Roy's World

Odds 'n' Ends

2012-01-27T14:43:00.000-05:00

Some stuff taken during the week. The first is a high key treatment of a mossy rock in the Dykeman Wetlands; I liked the way thr treatment brought out not only the green of the moss but also the rusty brown on that bit of metal sticking up in the middle. The second shot is my newest self-portrait; I'm still exploring the process of making b&w shots, and the beard is almost back to where it used to be.

And before I go, a nod to a historic birthday - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. I'm not a big fan of his music (in fact I'm not big on the whole Classical era; my CD collection pretty much goes right from the Baroque to the Romantic and skips the Classical entirely), but I'll admit that there are some Mozart pieces I actually like - his Requiem and this piece, Ave Verum Corpus. If you were ever a choral singer (I was, bass section) you know this piece well; it's practically required repertoire!

The Altar Is Back Up!

2012-01-24T16:23:00.004-05:00

I finally got my personal altar set up. I'd been wondering what room to put it in, especially in light of the lack of space up here on the second floor, the "private" part as opposed to the "public" space of the living room and kitchen on the first floor. It finally dawned on me that I wasn't using the bedroom dresser top, except for the mirror from time to time. And of course I never plan something out without taking photographic angles into consideration, and that mirror posed some interesting things along that line. So here are two shots of the altar now, one general and one inevitable "arty" macro detail.

Finally, Some Real Snow!

2012-01-23T15:46:00.005-05:00

We got about 3" (7.62 cm) of snow Friday night and Saturday morning. I got some pictures on the way to work Saturday and yesterday; I had to wait until yesterday to get that snowy shot of South Mountain because you couldn't see it for the clouds and falling snow on Saturday morning.

Good-bye Etta!

2012-01-20T14:49:00.000-05:00

The sad news is in - Etta James finally lost to her multitude of ailments and passed away at the age of 73. Etta was up there in my pantheon of favorite singers, and I had the privilege of seeing her live several times - two or three times in Newport at the Rhythm & Blues Festival and the Newport Jazz Festival, and one memorable occasion at the original House of Blues in Cambridge, MA. I thought I'd include a couple of my favorites for this tribute - her version of Jimmy Reed's "Baby What You Want Me to Do" and her big hit "I'd Rather Go Blind"; when she did this one at the House of Blues they damned near tore the roof off the place! Go in peace, Etta. We'll miss you!

Downtown

2012-01-19T14:50:00.000-05:00

Since I now live right on Shippensburg's main drag - King St. - going downtown means stepping out my front door. These shots are from a brief walk up the street this morning.

If you know me at all you know I had to dig up Petula Clarke's classic song "Downtown" from 1964. Of course, her downtown (Tony Hatch, who wrote the song, was inspired by a trip to New York City) was a bit more lively than Shippensburg's ever gets.

Out and About - Wednesday

2012-01-18T16:44:00.001-05:00

Scenes from today's walk. If anything, these shots emphasize the need for snow, and lots of it, to liven up the landscape. Not only is it boring to look at, but I'm told it's the reason why there are no birds visiting my feeder station; since the ground is unfrozen and uncovered, there's still plenty of natural food around to keep the birdies fat and happy. So please, Mama Gaia, bring on the snow!

The back side of Orange St.

Another view of the back side of Shippensburg, from Ripple Field.

The swamp along the Dykeman Walking Trail

A bench along the Dykeman Walking Trail

Stop Internet Censorship in its Tracks

2012-01-18T16:42:00.000-05:00

"People should not be afraid of their government; the government should be afraid of the people." - V For Vendetta

I had thought to join today's anti SOPA/PIPA protest by blacking out my own blog. But I decided I'd be damned if I'd let a pack of corporate jackals silence my own creativity today. So this is my protest post, and the next post above is my photography post for the day. And in case you're wondering, I have communicated with my Congressional Representative and Senators to register my opposition to this idiotic legislation, and I've also signed several petitions being presented to both houses of Congress.

Fight the power!

A Rainy Day

2012-01-17T16:09:00.002-05:00

Yup, that's what the day is like today. I have been moving off the couch, though; I have a big pot of chili bubbling away on the stove!

© 2012 by A. Roy Hilbinger

For MLK Day - The Locust Grove Cemetery

2012-01-16T17:26:00.000-05:00

I was casting about for ideas for a post celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day when I remembered the Locust Grove Cemetery up on Queen St. here in Shippensburg. From its establishment in 1842 until the 1970s or so it was the only place an African-American could be buried in these parts. So I wandered up there this morning to get some atmospheric shots.

And here's one of Dr. King's favorite hymns sung by his favorite singer; it's often sung at African-American church funerals.

A Brief Wander

2012-01-13T14:26:00.005-05:00

Scenes from a brief walk in Spring Hill Cemetery the other day. I included that last one because it's the perfect example of the monumental style in Art Deco. Walk through a city with lots of public/government buildings from the 1930s and you'll see a lot of this style, but this is the first time I've ever seen it used on a cemetery monument.

Black & White Photography

2012-01-11T16:11:00.000-05:00

I've been playing with black & white a lot throughout my time as a digital photographer. For a long time, though, I restricted it to buildings and cityscapes, portraits, and indoor objects, and reserved color for my nature and available light shots. That's changed over the last few years, and I've been getting braver and applying the technique to Nature; not just landscapes, but macros, too. As Ansel Adams showed so well, you can photograph anything in black and white and make it as beautiful and interesting as anything in color. And as a photographer friend told me decades ago, the proof of a photographer's skill is the quality of his or her b&w shots.

So last night I started fooling around with some of my best shots in color and re-processed them in b&w. In many ways I think the b&w shots work better. Those of you who have been following my work here may recognize these from when I first posted them. Ignore those originals; for all intents and purposes these shots exist on their own, are their own unique entities. Look at them with new eyes!

Simplicity/Complexity and Water

2012-01-10T14:58:00.002-05:00

"Complexity is the prodigy of the world. Simplicity is the sensation of the universe. Behind complexity, there is always simplicity to be revealed. Inside simplicity, there is always complexity to be discovered." - Gang Yu

I got up this morning wondering what I was going to do today. I'd already determined that I was going to wander down to the Dykeman Wetlands and Nature Trail and shoot in black and white. Part of my morning computer routine is to open a dashboard widget called "Maya Cards", which gives you a quotation. The above was today's. I also have a dashboard widget version of Brian Eno's Oblique Strategies, a collection of commands or phrases meant to point you in a new direction when stuck in any creative endeavor. This morning's Oblique Strategy said "water". The following photographs were inspired by that confluence of ideas.

