I'm Sorry I Took So Long!

A curve line (several, actually).

Low angle.

High angle.

I don't usually like to do staged pictures as much, but I was kind of desperate.  Are they OK, or is there something I can do to make them more interesting?

P.S. I did not stage the clock.  It was already there.

Here are a few of our Christmas decorations that my family made.

Does it look good that I put the subject not in the middle, or not so much?

Snowflake.  My brother made it.

 

                                                         

How dare you!

What nerve you've got, I must say,
You fill me with rage each and every day!

Why must you torment me so with your ceaseless bothers,
And steal my time away?  You little robber!

What have I ever done to deserve such a fate?
According to you, I've done much, as your actions demonstrate.

I couldn't bear another moment with you.
Just leave me now, and let me stew.

You've done it before, you're doing it now, how rude!
Don't you ever again try to break my bad mood!

The Beauty of the Spider

Spiders.  What comes to mind when you hear that word?  Do you cringe?  Grimace?  Shudder?
  
The spider has been a creature to create a sense of terror for years.  A bit of proof would be in the third Lord of the Rings movie.  Frodo is hunted by a giant spider named Shelob. 
Why was it a spider?  Why not some other arthropod?
Perhaps it is because of the spider's mysterious and predatory nature.  This, plus a homely appearance make this arachnid a focus of fear for many.

But look who's talking.
I was terrified of spiders for probably most of my life.  I really am not sure why.  If you had asked me the question at the time, my answer would probably have been, "Because they're scary," which would not have been very helpful.
But however long I've been afraid of them, I have been fascinated with them for just as long.  In fact, in this past year or so, my fear of spiders has been shrinking away, and my interest in them has grown.  After all, what's not fascinating about the spider?  They are hunters, they have fangs and, in about thirty species, quite dangerous venom.  They have incredible reflexes and can really move when they need to!

Hold the phone, Henrietta.
The list of reasons that spiders are intriguing is the exact same list of why they are feared!  Why?  Sometimes it is a matter of age, like with me, and sometimes not.
Perhaps we can change that.
The next time you see one of those leggy creatures, take a few moments to find something neat about what you see before you hit it with a shoe (unless, of course, it's a brown recluse, then hit it NOW ).  If you are terrified of these creepy crawlies, perhaps in a little while you won't find them as frightening as you once did. 

Perhaps you will see the beauty of spiders.


From your blogging friend,
Meghan

The (Perhaps) Never-Ending Story Part 8

     Scarecrow stared with wonder at a shiny, new drain in his straw hands.
     Mr. Steel was feeling quite intellectual as he fingered his new chart lovingly.
     Howard was smacking his lips at the sight of an instant-porridge-kit.
     Renae, though pleased with her friend's satasfaction, was impatient to be moving on. 
     "Let's go," she said, dragging them out of their stupors.  "I'd like to be moving on.  This is a big department store, and it could take us a little while to find what I need to get home."
     " 'Dat's true enough, sistah," replied Howard.  "But do youse even know what you needs?"
     Renae shrugged.  "I was thinking some kind of map, perhaps."
     "Well, hey!  You don't even need to buy anything, Renae!"  The Scarecrow was beaming with the genius of his realization.  "There's a big map mounted--"
     Suddenly, everything stopped.  Scarecrow had paused in the middle of his statement with his mouth open, fellow shoppers had stopped dead in their tracks, and nobody could move a muscle for a grand total of 6.85643 seconds.  Then everyone was moving again as normal; it was over.  For the next seventy-two seconds, that is. 
     Hence the title, 'The Great Wal-Mart of Pause'
     Mr. Steel sniffed in some agitation.  "That's getting really annoying.  You were saying, Scarecrow?"
     "I was saying that Renae doesn't have to buy anything because there is a great big map mounted at the front of the store."
     So that's where they headed, and when they had finally found it (they had gotten lost several times), Renae took a good long look at that map.  She then was wide-eyed.  From where they were, Renae's house appeared to be on the other end of the world. 
     So, after a little bit of hyper-ventilating, she began the long journey home.
     Her friends couldn't come; they had things they had to do back at their homes.  Renae was alone.
     Three days of walking brought her to a sign in the road that told her she was going the right way.  It said, "Three miles to the Shire".

