A Flame of Sadness, A Flame of Hope

Taken this afternoon during a very blustery walk through Arlington Cemetery. The way things have been going int his country in recent years, perhaps it's time to stop and consider everything for which this flame stands...

A New Year's Walk Through History

To ring in 2008, I took the family into Washington and paid a visit to the historic Congressional Cemetery -- partly for the history, but mostly because it's a quiet place with a lot of space to walk and run around (perfect for having the oldest tire herself out). It's a really great place for photography as well, and you never quite know what you're going to find.

For instance, you might see a march king...

...or a beautiful Native American peace monument put in place in commemoration of the September 11 attacks...

...or a humorous marker meant to keep the visitors guessing.


And you never know who might fly over for a look...

An Unusual Nativity

Read the nativity stories in Matthew and Luke and you'll see about the animals who were present at the manger during the birth of Jesus. Sheep, yes; cattle, presumably; goats, maybe.

But dinosaurs? And a pack of Godzillas?

Our neighbor up the street seems to think so, and has an unusual twist on the manger scene that he sets up in his front yard each year. This year, I had to get some pictures before he took it down.

At least he seems to have the plant eaters positioned closest to the child. This is one of the funnier sights each Christmas in our neighborhood.

A Mountain Drive

I took A. and the girls to visit my sister in Blacksburg today, and after a wonderful afternoon I decided to take a really rural road back to the in-laws' house in Roanoke (instead of relying on the interstate). This was one of the views that we saw as we were driving along -- it's incredible to realize, even after having been raised in this part of the state, that places like this still exist. Living in the D.C. area, you don't get to see this too often!

A Son of the South

My father-in-law and I took a drive to Lexington, Virginia today and among other stops visited the gravesite of one of Virginia's favorite sons, Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson. Lexington is a beautiful, well-preserved southern town and has countless places to take some beautiful photographs. My time was limited, but I wanted to include these two.

New York City - Part 4

A memorial to the firefighters of Engine Company 10 who lost their lives on 9-11, located at the station -- right across the street from Ground Zero.

New York City - Part 3

St. Paul's Chapel.

New York City - Part 2

Trinity Church, Wall Street.

The Spot Where the World Changed

A. and I just spent several days in New York on business, and while there I took several pictures that will make up a series for this week. Here is the first one; I don't think any description is necessary.

Yesteryear

The Old State Theater, Culpeper, Virginia.

The Old Churchyard - Part 2

The Old Churchyard - Part 1

Rooftops

A. and I took the girls on a Halloween river cruise on the Potomac today, and for a few minutes I was able to get out on the top deck and take some photographs. This is one of my favorites -- a series of rooflines and steeples in Old Town Alexandria. For some reason, the borders are crooked after I adjusted the angle of the photo on the computer.....

Back for More

Now that I've started carrying my camera in my briefcase everywhere I go, I decided to give the photo blog another shot (pardon the pun). Today was a great way to get started -- this was the view in front of my house this morning as the sun was coming up.

Hiatus

Regretfully, I'm going to have to end this photo blog, at least temporarily. With the demands of an ongoing job hunt and of two young daughters, along with everything else in which my wife and I are involved, I just haven't had the time or motivation to try and take photographs every day and keep up with this blog as a true 365 project. At the rate I'm currently going, it will take 10 years to accumulate 365 photos.

I may pick this up again at some point down the road, but for the time being my energies will be directed at my real life and at my main blog.

Some severe thunderstorms that moved through the area this afternoon and early-evening prevented us from getting out to the city's fireworks display, but it didn't keep us from watching the show put on by our neighbors. It's the first time I've used the fireworks setting, and since there weren't many sky displays I had to practice on the "lawn lights."

Regardless of the size of the display, though, MB was thrilled with what I think were the first fireworks she had seen live.

More Rain, More Blooms

After a long spell of not much rain, we've gotten a bit more lately -- and in celebration, the hostas are blooming once again.

Double-Dribbling the Harvest Moon

The fact that I don't own a tripod for my camera -- and my strong inability to hold the camera steady -- lead to some very unusual shots. This is the harvest moon that had just come up over the horizon across the street from our house tonight; gives new meaning to the phrase "moon bounce."

A Two Post Day

I thought the picture above really captures the spirit of our parish retreat at Shrine Mont: a circle of fellowship.

On our way home this afternoon, we stopped by a very old church (constructed in 1825) in Mount Jackson, Virginia. My wife pulled the car off the road so that I could get out and take some pictures, including this one of an amazing gravestone crafted in the late 19th century.

Candlelight Prayer Service

This evening, nearly everyone who was attending our parish retreat went to a candlelight Compline service at the outdoor chapel of Shrine Mont. While everyone was being seated, I snapped this picture; initially, I thought I would be disappointed in how it turned out, but now that I've seen it on the computer I don't think I would change a thing.