from time to time.


And upon closer inspection, a photographer learns what to focus in on, the bigger picture is beautiful, but sometimes, you have to pick a focal point and just zoom in.

It's like that with our lives, too.


Sometimes, we can't see the bigger picture.  But if we'll look at what's right in front of us, we can see it's something worth appreciating.  Light bursts through the clouds every now and then and we see something that gives us hope.


For this Sunday, I leave you with this beautiful old hymn, the words a sermon all on their own; when I saw this particular sunset, I thought of this hymn.


I Sing the Mighty Power of God
Isaac Watts

1. I sing the almighty power of God,
That made the mountains rise,
That spread the flowing seas abroad,
And built the lofty skies.

2. I sing the wisdom that ordained
The sun to rule the day;
The moon shines full at His command,
And all the stars obey.

3. I sing the goodness of the Lord,
That filled the earth with food;
He formed the creatures with His Word,
And then pronounced them good.

4. Lord! how Thy wonders are displayed
Where'er I turn mine eye!
If I survey the ground I tread,
Or gaze upon the sky!

5. There's not a plant or flower below
But makes Thy glories known;
And clouds arise and tempests blow,
By order from Thy throne.

6. Creatures that borrow life from Thee
Are subject to Thy care;
There's not a place where we can flee,
But God is present there.

(This was a hymn written originally for children!)

His Paintings...

I feel like the evening sky is a painting, done just for those who will see it, really look, and enjoy it.  

It's a spectacular window into the studio God uses, painting with His invisible hand,  right in front of our human eyes.  

It's simply stunning, no matter how many times you've seen it. Changing over a matter of just minutes.  


Silently, subtly, before you can catch your breath, the sun has sunk into the roundness of the earth.  Leaving behind shades and shadows of glory.




Doesn't He do the best work?

A Fiery Sunset

Lately, our sunsets have been unusually brilliant: colors so breathtaking that you think heaven has opened up just to show you a little taste of what it will be like.

Like each of us, every sunset is unique.  

And some stand out more than others. 

But see the orange right around that sun?  The really bright stuff?  

I wanted to see more of that.

So I changed my lenses, and lookie here what I got!  

I took these on May 22 as the sun set so brilliantly it could not be ignored. 




This shot and the one below were taken aiming straight into the sun with the telephoto lens on.  The orange just makes my heart go pitty-pat.  

Where I live it's rare for me not to notice the sun setting.


When I am not at home, and I can't see the sunset, I am somewhat disoriented.


I shoot so many sunsets, that if my kids or husband notice a nice one and I'm not out there with my camera yet, they come and get me.  That's just one of the nice little gifts my family gives to me year-round: photo opportunities.  




Wide open spaces are where I belong.  Can't stand to feel confined!


And...this song sums up our part of the country and what I love about our country just fine!  

Before the Dixie Chicks cut their noses off to spite their faces with a lot of us in flyover country, this was also song I could sing along heartily to...


Do you like wide open spaces?

Can you see the sunset from where you live? 

Timeless...

I hope I never get to the point where I cannot be awed by a beautiful sunrise or sunset.

Outside My Window

Sunsets here have been extra brilliant recently.

And one night, after a quick rain shower, I took my camera outside to shoot the rainbow.  The rainbow wasn't the real show once I got out there....after all.

The clouds were the show.

What do we miss but not looking outward?

By not looking upward?

...Take just a minute to appreciate the artwork God paints for your window to frame...and then go outside and get the WHOLE PICTURE!

These works of art make an ordinary day end extraordinarily!

Spring Sunset

One night, when I finished mowing, this is what I saw.

As I so often do, I ran to grab the camera, afraid I would miss the color show.

I kept moving myself farther into the yard to be able to capture the whole spectrum of colors that I saw.

One of the results of doing that was the silhouette of our 200 year old silver maple.

I think you can possibly see here how it dwarfs our fairly tall farmhouse.

There have been some spectacular sunsets lately because of all the storms.

The pink and periwinkle are prominent...and breathtaking.

I never tire of beautiful sunsets I see in this wide-open land that we live on.

I hope they never get old to you, my readers!

Thank you, as always, for reading and following this blog, it means a lot to me.