Cheese and Pickles

There once was a meat-ball under the couch,
It got squished, so it said "ouch".

That reminds me of the cupboard under the stairs;
The doggy had none (you see, the cupboard was bare).

Rats chew through cinder blocks just because they can,
I wonder who pays the Ice-cream Truck Man?

But you might wonder what this has to do with cheese and pickles--
Oh, and that reminds me, I'm very distracti-bibble.

I once jumped from talking about how blueberry-innards are green,
To remarking how I thought mushroom spores are just disgusting.

We just bought dried mushrooms for cooking, called champinions,
Let's see, what rhymes with that?  Oh I know: minions.

Where did the word 'minion' come from anyway?

The Never-Ending Story Part 7

     The trio skipped merrily onward.  Soon the skip slowed to a walk; one can't skip forever.  They never grew bored on this long journey, because they could always talk about how excited they were to get to the Great Wal-Mart of Pause.
     Their pleasant conversations were soon interrupted by a strange sound.  A rumbling sound.  Whatever it was was close by, which made the three companions nervous.
     "Oops.  'Scuse me."
     A voice to their left spoke, making them all jump.  Mr. Steel stood protectively in front of the others, being the most invulnerable of them all.  He squared his shoulders and spoke with an assertive tone.
     "Who are you?  And what is your business?"  Since he knew this wood top to bottom, Mr. Steel knew better than anybody that the forest was home to some less-than-friendly creatures.
     The party concerned hesitated to give an answer.
     "Who are you?  Show yourself!"
     There was a rustle in the bushes, and out stepped a huge, majestic lion.  His limbs were sinewy and the tawny fur that covered them shone.  The mane on his head reached down to his shoulders and half-way under his belly. 
     Renae quickly ducked behind Mr. Steel; of the three of them, she had the most to fear from a lion. 
     "Feah not, lonely travelahs," said the lion, smiling a smile that was reassuring, although it did show a number of sharp teeth.  He spoke with a Brooklyn accent. 
     "I should be a bit moah hospitable; it ain't often dat I see travelahs, especially on 'dis road.  You'll have to excuse me.  That horrible sound youse heahd was my stomach.  I'm terribly 'ungry."
     At this, Mr. Steel clenched his fists, and Renae clutched the shoulders of the steel man in front of her, trembling.  Sensing her fear, the lion addressed her.
     "My deah, please don't worry, I 'appen to be a vegetarian."
     Renae peeked out from behind Mr. Steel.  The lion's eyes were kind, which helped Renae to bolster her courage.
     "Why are you so hungry?" she asked.  "Why not eat something?"
     Drooping his ears, the lion replied, "You 'ave no idear how difficult it is to find a veggie-burger in da' woods.  What I really want is porridge, but I 'aven't got any."
     "No porridge?" asked the trio in unison.
     "No porridge." affirmed the lion.  He sighed longingly.
     Mr. Steel inspected the lion up and down.  He seemed genuine, and not at all like the other beasts he had encountered in the wood.
     "Have you considered traveling to the Great Wal-Mart of Pause?" inquired Mr. Steel.  "They'll have what you'd like.  In fact you could travel with us if you'd wish."
     The lion pricked up his ears.
     "Do youse reahlly mean it?  I'd love ta'!  As long as it's all right wid' da' liddle lady, heah."
     Renae couldn't resist the lion's sweet smile. 
     "Of course," she said.  "Do you have a name?"
     "Howard," he replied.  The way he pronounced 'Howard' sounded like 'Howahd'.  "I'm Howard Lee Lion.  Pleased ta meet yas."
     On they went down the Red-Brick Road, out of the Big woods.  As they traveled, a large department store came into view: the Great Wal-Mart of Pause!