And I found a piece of music which emphasizes both the simplicity/complexity dichotomy and water: hammered dulcimer performer Malcolm Dalglish's "Swimming Rocks" from his 1985 album Jogging the Memory. Enjoy!

Around and About on Monday

2012-01-09T17:28:00.002-05:00

You know you're in Central Pennsylvania when you see this:

I saw some squirrels climbing around on my new bird feeder station the other day, so I bought a squirrel baffle to put on the pole beneath the feeders. Apparently it works; I found this fella picking disconsolately through the grass under the feeder. Heh, heh!

Gazebo

2012-01-04T15:36:00.003-05:00

Still no birds visiting my feeder station, and I wasn't in the mood to wander. So I was looking at the gazebo in the little park across the street and got some ideas on creating shots that looked like faded book illustrations. It sorta worked. But I still like the results.

Feed the Birds

2012-01-03T17:08:00.000-05:00

I used some of my Christmas money to set up a feeding station in camera range of my kitchen window, and I put it up yesterday. Here it is today, after we had a light overnight snow:

Besides the cedar feeder full of seed there on the right, there's a seed cake with fruit and nuts beloved by Cardinals and Chickadees, etc. there on the upper left, and a suet feeder in the lower center because I want to attract Nuthatches and Woodpeckers. I'll have to go buy replacements when the seed cake and suet cake are done, but I have some back-up for the feeder just inside the back door:

That oughta last awhile! Now the birds have to discover the station and spread the news to their friends; so far the station hasn't had any visitors.

And of course I have to include that classic from the 1964 movie Mary Poppins: "Feed the Birds". Yup, that's what I'll be doing!

Barn

2012-01-02T15:46:00.003-05:00

An old barn out on Rt. 11 (Molly Pitcher Highway).

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T21:31:00.003-05:00

And here are some favorite tunes to ring in the New Year. In Vienna they celebrate by waltzing:

Of course, it ain't New Year's Eve without a chorus or two of "Auld Lang Syne":

Happy New Year everybody!

A Gloomy Winter Day

2011-12-28T16:44:00.000-05:00

It's the end of December and still no snow; everything is gray or brown and drab. So today I went wandering around with the camera looking for shots that would emphasize that mood. I no longer have access to the laptop that has Photoshop CS3 and the Exposure 2 plug-in (and they won't run on this computer, either), so I'm having to go back to working with plain old Photoshop CS and the techniques I was using before I came across the versions that made life easier. Come to think of it, having to work for that result is definitely a satisfying experience! I converted to b&w in the channel mixer and applied some aging via layers and blending, and these are the result.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T09:22:00.000-05:00

Warm fires, candle-lit trees, evergreens, cakes and cookies and tea with lots of ginger in them, candles, the smell of evergreens and gingerbread baking, holly with bright red berries, snow... For me, this is the experience of Christmas. Nobody put it as well as Mel Tormé in his "The Christmas Song", and nobody sang it better than Nat Cole. So light the fire, kick your feet up, and enjoy the velvet tones of the best voice in the world. Merry Christmas!

Glad Yule!

2011-12-22T14:18:00.001-05:00

It's that time of year again, when the days are short and the nights are long, when the snow falls and the winds blow cold and hard. And in the dark and cold we light candles and gather around the fire to drink hot drinks and sing carols with melodious voices to lure the Sun back north again. It's my favorite time of year; I love the snow and tramping in the snow, coming home to warmth. A blessed Yule to all!

It snowed enough here in Central PA last Winter to get some good snow pictures for this year's traditional (well, it's my tradition, anyhow) slide show. The music is by the late Johnny Cunningham - "King Holly, King Oak", from the Windham Hill sampler Celtic Christmas. It's set up like one of my Winter hikes - tramping around in the snow and at last coming home to a fire in the stove (although I've moved into my own apartment now and there isn't a fire any more. Oh well...). Enjoy!

And speaking of traditions, I think I started a new one a couple of years ago. I'm making the posting of the video of Jethro Tull's "Ring Out, Solstice Bells" part of the annual Solstice post. Enjoy!

Self Portraits

2011-12-21T15:54:00.005-05:00

Tomorrow's post will be my annual Winter Solstice greetings, including my annual slideshow-with-soundtrack, and I'm currently hard at work at putting it all together. But you know me; I'm never only working on one thing. So about that title...

Yesterday the Silver Fox mentioned my old Green Man self-portrait, and I promised I'd repost that. So here 'tis:

His Silverness also mentioned my recent clean-shaven appearance, a yearlong pain in my life necessitated by my living conditions. But now I'm living on my own and not having to keep peace in a household not my own, so the beard is growing back. Here's the progress so far:

Not up to my usual standard, but it's getting there. Maybe next Winter I can take a new Winter King picture.

Okay, back to working on tomorrow's post!

© 2011 by A. Roy Hilbinger

King Street Decorated

2011-12-20T16:19:00.001-05:00

King St., Shippensburg's main drag, is all gussied up for the holidays. I took the camera with me on the way to grocery shopping and caught some scenes. All we need now is snow; at the moment it's raining!

McLean House is always festive-looking at this time of year:

Knute's Pub & Grill gets into the season in a big way:

The Cumberland Valley Animal Shelter has a thrift shop on King St., one of their ways to fund the shelter. They decorated the storefront to depict Dickens' A Christmas Carol. There were five scenes, but only these two came out well; reflections in the glass were a real problem. But at least the scene with Jacob Marley and the Ghost of Christmas Present came out well, and if you look closely at that second shot you can see a reflection of the artist hard a work capturing the scene.

Then there's The Lollipop Shop. It's always pretty festive looking, but this time of year the owner is in her element and having the time of her life. It looks it, doesn't it?

This house reminded me of Newport; it's that almost-Federal style from the late 18th and early 19th centuries. But where in Newport it would usually be built with clapboard siding, here it's faced with brick, a characteristic of the area. It looks even more in period decorated for Christmas.

And then there's my own contribution to the decorations. I didn't make my wreath this year as I've done in the past; what with moving and all I just didn't have the time. But we sell these at work, and they all looked good, so I bought one and added a bow. Voila!

An Open Letter to Lowe's

2011-12-15T16:19:00.002-05:00

[Note: I work for Lowe's. And I'm not a Muslim. And no, I don't plan to quit my job. But I am very, very disappointed in the people who run the company I work for, and felt I should register my objections.]

