Our view from the cabin in Estes Park looks out over Longs Peak, which just got a dusting of snow over the last night or two. The temps are above freezing at around 8,000 feet where we are, barely, but it’s cold enough. I don’t get a chance to do self-portraits very often but I did this one below this morning as Deborah and I spent some nice quiet time, me reading and Deb knitting. These two shots pretty much show what we like to do when we are not scheduled to be somewhere doing something. It’s great because our location can change but we can pretty much take a few things with us and enjoy spending the day together on the beach, or in the mountains, or at home in the living room for that matter.
This self portrait was pretty neat to me since I was able to combine the two things I’m passionate about in one moment, studying God’s word and photography (meta data here). Self portraits are really much more difficult than one might think, it just isn’t as easy as pushing the button and your done, to me it’s about telling a story as always. I love looking at different ways to do self portraits since it tells so much about the photographer and the person. One of my favorite is this one my grandfather did, which I posted a few years ago.
Only one day left of our mountain view and it’s back to the heat and humidity. Something I’m actually looking forward to since it’s a whole lot easier to breathe in Alabama than it is in Colorado. Tomorrow we have the baby Luke photo shoot and I’m wishing I had all the cute little baby hats, baskets, and cups that Heather Carson in Auburn uses but we do have several Deborah knitting originals to use.
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Well one down and one to go. Today we welcomed baby Luke into the world today at 10:07am in Longmont Colorado. Luke weighed in at 8 pounds and measured 21 inches and seemed to be totally at peace with his own existence within a few minutes, hardly even cried except when various nurses jolted him here and there. The photo above, today’s photo of the day, is the first ever shot of the four Fillmer boys, and also the four people who contributed and helped the very least in bringing baby Luke into the world today. It would be really cool to add the other two Fillmer boys (Larry and Les) to this photo some day, but one is in Germany right now and the other in Alabama.
I think I took about 1200 photos of the baby and all the various participants and visitors from today’s glorious event. There were many great shots of mom and baby but those will come later. Deborah and I were so happy today to be witness to the birth of our second grandson (and we were told our last), can’t wait to share a few more photos down the road so to speak. Next up is my sister who should deliver within a week or so, hopefully she will wait until we get back to Alabama so we can get the first photos of our newest niece.
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Yes, it is Throwback-Thursday and yes, this is me in the family Volkswagen Camper Van, a shot taken in May of 1971 when we were apparently on a trip to Colorado Springs. There are many other shots of me years later when I wanted to drive (like in 1972) where I am sitting on the drivers seat, but this should be good enough for this week. My grandmother seems to have written on the back of every single photo ever taken and the caption on the back reads
Scott has his own picnic at Pike National Forest Colorado Springs May ’71
My sister hadn’t come along at this point yet so I was the star of the show. I love the classic look of this van, especially the license plate. Don’t remember exactly but I am pretty sure this van was very new at this point. Worth about 500 times today what they paid for it back then. Wonder if the “Roy Bridges” car dealership is still in business?
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I hardly ever do the classic self-portrait but I just happen to need one today. They always seem so bland to me, (I really like something like Brian or Rob I shot a while back, those were two of my favorites). So what else can you do to spice up a portrait if you aren’t a musician like those guys? Add the small furry friend of course.
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I would say I hate getting sick, but so does everyone. I haven’t been sick to the point where I felt like I needed to stay home from work (or refrain from work, these days you can work from anywhere) for years. I say years because I really can’t remember the last time I didn’t feel well enough to go to work, until yesterday. It really only lasted a few hours in the morning and then the rest of the day was semi-productive but it got me thinking about what a waste of time it is to be sick, or is it God’s way of forcing us to slow down.
Being sick always seemed like a waste of time to me. All of a sudden you are sitting at home with time (which seems to be manufactured from some where, because if you weren’t sick you wouldn’t have the time) to do just about anything, except you can’t or don’t do anything because… you are sick.
Time to stop and smell the flowers so to speak. In a few weeks this part of the country will be in full bloom of Spring. The photo above is one of our very early bloomers in the front yard, and a reminder that one of the most beautiful times of year in the south is on its way, if we stop and take the time to look.
10 Things That Being Sick Brings to Mind
- we are not in charge
- those of us in generally good health often take it for granted, until we get sick
- we have time, we just don’t make time
- you take pleasure in little things, like silence
- a cloudy rainy day is a great time to be sick
- no one wants to be around you
- your spouse is the greatest person ever
- nothing tastes good
- daytime programing hasn’t changed and the news is still annoying
- the work you did’t get done, probably didn’t need to be done that day anyway
Of course this comes from being sick where I couldn’t move or do anything for about half a day. If I was laid up for several days in a row I am not sure what in the world I would do with myself.
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Our church has been going through a series called Simple Christmas and it was going well until this week. This week has been so incredibly crazy for me I haven’t even had time to do a blog post. Part of it is the photo in my Friday Feet post today. You can see a better description of this new entry into our house here.
I have a huge list of blog entries and all kinds of new posts to do here, hopefully I can get to them over the weekend. Have a nice weekend everyone.
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Wow this month went by fast. Yes, today is the day we are giving away the Dell Desktop that we originally posted on November 1st (see I am Giving Away a Free Dell Dimension Computer and 17″ Flat Panel in 29 Days) and we waited all the way until 12:01am on November 29th to announce the winner. All in all we had about 100 responses on the blog directly, with approximately 5-10 of those being qualified entries. I really appreciate all the people who have contacted me directly and I wish I had enough spare computers laying around to give one to everyone, but I only have one.
The Winner is Lisa Pierce with Alabama Rural Ministries (ARM)
Alabama Rural Ministries has a great program and their post (seen here Not Thinking of Myself Today!) is the winning entry. The mission work for ARM is shown on their website as:
Our Mission
We believe Christ’s love must be expressed in action to people in need. ARM is a hands on ministry, responding to people through Christian love with an emphasis in housing repair and children’s ministry.
Alabama Rural Ministry coordinates home repair efforts and children’s day camps in rural parts of Alabama. We are interdenominational but are connected to the United Methodist Church. All denominations are welcome to come and serve!
For the service that you give is not only supplying the needs of everyone but is an expression of many thanks to God. 2 Corinthians 9:11-12
ARM has focused its efforts in sharing God’s love in two primary areas:
Home Repair – The ARM staff assists teams coming to do home repair by purchasing materials, introducing teams to their families, and serving as technical assistants. Typical ARM projects include repairing and/or replacing roofs, ceilings, floors and walls. We also build steps and wheelchair ramps for elderly or disabled individuals. We match our projects with the skills of our volunteers, maximizing the services we are able to provide. Our service extends to plumbing and electrical work when our volunteers are able to do such work. If you are involved in a group with any of these skills, please consider a trip to ARM to help the elderly and disabled families of rural Alabama.
Day Camps – Teams working with the day camp work with the ARM day camp staff to plan Bible studies, songs, recreation activities and much more! Day camps are run similarly to Vacation Bible Schools and other day camp programs. Our volunteers are able to enhance the children’s experiences through interaction, whether it be fellowship, playing games, going on field trips, or presenting Bible stories and devotions. The children of the Sonshine Day Camp are truly remarkable in their ability to show love to so many volunteers that come in and out of their lives each summer. We invite anyone with a love for children to join us for this amazing experience this summer.
Volunteer teams come from all over the country to do either home repair and/or work with day camps for area children. At select sites, groups may choose to do both types of ministries at the same time!
If anyone has a desire to get involved with them I am sure they would love to receive as much help as they can get, and it is a very worth ministry.