The (Perhaps) Never-Ending Story Part 6

     All was silent in the Big Wood except for the occasional rustling of a small animal and the footsteps of Renae and Scarecrow crunching of fallen twigs and leaves.  Although sunlight filtered through the tall trees perfectly well, the trees themselves were large and foreboding, making Renae grateful she was with a companion. 
     They hadn't been walking long when Renae saw something shining through the branches. 
     "What is that, Scarecrow?" she inquired, gesturing at the object.  The straw-man, musing, squinted his eyes at the glimmer. 
     "Hmm.  These woods may be odd, but I don't know of any trees that shine.  Let's go have a look."
     As they approached it, Renae realized what it was.  It was a metal woodsman. 
     "Oh Scarecrow, look!  It's a man made of tin!  He looks stuck.  Is he rusted?"  The man was standing up, apparently frozen in place. 
     "Perhaps.  Does he have an oil-can close by?" asked Scarecrow.  Before he had a chance to look for one, the man suddenly spoke.
     "What's all the noise about?  I don't mean to seem rude, but I am trying to relax."  He crossed his arms and turned his head to them, clearly able to move quite well. 
     "Oh, sorry Mr. Tin-man," replied Renae.  "We thought you'd rusted solid and were trying to find an oil-can to help you." 
     The man opened his mouth to speak, then, realizing what she had said, closed it again in surprise.  He put his hands on his metal hips and looked offended.
     "Tin?  Rusted?  I shall have you know, young miss, that I am, in fact, stainless steel!  And therefore, I cannot rust.  If you like to know, I was sleeping.  My joints lock and I can sleep standing up."
     Renae wasn't sure what to say next to make amends, so she changed the subject.  "Why did you need to relax?  Are you stressed or something?"
     The steel man started to massage his temples as he answered.  "As a matter of fact, yes, I am very stressed.  Do you see all these trees?  It is my job as the only woodsman of the Big Wood to know every tree in the forest, and it is ever so hard!  That's why I was trying to clear my head with a nap."
     "Well," asked the scarecrow, "do you have to memorize them?  Couldn't you keep track of them some other way?" 
     "I certainly would, if there were some other way to keep track of them.  But you see, I haven't got a chart."
     "No chart?" said Renae and Scarecrow in unison.
     "No chart." The steel man confirmed sadly.  "And a chart would be most helpful, too.  To have all the trees laid out right in front of my eyes and not all jumbled around in my head."
     The scarecrow gently nudged Renae in the ribs.  "Don't you think that the Great Wal-Mart of Pause would have a chart?"
     Renae's face lit up.  "Why yes!  Yes, I'm sure that they would!"
     Turning to the steel man, Scarecrow asked,  "Would you like to come to the Great Wal-Mart of Pause with us?  They will most certainly have what you're looking for."
     The steel man beamed brightly.  "You would really let me join you?"
     "Why, of course!"
     "My most gracious thanks," replied the steel man.  "Let us be off at once . . . er . . . I'm sorry, I don't even know your names."
     "I'm Renae, and this is Scarecrow.  What may we call you?"
     "Well, let's see . . . I do believe that 'Stainless Steel Man' is a bit of a mouthful, so I think 'Mr. Steel' will do just fine."
     "So," said the scarecrow.  "Shall we go?"
     At this, Renae belted a melody at the top of her lungs, "Were of to see the Wal-Mart, the wonderful Wal-Mart of Paaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaause!"
     Scarecrow and Mr. Steel simply stared at her.  Finally, one of them asked her why she was singing.  Bashfully, Renae told them that it felt natural in the circumstance.  They informed her that it was, in fact, not a musical.
     So they skipped down the Red Brick road, through the Big Wood, and did not sing.




     Hello all!  I hope you are enjoying my story.  If you have any ideas for who Renae could meet next, please tell me.  Keep in mind that I might not use your idea, and please don't get hurt feelings if I don't.  It might just mean that it's time to start a never-ending story of your own.  If you do have ideas, please let them be from famous/classic books or plays.
     Thanks!
     Wanna-be Author, Meghan

DON'T SCROLL DOWN until you read the first part of this post!