I work for Lowe's, in the garden center at the Shippensburg, PA store. I enjoy my job, and I'm grateful to Lowe's for hiring me. I was unemployed for over three years, my applications turned down time after time; I can't prove it but it was obvious that my age was a major factor in those rejections.

I had to leave my home of 36 years in Newport, RI to go live with my family here in Central PA, and after about 5 months here I was hired by Lowe's. Apparently they respect the the knowledge and life experience of a 58-year-old; there are a lot of us over-50 types at the store. I like my job with Lowe's; I enjoy working in the garden center, I like the people I work with, and the managerial staff is way less dysfunctional than many I've worked under. In many ways it's felt like home.

Until now. I'm distressed and disappointed by Lowe's decision to withdraw its ads on TLC's All-American Muslim show. There really is no logical, rational reason to do this, especially in light of the fact that Lowe's advertises its social responsibility programs, including its workplace diversity and inclusion policies (all of this is documented on their website, here and here). As it says on the website:

Lowe's dedication to diversity and inclusion grows from the steadfast values of our employees and extends to every corner of our company. We draw upon the strength of collaboration, bringing together many unique individuals in the workplace and the community to better meet the needs of our employees and our customers. Recruiting, developing and retaining a diverse work force ensures a welcoming customer experience, enhances partnerships and strengthens community involvement.

In light of this, the decision to withdraw ads from a show about American Muslims makes no sense; it's directly counter to its stated diversity and inclusion policy.

Equally disappointing, it seems the decision to withdraw was made after an avalanche of emails launched by the Florida Family Association, a fringe far right evangelical Christian group who objects to the show's depiction of Muslims as average Americans and not fanatical bomb-throwers, and who threatened boycott if Lowe's continued to advertise on the show.

If the suits in Mooresville, NC (Lowe's corporate headquarters) are worried about that boycott, I can reassure them on that count. If the membership of the FFA exceeds 1,000 I'll be surprised. As an influence on the American body politic they're a microdot. That wouldn't amount to much of a boycott. In fact, I'll bet there are more American Muslims who shop at Lowe's (or at least did before this) than members of the FFA.

The FFA sources its arguments against All-American Muslim to anti-Islam activists Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller, evangelicals who see Islam as a threat and/or rejection of their own narrow Christian evangelism. It is, in fact, sectarian fear and jealousy, something that should have no place in the business world. Their arguments are made up of misrepresentation, outright lies, and gross (and deliberate) exaggerations. It's a tissue of falsehood from start to finish.

How do I know this? Because I've been involved in interfaith activities and organizations for well over 30 years. I've spent my entire adult life in dialog with Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, et al. I've known many Muslims, both American-born and immigrants, for decades. I have a copy of the Qur'an in my library and an electronic copy of the hadith (traditions attributed to Muhammad) on my hard drive. These people are just people, just like you or me, and their spiritual beliefs are really no different or more intense than any other believers.

None of the propaganda spread by the FFA, Spencer and Geller and their ilk, matches the Muslims I've known or their religious scriptures. In fact, their propaganda is the 21st Century American equivalent of Nazi propaganda against the Jews in the '20s, '30s, and '40s. It's bigotry, plain and simple.

So I'm disappointed in Lowe's. I find it distressing that a company that prides itself on diversity and inclusion has allowed itself to be influenced by a group steeped in bigotry and hate. Lowe's values and mine no longer seem to be in sync.

There's a phrase posted throughout the store and on our computers: "I am Lowe's!" I'm not so sure that's true any more.

© 2011 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Out the Back Way

2011-12-14T16:28:00.000-05:00

These are some buildings behind my house; they flank our back parking area off Neff Ave., the alley that runs behind us. One is a garage and the other is a small engine repair shop, as the sign says. I've only ever seen somebody at the shop once; I can only hope he gets more business in the summer!

I processed these with Exposure 2's "Selenium Warm/Cool" filter because I thought it gave it that perfect Depression feeling. Neff Ave. always looks so '20s/'30s to me.

More Scenes from the New Place

2011-12-09T13:51:00.000-05:00

Some more scenes from the new digs. I figured my bedroom was actually the least cluttered of all my rooms, and I like the bedroom set I found at the used furniture store. And for those of you who know me all too well - yes, that's actually a full size bed! For those not in the know, the joke is that I've been sleeping on twin size for most of my adult life.

The highlight of the neighborhood is the little postage stamp-sized park across the street from my house. During Corn Festival several acoustic acts performed there, using the gazebo as the stage. It's the perfect set-up: a park across the street and a Subway, a laundromat, and a Turkey Hill store (ice cream) all within steps of my front door. The drawbacks? King St. is Rt. 11 and tends to be busy; it's pretty noisy with traffic noise at night, and next Summer I'll be right smack in the middle of Corn Festival. Oh well, the pluses outweigh the minuses in this case!

New Digs

2011-12-08T17:02:00.001-05:00

I'm now fully moved in to my first post-Newport apartment. The furniture was delivered Tuesday. In the rain. My brother and I moved the heaviest of my stuff - the computer, my CD collection, my library - yesterday. In even heavier rain. Today the sun was out and seasonably chilly weather arrived, and the Comcast guy came to hook up my cable and Internet. And here I am! I'm still putting things away, so the place is still sort of cluttered. These two shots are of relatively uncluttered spots.

Part of the living room, featuring my Archie Bunker chair.

The new headquarters of Roy's World.

2010 saw me hit bottom, and the time in between then and now has been a limbo time of being dependent on family for a roof over my head and food in my stomach. Thanks to them I'm back on my feet again - employed and living independently. The perfect song for that is "Handle With Care" by the Traveling Wilburys, a joyous paean to getting back on your feet after having been down. Enjoy!

Winter Approaches

2011-11-28T21:21:00.007-05:00

I was out and about today and stopped by the Dykeman Wetlands Park to see what was going on there. These shots are the result. Berries seem to be the prevailing theme this time of year, although dead flower husks turned in a strong showing as well.

A note to all my photography fans: My calendars on Lulu.com (see the link in the sidebar) have all been updated to 2012. No new ones of Central PA; I just haven't had the time or energy for it. Sorry!

© 2011 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Thanksgiving Again

2011-11-23T15:40:00.001-05:00

I'll probably be busy tomorrow, so I'm posting my Thanksgiving post today. The photo above is Timber Hill today in full November contrast. And the video below is one of my own from this past January; I think the look and theme is appropriate to the holiday. Enjoy! And enjoy your turkey tomorrow, and be thankful for what you have and for the people you're celebrating with.

