Before We Get to the Upper Room

 

    What is it today? What is my heart doing and why? Heart and lung and unidentified pains. Heart and lung and sudden onset migraines. Dislocated hips. Hospital tests and procedures. I am frail and vulnerable, seeking care.

Unspoken silence.

    Years of pain, howling wind and a house a’ fire. The familiar rhythm of struggle. Something missing – a loss of spark. But the inevitable doubt is tinder for the fire.

Is this the restoration time?

    Yes, but not just yet. It is not for you to know. Between the was and the will be. Between dry bones and breathing wind. I’m on fire or soon will be. Head and heart. Flesh and bone. Spirit and soul all at once.

Unspoken silence.

    
    Come wind. Come fire. Burn, breathe, blow. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Background Images for Everyone - Week 24 - 2017

Here it is, just for you (or someone like you) - another free background image for you to use at work, or school or driving in your car.*  Use it freely as your very own - I only ask that you share it freely and that you tell others that you found it here.

You can also see this image is yesterday's post: It All Evens Out in the End

Stage Windmill

I think I could tilt at this one...

One Last August Afternoon Iowa Landscape

Here is one last photo from my afternoon of driving along the gravel back-roads of central Iowa the other day. This one was taken with a selective focus lens.

Another August Afternoon Iowa Landscape

I had to drive up to Marshalltown, IA yesterday afternoon for a quick errand.  On the return trip - rather than take the direct route on paved highway roads, I chose to drive down some of the gravel back-roads so I could see the wind turbines.

August Afternoon Iowa Landscape

I had to drive up to Marshalltown, IA this afternoon for a quick errand.  On the return trip, rather than take the direct route on paved highway roads, I chose to drive down some of the gravel backroads so I could see the wind turbines.

Day at the Iowa State Fair - 2015

My family (those of us who are not at camp this week) went to the Iowa State Fair today. We ate fried foods, drank lots of water, saw (and smelled) farm animals, and enjoyed the day.

We saw Bernie Sanders give a soap-box speech. (I was nearly knocked to the ground by a rather large man who pushed his way through the crowd during the speech.) Apparently Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were also at the fair today. We did not see them, though we did see Trump's helicopter circling the fair grounds. The woman standing next to me during Sanders' speech had missed her opportunity to take a selfie with Clinton. She was so excited to be standing next to her that she flubbed her her photo and missed Hilary altogether.

The State Fair can be a little overwhelming - neither I nor my teenage daughter really like crowds, so by late afternoon we were ready to just sit on a bench near the agricultural building eating some fried ice-cream.

A Step Into the Wind

It's cold out there.  Be brave.



I created this bit of music in Ableton Live (8) using material that I recorded as well as a few sounds from the Freesound Project:

Strange Technic Logo Reveal 
Attack Keys G#2
M30 Sound (16)
Dan River - Water Gurgling Under Path

There Is Something in the Wind

The patterns have shifted, the circuits have changed.
We cannot trust the forecasts;
our predictions are skewed.
There is something in the wind.









I created this musical piece in Ableton Live (8) and used a couple of sounds from the Freesound Project:
Dull Metal Wind Chimes
Start Beeps

Central Iowa Wind Farms - Selective Focus

I posted earlier today another of the photos I took of these wind turbines.  For this one I used a selective focus lens.

central Iowa wind farms by Jeff Carter on 500px

Central Iowa Wind Farms

We grow 'em big here.

Central Iowa Wind Farms by Jeff Carter on 500px

Comes Now the Solstice Eve

How fragile is this life
and filled with doubt
how long the night, and cold.

Now winter winds do howl
outside the door
now heavy snow does fall.

Comes now the Solstice eve
and longest night
comes too, the glowing dawn.

Crab Apple Tree in November

It's snowing today - the first snow of the season. I took my camera out to snap a couple of pictures.  These two are of the same crab apple tree in this watercolor style photograph I took the other day.

For those who may be interested in the photographic details - Canon Rebel T41, Super-Takumar 50mm f1.4 lens, 1/250 second, ISO 100.

Wind Power

I took this photo yesterday along Interstate 80 in Iowa. Did you know that almost a quarter of Iowa's electricity comes from wind farms.