I hadn't planned on carving a pumpkin this year because of the slimy pumpkin guts that stick to your skin and make you itch; I don't typically like messy stuff.  However, we found a really neat site with all these great carving templates and I found one that I just couldn't resist (being the Disney lover that I am).

Can you tell who it is yet?

              If you couldn't before, now can you tell?

He was supposed to be smiling.  Oh well.

The (Perhaps) Never-Ending Story Part 5

     Renae had been walking for several hours now down the Red-Brick road, longing for someone to talk to who wasn't a pirate, or a crazy boy with a dagger, or a poofy-dress lady.
     Her hopes were soon met, for Renae was starting to hear a commotion coming from the cottage up the road, and she ran up to it to find out what was the trouble.  It was the sound of a someone shouting and gurgling.  Finally, the door burst open, and a tidal wave poured out!  Luckily, Renae was not in the way of this wave.  The tidal wave brought out of the house with it a great number of items: furniture, nick-knacks, a toaster, a blender, and a scarecrow.  Renae thought it odd that someone would put a scarecrow in their house, but not out in their field -- that is, until it got up...and spoke!
     "Pppht!", he spat out water, "oh, how much longer must I suffer this?  I do wish that I had a solution to this problem!" 
     Renae sheepishly cleared her throat.  The scarecrow jumped and looked at her; he hadn't noticed her in the chaos of his flooded house.  "I haven't seen another person around these parts in months!  May I ask your name?" the scarecrow asked with a courteous bow. 
      Flattered by his manners, she replied, "Oh, I'm Renae.  May I ask yours, your name, that is?"  The scarecrow merely shrugged his shoulders.  "My name's just Scarecrow.  At least it's not an easy name for people to forget. Oh, where did I put those emergency towels?"  Scarecrow stepped around to the corner of his house, wringing out his limbs on the way.  He pulled out a few towels out of a hollow tree stump and began to dry himself as he explained his dilemma.
     "You see Renae, I've been having such a terrible time."  Renae helped him dry out his arms as she listened.  "I cannot use running water for several weeks before my house fills up, and explodes out a window or a door." 
     "Well," Renae said, "why not let the water run out before you run some more?"  The straw-man drooped his damp shoulders.  "That's the problem.  You see, I haven't got at drain."  This flabbergasted Renae.  "What?" she asked.  "No drain?  Why, that's dreadful!  Is there some way I can help?"
     "I've been wanting to go to the Great Wal-Mart of Pause, they're sure to have a drain that would work.  Unfortunately the journey is long and dangerous, much too dangerous for myself alone.  But where are you going?  Surely you can't expect to be going through the Big Wood up ahead without a guide, or at least someone else for protection?" 
     Renae lit up.  "Say, that could be an answer to both our problems!  I'm trying to get home, and have no idea where I'm going, but if we travel together, perhaps we'll solve both our problems.  Brightening, Scarecrow replied, "Yes indeed!  I'm quite certain there will be someone there to help you at the Great Wal-Mart of Pause!  Shall we set off?"
     "We shall!"
     And they went skipping down the Red-Brick road arm in arm toward the Big Wood.

Pumpkin Patch

Well, I took these shots remembering only the part about not putting your subject in the center, and then I read the actual assignment today.  So, let's evaluate anyway and see how I did.

  I can personally see a fore, middle, and background in this top picture.  The stem is the fore-ground, the pumpkin is the mid-ground, and the brown background is the...uh...background.

  I can see the different grounds on this one, too. 

  I just took this shot for fun.  The pumpkin is decaying just enough to make it look like it's melting.  Oh, what a world!

    Not sure about this one.  At least there are some lines.

    Another just for fun one.  It looks like a mushroom!

I forgot about the silhouette thing!  Maybe I can get one or two silhouettes before Friday, though.