Sight & Sound - Spiral

2011-11-21T15:01:00.001-05:00

A macro shot of a spiral shell, processed as a black & white and the "sepia soft" filter in the Exposure 2 plug-in.

Music: "The Spiral Staircase" by Robert Rich, from his 1991 CD Gaudí

Dominionism = Blasphemy? Treason?

2011-11-16T16:21:00.000-05:00

There's been a lot in the news lately about Dominionism (also known as Dominion Theology, with subsets known as Christian Reconstructionism, Seven Mountains theology, and Christian Nationalism). Basically what it is is a belief that Christians (and in this case very conservative - and often Calvinist - members associated with the Christian Right) need to gain control of communications, the arts, finance, the marketplace, and most importantly government, in order to run the world, or at least the United States, according to what they see as God's law as opposed to the existing secular law.

Probably the most succinct expression of the Dominionist agenda is this from the Coral Ridge Ministries' executive director George Grant, who wrote in his 1987 book Changing of the Guard:

Christians have an obligation, a mandate, a commission, a holy responsibility to reclaim the land for Jesus Christ - to have dominion in the civil structures, just as in every other aspect of life and godliness.

But it is dominion that we are after. Not just a voice.

It is dominion we are after. Not just influence.

It is dominion we are after. Not just equal time.

It is dominion we are after.

World conquest. That's what Christ has commissioned us to accomplish. We must win the world with the power of the Gospel. And we must never settle for anything less.

If Jesus Christ is indeed Lord, as the Bible says, and if our commission is to bring the land into subjection to His Lordship, as the Bible says, then all our activities, all our witnessing, all our preaching, all our craftsmanship, all our stewardship, and all our political action will aim at nothing short of that sacred purpose.

Thus, Christian politics has as its primary intent the conquest of the land - of men, families, institutions, bureaucracies, courts, and governments for the Kingdom of Christ. It is to reinstitute the authority of God's Word as supreme over all judgments, over all legislation, over all declarations, constitutions, and confederations.

This philosophy is the driving force behind much of the Christian Right's political activism, including its virtual takeover of the Republican Party. Many of the Christian Right leaders these days are Dominionists: Pat Robertson; everybody associated with American Family Association (the Wildmon family empire, which includes the World News Daily news media organization) , especially their public spokesman, Bryan Fischer; the Dobson family's Focus on the Family empire; the whole Liberty Baptist Church organization, including Liberty University, its Law department, the Liberty Center for Law and Policy, and Liberty Counsel, the organization's legal arm; and Christian Nationalist revisionist "historian" David Barton. Several of the current crowd of GOP presidential candidates are also associated with Dominionism: Rick Perry, Michelle Bachmann, Rick Santorum, and will-she-or-won't-she Sarah Palin.

The interesting thing is that now that the news media has called attention to Dominionism, most of its staunchest proponents are denying that the movement exists. In August Pat Robertson made a big fuss about it on his 700 Club broadcast and claimed he'd never heard of such a thing. And yet he's stated the prime Dominionist objectives over and over again, including this speech in Dallas in 1984 as reported in Al Dager's book Vengeance Is Ours: The Church In Dominion (Sword, 1990):

Now what do you do? What do all of us do? We get ready to take dominion! We get ready to take dominion! It is all going to be ours--I'm talking about all of it. Everything that you would say is a good part of the secular world. Every means of communication, the news, the television, the radio, the cinema, the arts, the government, the finance--it's going to be ours! God's going to give it to His people. We should prepare to reign and rule with Jesus Christ. (Dager, p. 95)

Matt Barber, an associate dean of Liberty University's law school and Director of Cultural Affairs with Liberty Counsel and Liberty Alliance Action, recently tweeted this in reaction to media coverage of Dominionism: "Can someone tell me what a 'dominionist' is? Best I can tell it's some scary monster that lives under liberals' beds." Yet just last year, at a Liberty University sponsored American Vision’s Worldview Super Conference entitled "2010 Sovereignty and Dominion conference - Biblical Blueprints for Victory!", Barber addressed the conference with these words:

The Bible tells us in Genesis 1:28 that God created us to multiply, fill the earth, and take dominion of His creation for His Glory. When Jesus came to earth, He gave his disciples the Great Commission and told them to make disciples of all nations, Baptize them, and teach them to obey all that he had commanded (Matthew 28:18-20). These two mandates form the basis for why Christ’s Church exists on this planet. Every square inch of this world belongs to King Jesus. It is our privilege to serve Him by exercising servanthood dominion in every area of life.

And John Aman, the current Director of Communications at Truth in Action Ministries, the successor to Coral Ridge Ministries, said "dominionism is a sham charge - one reserved for Christians on the right" that was dreamed up by the Left as "a handy way to smear evangelicals like Bachmann and Perry who bring biblically informed moral convictions into public debate." Obviously he hasn't read his predecessor's book, as quoted above.

Normally such stuff could be ignored or laughed off as a fringe movement with no real power or influence, but this is an ideology espoused by the movement that has gained major influence in one of the two major political parties, and an ideology espoused by a majority of that party's group of politicians vying for nomination as its presidential candidate. These are people determined to seek power and gain control of the country. Laugh if you want, but this is serious stuff and these are serious people.

But it also has serious flaws which have raised opposition both on the religious and secular fronts. Many Christians, and even many evangelicals, object to it as foreign to Christian belief. After all, didn't Jesus say, in response to Pilate's question "Are you King of the Jews?" that "my kingdom is not of this world"? Of course, the usual answer to that by the Dominionists is the Great Commission referred to by Matt Barber above - Matthew 28:18-20. Now he claims that verse commands Christians to teach the world to obey all that Jesus commanded, and leaves the impression that this includes some kind of Christian governance. But what does the passage really say?

And Jesus came and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

But what did Jesus command them to do? Feed the hungry, care for the sick, house and clothe the poor, love all humanity; there's nothing there about governing and imposing laws on the people.

And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said:
Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.

But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.
Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.

But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.
- Luke 6:20 - 31

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you? And the King will answer them, Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.
- Matthew 25: 35 - 40

Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.
- Luke 6: 37 & 38

The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say? This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her. And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? She said, No one, Lord. And Jesus said, Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.
- John 8: 3 - 11

And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, Which commandment is the most important of all? Jesus answered, The most important is, Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.
- Mark 12: 28 - 31

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
- John 13: 34 & 35

Nothing about governing there, is there? Only advice on how people can live together in harmony, with compassion and respect. In many ways Dominionist theology is, in fact, blasphemy.