:0)

I am so happy to have you to share my photos and little snapshots of my country life as well.  

By the time this post is published, I will have almost hit  the 200,000 mark on my "hit counter"...that is truly amazing to me!  

xoxo

~Joni, a very

Restless Patriot~

Spring's Golden Glow

Going...

Going...

GONE.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Most of the garden is in.

We cannot keep up with the lawn.

The trees are bloomed out.

The skies are blue more days than not.

School is almost over.

My youngest son is almost done with driver's education.

(And I am a wreck!)

And he's also being inducted into the National Honor Society tonight.

Good times.

Oh.

One more thing.

My new grand baby is going to be ...

A GIRL!

Levi is going to have a sister this fall!

May Day Sunset

Opals

Jesse Cannon Eldridge

I have stood by my windows when

The eve was calm and still,

To watch the flaming sunset sink

Behind the nearest hill;

Seen the colors change from rose to pink,

To pink, to blue, nearby,

That seemed like gems of wonder and

Like opals in sky.

(an excerpt from the poem "Opals".)

Taking time to notice:  what's outside the window.

Of February Sunsets

I cannot conceive how a man could look up into the heavens and say there is no God. 

-Abraham Lincoln

It doesn't matter how many sunsets you've seen in your lifetime each one is better than the last.

The shades of periwinkle still astound, the on-fire pinks blended perfectly with orange and yellow....and the brilliance the bright middle, and darkness of the outer side of this rainbow-colored sunset contained within the western skies--all painted to capture  attention at twilight.

Another sunset ... framed perfectly by what surrounds us; 

Maybe an old farm fence, topped with barbed wire and a few bare trees, and some ragged weeds and light reflected off the blue snow.


A jeweled painting put in the sky--nothing that can be matched by any paintbrush a human could wield, all to savor and enjoy, if you only take time notice....

For those few still and quiet moments God timed it to last.   

The blue of heaven is larger than the clouds.  

-Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Little Lessons from the Back Roads

It's Friday! Another week has flown by!

Christmas is in the back of my mind...more and more lately. The local station has begun its Christmas music and that always lights a fire under me, making me realize how close it's becoming.

I've been asking the kids for lists, and I've been thinking about what I'm giving this year. There are a few things that are can't miss: Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift cards; iTunes gift cards, Burt's Bees products (oh, yes!), and food and other goodies made from your own kitchen--they always seem to be a hit with friends and neighbors, co-workers and extended family. (I have bought red and white gingham jar lids this year just to make my apple pie filling look more festive when I give it.)

I usually like to get Thanksgiving done without preparing for Christmas...I think Thanksgiving deserves to stand on its own, so there it is--I just get lists made and plans in my head and wait until the turkey's put away.

Well, today my major goal is to dust the furniture throughout the house, and girls let me tell you, it's my most-loathed chore, I'd much rather clean toilets, wash windows, clean the oven, even. Can you believe it?

So how about you? Do you enjoy or loathe the dusting!?

What is your least favorite household chore?

Happy Accidents

We had quite the storm yesterday in the late afternoon. We should have known, it was so muggy it was inevitable. It was a short, but powerful storm.

It knocked out our power, as well as that of one neighbor...I think we'll be low on the priority list for repairs, so we are still without power.

When he arrived home from work, hubby got out our generator that hadn't been used in years; we had it made because a couple years ago we hired an electrician to put a plug directly into our breaker box to use the generator to power up the whole house....and for our first time to be able to use it ....

The generator at first refused to start, then once started, refused to keep running.

So, it was a L-O-N-G night...this morning hubby went to work (he's a hardware man) and brought back another generator so I can use the basics...right now I'm waiting for the water heater to have enough time to warm some water for a shower.

...Back to happy accidents.

With no power, I got my camera out and played with it, for one thing I had some vintage items that needed to be posed and shot outdoors, so I got that done during the daylight. While my telephoto lens was still on the body of the camera, I used it--especially for this wonderful sunset the followed the storm.

While I was shooting (on my belly, on the wet grass), the dog ambled through.

And my happy accident is a lovely silhouette shot...I was excited!

There's always something good to find in life's little trials, right?