The Never-Ending Story Part 4

     All was silent except for a few bold songbirds who whistled their little songs, cutting through the silence.  Renae was on the grass, unconscious, while the sun shone gently down upon her.  She stirred, opened her eyes, and noticed the beauty around her: flowers of all different hues grew up around a tiny town that looked as if it had come out of a story book..  Saying that this was a tiny town was literally true; everything--the houses, the gardens, everything,--appeared to have been made for someone half her hight.
     Renae became suddenly aware that there was someone, quite a few people, watching her.  They were peeping out from houses, behind fences, even from between the clusters of flowers.
     "Okay...I don't think we're in Neverland anymore, Renae," she said softly to herself.  She felt a set of eyes watching from behind her.  Renae turned and saw someone in a very pink and very poofy dress.  "Now I know I'm not in Neverland anymore."
     "Is anyone else getting deja vu here?" asked the poofy dress lady.  "Don't worry little girl, all you have to do is follow the yellow brick road.  Good-bye!"  And with that, the lady vanished from thin air.  The little faces that had been watching her called out, "Good-bye, Glinda!" and pulled their heads back into their houses again, all of them saying in nasal-sounding voices, "Deja vu, follow the yellow brick road."
     "Ick, I hate yellow.  I think I'll follow this nice red brick road," stated Renae.
     She might have chosen the other road had she known what a weird time she would have on this strange path.

The (Perhaps) Never-Ending Story Part 3

     The shadow stopped in front of her.  Renae looked up, and the sight shocked her. 
     A boy was making the shadow.  He looked very young; about ten or eleven years old.  His clothes were tattered at the edges and his face, his arms, his everything, were dirty, but the most noticeable aspect of his appearance was his flaming, red hair.  'This is 'Peter', the boy that Hook described' thought Renae.  There was a very sharp-looking dagger in his hand.  Renae saw his facial expression and knew that he'd heard everything she'd said about turning him over to Captain Hook. 
     Something still wasn't right.  Renae had to look up to see the boy.  The puzzling thing was that he was not in a tree or hanging in a vine at all, but he was completely suspended in the air.  He was floating...on nothing.  This young, dirty, menacing boy was flying!
     The next thing she knew, the boy was twelve inches in front of her and the dagger was pointed at her chest.  Renae couldn't help thinking that he was going to put an eye out.
     "So," began the boy, "you're a new to the pirate thing?  We hate pirates."  Renae soon knew who 'we' was, because in literally seconds, a handful of boys, as ragged looking as their leader, surrounded them, each one with some sort of primitive weapon.
     Before Renae could explain that she was in fact not a pirate, she saw trees flying up in the back round, and what ever was doing it came closer and closer, until it-- a tornado--made the boys scatter from fright.  Renae herself was rooted to the spot with sheer terror, and the tornado picked her up and whirled her around with all the in the commotion and dibris it was carying.  The last thing she remembered was a great pain at the side of her head, and after that, nothing.

FINALLY! Pictures with lines!

Telephone poles; 'nuf said.

The focus here was supposed to be the wires.

I thought this was kind of cool and graphic.

I like the flowers, yet the nitty-gritty-ness of the sign and pole.

This cornstalk was just lying on the sidewalk like this; perfectly separating light from shadow.

Ahh, more nitty-gritty-ness(mom said it was 'city-gritty')!

The (Perhaps) Never-Ending Story Part 2

     Renae was sitting in the captain's quarters at a table across from the ship's feared captain.  He used his hook to thoughtfully comb his long, black mustache.
     "You see Missy," began the captain, "when ye first appeared on our magical shores, we thought we'd just get rid of you, and save us the trouble of you telling more nosy land lubbers like yourself about this place and risk them finding us.  However, I think you could be an asset to us and  give us a little help in exchange for your life."
     Renae swallowed.  The musty smell of unbathed men was choking her and making it hard to think.  "What do you want me to do?" she asked a little shakily.
     "There is this boy," his eyes glazed over with a certain contempt, "my...nephew, Peter, who has been gone for a very long time, and you see, we have not been speaking to each other.  I would like you to find him, and tell me where he is so that I can...make amends.  He won't be difficult to distinguish; his hair is firey red. "  He smiled a sugar coated grin.  "It would make me most grateful.  We will be reaching the Never land quite soon now.  You will be placed where he is found playing with his curse--I mean, delightful friends."
    