Of course, it's also treason. These people are advocating taking over the government and imposing "God's Law" as given in the Bible (mostly drawn from Mosaic Law in the Torah of the Hebrew Scriptures, as Jesus didn't seem to be very big on the laws thing), in effect revoking our Constitution, which says in the First Amendment's establishment clause: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." (A more detailed exposition of this subject can be found here.)In other words, the government can't impose a religion on the population. But that's what these people are proposing to do. Sounds like treason to me.

Our Constitution guarantees a secular government, and we need to protect that legacy. The best protection is awareness. I hope I've contributed to that awareness.

© 2011 by A. Roy Hilbinger

November

2011-11-15T13:34:00.009-05:00

How silently they tumble down
And come to rest upon the ground
To lay a carpet, rich and rare,
Beneath the trees without a care,
Content to sleep, their work well done,
Colors gleaming in the sun.

At other times, they wildly fly
Until they nearly reach the sky.
Twisting, turning through the air
Till all the trees stand stark and bare.
Exhausted, drop to earth below
To wait, like children, for the snow."
- Elsie N. Brady, Leaves

A Study in Scarlet (apologies to Arthur Conan Doyle!)

2011-11-14T12:12:00.002-05:00

A barn on my walk last week on Roxbury Road. I used the same technique I used on the Spring Hill Cemetery shots - layered full color and the soft sepia setting in Exposure 2, and the layer blend set to the "darker color" setting. I like the effect.

© 2011 by A. Roy Hilbinger

More Fall Foliage

2011-11-12T07:32:00.003-05:00

Some shots I took earlier this week that didn't fit in with the posts I eventually put up. The top shot is Middle Spring Creek at King Street next to the McLean House. The bottom shot is the cattail marsh in the Dykeman Wetlands Park. The leaves are falling fast, but there's still some color here.

Old as the Hills

2011-11-10T13:15:00.000-05:00

Inclement weather today, so I stayed indoors and did some playing. I decided to "age" some of my misty mountain photos in Photoshop using the Exposure 2 plug-in. I went back and forth between the "selenium warm/cool" setting and the "sepia - soft" one. The selenium one tended to eliminate the mistiness and the details in the sky but bring out the details in the mountains, while the sepia filter emphasized the mistiness and brought out the details in the sky. I chose the sepia filter, and I really like the results. Oh yeah, and I did the photo of the barn and horse from yesterday because it just looked so good "antiqued"; it was totally "in period".

A Walk on Peiper Road

2011-11-09T16:34:00.006-05:00

Peiper Road runs between Mainsville and Baltimore Roads on the far side of Interstate 81, giving one an unobstructed view of South Mountain and the farms on the rolling hills right up to the feet of the mountain. So I went out there today and brought you back some treasures.

Spring Hill Cemetery

2011-11-08T16:32:00.007-05:00

The main cemetery in Shippensburg sits just outside of downtown on a hill on Morris St. It goes back to the mid 1800s or so, and while I've wandered it several times since I've been here, I still haven't managed to find any stones that attracted my interest. But today I went looking for wide-angle shots - groupings, as it were - and I have to admit that this fairly prosaic burial ground has some interesting views, especially now in the Fall. Add to that some fooling around in Photoshop and some judicious use of the Exposure 2 plug-in and I achieved an effect I like - a little antique and somewhat ethereal. See what you think!

A Job with a View

2011-11-07T11:19:00.004-05:00

This is the view from in front of the Lowe's Garden Center in Shippensburg, PA, where I've worked since March. I've only just gotten around to taking a shot, mainly because it's only just slacked off enough for me to get a good shot. Plus the Fall foliage colors and the "golden hour" light was just perfect. The first shot is the segment of South Mountain nearest us. The second shot is the full panorama of the mountain from that spot.

Samhain

2011-10-31T09:54:00.001-04:00

It's that time of year again, when my favorite seasons - Fall and Winter - and their signature celebrations - Samhain and Yule - roll around. This year's post will be simple. If you want to read about Samhain (pronounced SOW-wen or SAH-wen for those unfamiliar with the holiday), its history and its relationship to Halloween, then click here. For this year, I offer some played-with images fitting the season and the mood, and of course - MUSIC!

As always, my favorite Samhain music - Loreena McKennitt's "All Souls Night".

Another Samhain tradition that morphed and adapted to the Christian celebration of All Hallows Eve and All Saints Day is the soul cake. There are lots of songs about this tradition, but my favorite version is the classic one by Peter, Paul, and Mary - "A Soalin'".

Surprise!

2011-10-30T15:33:00.000-04:00

That's what we got from Mama Gaia yesterday; a big surprise - a snowstorm in October! And it was the heavy wet stuff, with lots of trees down and power outages because the trees took power lines with them when they went. It was so wet that I used an umbrella when walking to work. I went out this morning to get some shots.

Fall foliage and snow make an interesting contrast.

The unfortunate result of heavy wet snow on trees who still have all their leaves.

Autumn leaves on snow.

And last but not least, late Fall flowers wearing a snowcap.

Looking Back

2011-10-27T13:48:00.003-04:00

It's raining and the temperature is dropping like a rock; the Summer-ish weather is finally gone for the year. To commemorate the end of Summer, I looked back at a favorite scene and made it "nostalgic" via Photoshop and Exposure 2.

© 2011 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Pondering

2011-10-26T14:32:00.001-04:00

We join spokes together in a wheel,
but it is the center hole
that makes the wagon move.

We shape clay into a pot,
but it is the emptiness inside
that holds whatever we want.

We hammer wood for a house,
but it is the inner space
that makes it livable.

We work with being,
but non-being is what we use.

Tao Te Ching #11 (Stephen Mitchell translation)

Music: "Etoiles..." by Pascal Gaigne, from his 1996 CD Solisterræ; check out his YouTube channel here.

Tuesday Walk

2011-10-25T22:02:00.000-04:00

Today I walked up Earl St./Newburg Rd. (Earl St. becomes Newburg Rd. just north of Shippensburg University); the goal was to visit the Middle Spring Cemetery, a historical burying ground associated with the Middle Spring Presbyterian Church which I visited last Winter, and then to wander down Fish Hatchery Rd., a very scenic lane which has views of both South Mountain and Blue Mountain, which bound the Cumberland Valley to the north and south. After that I stopped down Bard Rd. to look at that renovated barn with the solar panels again. Heh, heh! There was a bit more color there than when I visited it in January. Enjoy the walk!