     Renae was in a terribly thick forest.  She was trying to find this boy that the smelly man had talked about.  He had gone into great detail in describing his appearance, even so, Renae could not help feeling a sense of hopelessness.  She had no idea where this boy was, or where she was for that matter.  And she was sure the pirate was lying.  It is not often that one hears, "help me find my nephew or die,".  'Ugh.'  Renae recalled the last words the hook-handed captain had told her: "Remember girlie, your life is at stake."  "Pirates must not have many social skills," Renae decided.  "But still, I had better find Peter, whoever he is, and turn him over to this 'Hook' fellow, or it'll be my head."
     A shadow passed over her, and Renae instantly stiffened.  Who knew what kind of horrible creatures could be running around?  The shadow stopped in front of her.  'Huh?' 
   

Boring Spider

    There is this spider in our front yard bigger and neater that the ones that I've seen out there before, and I got some pictures of it just sitting around and being a spider, but I wanted to get some pictures of it in action.  Nicholas poked it with a stick for me several times (and remarked recently that he is not going to do it again) and when it did move, the pics I did get of it were not what I was hoping for, being a perfectionist and all.  So I was throwing a number of things on the web, trying to get it to move, but it just stayed there. This is some of the stuff we put on its web.  Not a movement.

   

     By the way, here is another picture of it: I forgot that last night it attacked a plant I threw on its web.

The (Perhaps) Never-Ending Story Part 1

     Once upon a time, there was a girl named Renae.  Now Renae was home schooled, and had just joined photography class, and needed something to photograph other than her pet rat and spiders.  So she decided to grab her camera and go exploring for something interesting that had straight lines to take a picture of. 
     Renae set out for the woods behind her house, thinking that there must be many straight lines in a place with so many trees, but when she was about fifteen minutes away from home, Renae noticed something unusual happening.  In what had always been thickly wooded land, the trees were thinning out and the ground was gradually but steadily sloping down.  Curiosity drove Renae to investigate.  Soon, the terrain underfoot turned from grass to sand, and a salty breeze was tousling her long, wavy hair.  Suddenly, she saw a line of blue on the horizon; "no way...", she breathed to herself.  Renae began to run; the line of blue grew thicker and thicker until it she finally saw it stretch into an endless expanse of water.  'Oh boy, I don't believe it!  The ocean?!  I live in the mid-west, how could the ocean possibly be here?!  I should take some pictures; they won't have straight lines, but oh well.' After doing so, again, driven by her curiosity, she explored the edge of the ocean, wading through the water and marveling at how this huge body of water came out of no where.
     At last, Renae felt it was time she started home.  She turned to leave, and before she had gotten several feet, two pairs of strong hands grabbed her arms, turned her around, and started hauling her back towards the ocean.  She looked upward at her kidnappers, and saw that they were burly seamen.  Renae would have screamed, but instead she swept her gaze across her surroundings, looking for some one to help her, and gasped.  For instead of seeing just the ocean, she now saw many seamen like the ones who were dragging her along.  That, and a huge ship that looked like it had just sailed out ot the seventeen-hundreds, and flying pirate colors, too.  Finally regaining her wits, Renae did scream, and struggled too; one of the seamen just rolled his eyes, picked her up and threw her over his shoulder as if she weighed no more that a sack of flour.  Renae was carried up the gang plank and onto the ship, and was thrown down onto its deck at the foot of a tall, thin man of apparent power.  "Welcome aboard the Jolly Roger miss!" At the end of this man's right arm, where his hand should be, was large, ominous looking hook..

Huzzaaah!

 

I got some pictures!  This is Thomas, my brother's rat.  Check out his whiskers.  You have to face it, rats are just fantastic!

On this one, I was trying to get a neat angle, but I would like some imput, please.

With this one, does your eye perhaps start at his head and move down his body?

"Oh dear, no pictures!  I'm such a mess!"

And just so you know, I'm available for hire in all your small animal photography needs( just kidding)!

"Sigh....."