Monday Color Walk

2011-10-24T18:03:00.000-04:00

I'm off for a four-day stretch this week (transitioning to a different schedule since I got upgraded from a temporary to a regular employee at work), so I'm doing some hiking this week. Today I focused on Fall color. I went down Possum Hollow Road into town, wandered around in the Dykeman Wetlands and the duck ponds, and then came back up Possum Hollow Road to home here on Timber Hill. The photos below follow that sequence. Enjoy our color!

Time...

2011-10-19T14:34:00.000-04:00

... and tide wait for no man.

... is of the essence.

... is, time was, time always will be.

... has come today!

Sight & Sound - Plumes

2011-10-17T16:02:00.000-04:00

There used to be a flock of Peacocks here on Timber Hill years ago. They seem to have disappeared over the years, either due to the climate, predators, or the Amish farmers' kids, who seem to like to shoot anything with feathers. But my sister-in-law made a habit of collecting the feathers and made displays with them throughout the house. This is a detail of one of them enhanced in Photoshop - the saturation and contrasted amped up, brightness tweaked a little, and a moderate amount of posterization applied. I liked the effect.

And music to match, although it's a bit of a linguistic pun. "Plumeria" is from jazz/new age violinist Steve Kindler's 1990 album Across a Rainbow Sea. Now Plumeria is the botanical Latin name for Frangipani, but the name comes from the same source (the flower is named after someone named Plumier, which comes eventually from the French word for feather - plume). So here's the second, musical half of the pun.

Quiet City

2011-10-14T22:40:00.002-04:00

I recently heard Aaron Copland's Quiet City - for Cor Anglais, Trumpet and Strings again, and got inspired to put together a slideshow based on it. The Newport, Providence, and some of the Boston photos are mine; the rest I collected on Wiki Commons. Enjoy!

Autumn Color Starts

2011-10-12T12:20:00.005-04:00

I got these shots on the way to work yesterday. This is the hill we live on. Mama Gaia is starting to brush a little color on the trees.

Happy Birthday, John!

2011-10-09T17:34:00.002-04:00

John Winston Lennon, 10/09/1940 - 12/08/1980. We still miss him!

Out and About

2011-10-08T20:35:00.008-04:00

I went walking today and gathered this collection of Fall flowers and one mystery bird.

I'm stumped. A Warbler? A Junco of some sort, or maybe a relative of the Gnatcatchers? There were two of them, about the size of male House Sparrows, gray head and back, chestnut throat and chest, white belly, and that eye ring. I saw no bars on the wings, and I never saw the other side of the tail. Anybody have any ideas? [Update: I've been getting all kinds of feedback from here, on Gather.com, and in my email. The response is unanimous - it's a female Eastern Bluebird. Thanks folks!]

Spotted Knapweed

Swamp Aster

Calico Aster

Ornamental

2011-10-07T14:32:00.003-04:00

Some ornamental critters outside the house, filtered through my eye and some Photoshop tweaks.

Insanely Great - Goodbye Steve Jobs. AND Bert Jansch

2011-10-06T11:33:00.000-04:00

I got home from work last night a little after 10 and booted up my Mac, only to read that Steve Jobs had finally passed away from his pancreatic cancer. This was not unexpected; after all, the man had been ill for years and had recently resigned from his position of CEO of Apple for health reasons. We knew it was coming. Still, it's a sad day, and his death literally exemplifies the old cliché "the end of an era". It truly is.

I've been using Apple computers since the pre-Macintosh days of the Apple II. Yes, children, I'm an old ancient from the days of the Apple II and the Commodore 64 (both of which I've used). Remember the old days of Kinko's, when it was more a funky printer with computers on site so you could design your flyers and pamphlets right there and send them directly to the printer, instead of the soulless corporate giant merged with FedEx that it's become now? Ah, those were the days! And they used Apple computers exclusively; they didn't add Windoze PCs until well into the '90s (at least that's when it happened in Newport). That's where my love affair with Steve Jobs' brainchildren started, and I've never looked back.

And let's not forget that Apple actually fired Jobs back in 1985, only a year after he launched the Macintosh. Steve went on to found NeXT computers, which didn't do so well, and then on to lead and develop Pixar Studios, which did very well indeed. Meanwhile, Apple computers had degenerated into generic beige boxes not much different, except for the Macintosh operating system, from most of the other personal computers on the market.

Jobs came back to Apple when the company bought NeXT in 1996, and by 1998 Jobs was back in the CEO seat. He re-energized the place, ending the generic era and reintroducing creativity, innovation, and uniqueness with the iMac and the new slogan: "Think Different". And from that point Jobs and Apple never looked back. Now, in addition the the regular Apple computers running OS X, we have the iPod, the iPhone, and the iPad, all industry standard-setters.

I've been using the results of his genius since pretty close to the very beginning, and I'm using them still. I'm putting this post together on a Powerbook G4 running OS X 10.5.8. This is borrowed, and when I'm back on my own I'll be working on my eMac again (G4 1.4 GHz processor). I have an iPod Shuffle, and while I don't own an iPhone (only because my wireless carrier doesn't carry them yet), I have an LG Optimus S, which wouldn't exist if the iPhone hadn't been created. And I'm surrounded my Macs here. Mt sister-in-law uses a Powerbook (although my fuddy-duddy brother still uses a Windoze laptop), and there are two iPad 2s here in the house. And when their Verizon contracts end later this year they'll both upgrade to iPhones. And since the new iPhone 4S is now running on the Sprint network, and since my own carrier - CREDO Mobile - uses the Sprint network, I'm sure I'll be upgrading to an iPhone in about a year and a half when it's time to renew my contract.

Added to all that, my late Dad was a dedicated Mac user. What makes that interesting is that he was a microelectronics engineer; he created computer hardware systems for the aerospace industry, including many of the systems used on the Apollo missions. The myth goes that engineers use IBM/clone computers while artistic airhead hippie types use Macs; PCs are for serious computer users while Macs are for dilettantes. Obviously Dad busted that particular myth!

In any case, here are some videos included as a tribute to one of the great innovators of the 20th and 21st centuries, the man who literally changed the way we interact with the world. The first is the great TV commercial announcing the Macintosh in 1984:

And then there's the "Here's to the crazy ones..." to push the "Think Different" campaign; this one moved me profoundly when I first saw it. It still does.

And then after I read about Steve Jobs' passing, I also read about Bert Jansch. For those of you not familiar with the man, he was one of the great guitarists out of Great Britain's folk revival of the '60s and '70s. Born in Scotland, he mastered the finger-style playing style by listening to recordings of Big Bill Broonzy and Brownie McGhee. He teamed up with fellow guitarist John Renbourn for gigs and a record - "Bert and John" - and then added singer Jacqui McShee and formed the group Pentangle, which was the premier group of the British folk revival movement. On his own he was sometimes referred to as the British Bob Dylan. He was a talented man and a great musician, and he'll be sorely missed.