      So I had some pictures on my cell phone of a great, big bonfire, but we couldn't get them on the computer. There were some pretty neat ones too, if I do say so myself. Ones that would have worked well with the assignment for this week. "Sigh........". Oh well. What can ya do? I'll have other pictures, so it's not the end of the world. Anyway, has anyone taken any pictures yet? I haven't really, except thoes cell phone pictures.  I'll probably write soon, hopefully with some pics.
Farewell,
Your fellow blogger,
 Meghan

AAAARGH!!!!

     No matey, I'm not angry, I'm just talkin' loik a pirate for National Talk Like a Pirate Day! AAAAAAAAARRRRGH!  Yee better post comments, or I'll have yee walk the plank(I'm allowed to do that, seein' that I'm the captain of this blog).  Shiver my timbers, I changed the settings, so yee should be able to comment without hardship. 
     Yee'll be woise to get some good pictures, come this Froiday'll be classes, me hearties!  I wish I could get a picture of me fine ship, the Water Serpent, but I forgot me ship by the Atlantic, so I can't.  Ah well, one must just grin and bear it, har har har!
 I'll see yee this Froiday,
Signed, Captain Meghan, of the Water Serpent

New Pictures

     We went to the zoo, and I was able to get some pictures.  Unfortunately I'm quite convinced that taking a good tiger picture is impossible at the zoo; the glass is foggy with dirt and hand prints, you have to take the picture through bars, or the animal itself is either out of sight, or moving too fast(or being lazy and just sleeping).
     Squirrels don't pose well, either.  At home I saw one in a tree, and was able to run inside and get the telephoto(long distance) lens.  Once he either saw or heard me coming he scurried of to another part of the tree, and I followed, he scurried, and so on.
     Ah, well.  I suppose that's part of what makes photography an art, and I am really liking it, by the way!

Hope everyone is getting good pictures!
Meghan

Indescribable!

     Yesterday morning the words to the praise song 'Indescribable' came to mind. The song that goes: "Indescribable, uncontainable, You put the stars in the sky and you know them by name", etc.  I think the phrase in the song that I like the best is; "You know the depths of my heart and You love me the same".  Wow.  Big wow.  God knows the deepest, darkest, most wretched parts of our souls and He sent His Son to take our punishment anyway!
    You know, pop culture so often, if not always, tells us that that man is basically good; that if you could see inside some one's heart, you would see their good intentions.  The Bible says otherwise: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"(Jeremiah 17:9)  If we could look into our own hearts and see how truly depraved we are, it would horrify us.
    And it doesn't even stop there! Our 'good works' are an extension of our own wickedness, because they are tainted by our sinful nature. The Bible says they are dog vomit; the smell of an open grave to God.
     So why on earth would a holy God want to actually save such a disgusting, filthy sinner(especially me)?! To glorify Himself. Think about it. Jesus came to earth, fully God and fully man, to take the punishment that I, you, and everyone in the world deserves! That certainly brings Him a lot of glory!
     Wow. Big wow. I'm not exactly sure how to close out of this, but I pray that you think today about your own sin, how you deserve God's wrath, and how Jesus took your place on that cross. Some people will tell you to "accept Jesus into your heart", but this is not in the Bible, and I still haven't seen it.  Some people say that  Revelation 3:20 points to Jesus asking to enter our hearts.  However, this passage was written to the church and not to individuals. The way to be saved is to repent, and put your trust in Jesus to be saved(Acts2:38 and Heb.6:1), and don't put any faith in your 'good' works(or your dog vomit, however you prefer to say it). God will forgive you, and that my friend, is indescribable!
Thanks for reading!
Your blogging friend, Meghan

My Pictures

Okay, some of these I took before I knew that the theme was 'God's beauty'. I don't know if you will be able to comment right under the picture. If not, just refer to the picture's name in a post, I named most of them. Thanks, guys!

Getting on each other's blogs

Mrs. O, I can get on other's blogs by going to your profile, looking at the blogs you follow, and clicking on the blog I chose to go to. It's pretty easy, and I thought you'd like to know.

Fish Tank

Check out this fish tank! Does anyone have name ideas for them, or is naming computer fish kind of weird?

There it is!

Note to self, the 'new post' button is up in the corner.