An old girlfriend introduced me to Pentangle back in '74, and I've been a fan ever since. The first video is Pentangle on BBC in 1970. Bert's the acoustic guitarist (John Renbourn plays electric) and the guy who announces the song.

And here's Bert on his own in 2008 with "High Days". Goodbye Bert; we'll miss you!

Rainy Day Amusements

2011-10-03T16:08:00.000-04:00

The weather sucked here again - still chilly and damp - and ruled out outdoor activities. So I fooled around with photography and a little Photoshop™ magic.

A little still life in the kitchen window turns into "Still Life with Teapot a la Pierre Bonnard".

And this little owl statuette on the back deck had a little Exposure 2 treatment and a tweaking of the layer blend to come up with this art print look.

© 2011 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Decorated

2011-10-02T20:45:00.006-04:00

We're in a contest at work, competing against the other Lowe's stores in our district to see who can create the best Fall display. We're pretty sure we're gonna win (the prize is money for a pizza blowout).

Inside Looking Out

2011-09-29T15:53:00.005-04:00

Looking out on a wet, gray day from inside.

The Far Shore

2011-09-26T15:24:00.001-04:00

I'm home today; it's one of my days off this week. I'm not going anywhere, though; it's gray, gloomy, and overcast, and I have a nasty cold. But I went out on the deck to see if there were any critters about, and this bit of scenery caught my eye. I call it "Ivy, Moss, and Wood".

When searching my iTunes library for appropriate music, I came across A Produce's "The Far Shore (solo version) and realized I hadn't done a tribute to him yet. Barry Craig, aka A Produce, passed away September 4. I've always been a fan of his music, so it was a sad surprise to read of his passing on John Diliberto's Echoes blog. This particular piece of music since Barry wrote it as a tribute to fellow ambient musician Pierre Lambeau on the occasion of his death back in the '90s. As one person commented on John's blog - flow in peace, Barry.

Fall Harvest

2011-09-22T16:17:00.002-04:00

I'll be at work tomorrow for the Autumnal Equinox, so this is my blog post for that event. There aren't as many signs of approaching Fall here in central PA as there usually are back in Newport at this time, but there are some. For instance, the harvest is winding down and there are still goodies for eating popping up in the countryside...

There are two Chestnut trees in the front yard, and they actually do produce nuts.

Of course, pumpkins are everywhere.

And acorns are underfoot in the woods, waiting to be scooped up by the Squirrels and the Groundhogs.

For me, Fall and Winter are the most Pagan of the seasons; I feel closer to the earth then, and the holidays associated with the "dark side" of the wheel of the year - Samhain and Yule - are closer to my heart. The cooler temperatures, the colors, the snow, fires on the hearth, candles, evergreens... For some reason this atmosphere warms me and I feel closer to the earth, and that in turn makes me feel more Pagan. There's music that I usually play around this time of year, as well. In the past I've usually posted music from Loreena McKennitt here this time of year, but this year I'd like to post something different. Jethro Tull's Songs from the Wood album was the first music I ever heard that was overtly pagan and seems to go so well with the season (even though there are songs about Beltane and other Spring/Summer celebrations on the album). So here is the entire album for your enjoyment.

Sight & Sound - The Green Man

2011-09-21T14:58:00.000-04:00

The Green Man is a mythic figure in cultures all over the world, representing the Nature Spirit. This still life shot today is my tribute to that spirit. And what more fitting musical tribute than Jethro Tull's "Jack-in-the-Green"? Enjoy!

Forward in All Directions!

2011-09-20T13:10:00.001-04:00

Welcome to the Crazy Loquat Club in the town of Szegerely on the Balkan Peninsula, which is where this motley crew of musicians holds forth every Friday night. Who are they? Why, it's 3 Mustaphas 3!

I used to listen to these guys a lot back in the '80s and '90s. They're not really Balkan, they're a collection of British musicians who create multicultural music, and who created a mythical backstory to make the trip even more fun. They've since broken up but still get together from time to time, in various iterations, to recreate the magic. I won't get into the details here - it's far too complicated for a mere blog post - but you can click on the link above to go read the Wikipedia article on them. I just wanted to take you to the Crazy Loquat Club to have some fun. Take it to the fridge!

Click here for more Mustapha madness. And make sure you wear your fez!

Time Machine

2011-09-14T12:04:00.000-04:00

Some of the shots I took Sunday worked really well in black & white. They worked especially well in Exposure 2's selenium warm/cool emulation; they end up looking like archival prints made in the early 20th Century. I'm really surprised by how well the Hummingbird shots turned out. I guess I had the lighting just right!

More Hummingbirds

2011-09-13T10:40:00.000-04:00

This female posed for me on Sunday while I was on my photo safari. She seemed to want to have her picture taken; she'd flit off frequently but always return to the same branch on a Black Walnut tree.

By the way, last week I made a big mistake identifying gender in Hummingbirds. You can read my explanation and corrections here.

© 2011 by A. Roy Hilbinger

The Rest of the Walk

2011-09-12T13:01:00.000-04:00

Here are some more shots from yesterday's walk.

A Common Buckeye butterfly in the field at the end of our driveway.

These cows along Possum Hollow Rd. were wondering why I was pointing that black thing at them.

A backyard scene along Olde Scotland Road.

A Pearl Crescent butterfly near the Dykeman Walking Trail.

Mountains in the Mist

2011-09-11T17:31:00.006-04:00

Today is one of my days off this week, and I went out this morning seeking photos. We've had a week's worth of rain and the air is very wet; this has had a dramatic effect on the views of South Mountain, especially the views I got from Possum Hollow Rd. and Olde Scotland Rd.

Leftovers

2011-09-09T13:29:00.004-04:00

Here are some leftover shots from last Saturday's hike in the Dykeman Wetlands. It's been raining ever since, so I don't have anything any "fresher", but I needed to share these.

The Black Walnuts are ready to pick.

I just liked this one.

September Comes to the Dykeman Wetlands, Pt.2 - Wildflowers

2011-09-04T15:36:00.000-04:00

Aside from getting shots of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds yesterday, the light was also good for getting some very good wildflower close-ups.

Evening Primrose

Boneset

Blazing Star

Southern Gaura

Yellow Ironweed

September Comes to the Dykeman Wetlands, Pt.1 - Hummingbirds!

2011-09-03T16:18:00.001-04:00

[Note: When I first posted this a week ago I made a mistake; I stated that Ruby-throated Hummingbirds were different from other birds in that it's the female who's more colorful while the male is more drab. I was wrong about that; it's the male who has that gorgeous red throat. It's Belted Kingfishers who defy the rule; the female has both the black collar and russet vest while the male only has the black collar. I had been chasing some Kingfishers - unsuccessfully, as usual - that day, so the two species' specifics got mixed up in my head. I've edited this post to fit the facts. Sorry about that, chief!]

I'm off today, and the weather is overcast and humid, which can lead to some great lighting for photography. So I walked down to the Dykeman Wetlands Park and Walking Trail to take advantage of the light. I got some great macro shots of the encroaching Autumn wildflowers, which I'll show you tomorrow. But the real treat today was the crowd of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds hanging out in the swamp meadow just below the duck ponds.

This section of the swamp is full of Jewelweed and Moth Mullein, flowers that Hummingbirds just love to sip from. They were flitting around from plant to plant, sometimes chasing each other in play, and occasionally sitting still on a cattail stem to give me a chance to get a portrait. It took my telephoto and manual focus to get the shots, and out of the 30 or so shots of the birds I got, these two pass quality control.

This is a female, sitting among the cattail leaves.

And here's a male in all his Ruby-throated glory!

Stay tuned tomorrow or at least in the next couple of days for wildflower portrait macros. I got some good ones today; the flora are very diverse around here!

© 2011 by A. Roy Hilbinger

On the Way Home from Work

2011-09-02T17:41:00.003-04:00

Some shots taken on the walk home today.

McLean House on King St.

The abandoned shack on Possum Hollow Rd.

Corn Festival

2011-08-27T23:38:00.000-04:00

Today was the 31st annual Corn Festival in Shippensburg, PA (read about the history of the festival here). They block off King St. from Spring St. to Prince St. and basically hold a big, overgrown street fair with crafts, food, and musical entertainment. It was definitely a mob scene today...

There were plenty of craft and food booths to look at...

After several hours of wandering the booths and waiting for people to clear away in front of several of my favorite views, and after a good lunch (a chicken wrap and fresh-squeezed lemonade), the first outlying band of Hurricane Irene made an appearance, and I decided it was time to go home...

Of course, those of you who are regular readers of this blog know that I took a lot more pictures than these few, but I couldn't do justice to them in this format. There were shots of the musical and dance groups, more crafts, the wool spinners and the blacksmith, and even the Corn Clown. So I put together this slide show and backed it with the "Hoedown" movement of Aaron Copland's Rodeo. You definitely get a better idea of the scope of the festival. Enjoy!

A Drop-Dead Gorgeous Day

2011-08-22T15:12:00.000-04:00

A cold front blew through yesterday and took all the heat and humidity with it. Today is just a drop-dead gorgeous day - blue skies, puffy white clouds, clear blue distant mountains.

Fall is coming. Can you smell it in the air?

© 2011 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Wildflower Portraits

2011-08-17T16:14:00.007-04:00

A few things seen walking around on the Dykeman Walking Trail and in the Dykeman Wetlands Park today.

White Campion

Unknown but very photogenic flowers

Jewelweed

Daisies

Trial by Public Opinion?

2011-08-10T18:26:00.001-04:00

It appears that the furor over the jury's verdict in the Casey Anthony trial continues, especially on the Internet. Popular opinion is running strongly in favor of the theory that because most of us find her distasteful she deserves to be punished, and the jury should have factored in that dislike. I even saw one person in a comment thread on Facebook write that public opinion should have more of a place in the judicial system.

I don't think I've ever seen or heard a more ignorant opinion! Our jurisprudential system works on the rule of law, not on mob rule. You're tried by a jury of your peers, and that jury comes to its decision based on evidence presented by both the prosecution and the defense. And if you don't like the jury's decision you can appeal to the next higher level in the appellate system.

In the case of Casey Anthony, the jury decided that the prosecution didn't make its case. They didn't declare her innocence, they declared that the prosecution failed to prove she killed her daughter. The lack of evidence as to the cause of Caylee Anthony's death cast reasonable doubt on the prosecution's case that she was deliberately murdered by her mother. This is how cases in the United States are tried: on the evidence. Not on wishes, hunches, and wannabes, but on provable, observable evidence. Cold, hard facts. Public opinion has no place in the courtroom, only evidence.

People have been hysterically keening that our judicial system is broken because Casey Anthony has gone free. On the contrary, this case proves that it works very well indeed. William Blackstone, in his Commentaries on the Laws of England (1765 - 1769), considered the backbone of judicial philosophy and practice in Great Britain and North America, wrote what has since become known as Blackstone's Formulation: "...better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer." This in turn derives from 12th Century legal theorist Moses Maimonides' exposition on Genesis 18:23 - 32, where he states (referring to God's promise to spare Sodom and Gommorrah for the sake of ten righteous men), "it is better and more satisfactory to acquit a thousand guilty persons than to put a single innocent one to death." This legal philosophy guarantees that care is taken to approach each case with a fair and balanced mind. That someone some of us think is guilty occasionally slips free is only further proof that Blackstone's Formulation is in operation and the system is far from broken.

For those who seriously think that public opinion should carry some weight in a court case, consider how badly that approach has worked throughout history. The most famous is the case of a certain itinerant rabbi in 1st Century Palestine, one Yeshu'a ben Yosef; he wandered throughout the area urging the people to be better neighbors, to feed the hungry, care for the sick, house the homeless, forgive those who offend you, etc. Unfortunately there were people who considered this rabbi a threat, and during the Passover week blindsided him and captured him, taking him to their Roman overlord, the procurator Pontius Pilate, accusing him of treason against the Roman Emperor. Pilate examined the evidence and came to the conclusion that the rabbi was guilty of nothing more than annoying some pompous religious leaders. But those leaders were adamant that the rabbi be punished. So Pilate decided to put the question to the people, in this case the crowd gathered in Jerusalem for the Passover holiday. And they, pumped up by those offended religious leaders, shouted "String 'im up!"

Mob rule declared Yeshu'a ben Yosef, who we now know as Jesus, guilty and decreed his execution. An innocent man was killed because the existing judicial process was abandoned for public opinion, and that ruling has resonated down through history.

Now... Do you really think public opinion should have any place in a courtroom?

© 2011 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Folk Meteorology

2011-08-09T10:35:00.003-04:00

Folk wisdom has it that sitting cows means rain coming. These cows last Saturday had it exactly right. And they must be sitting again because it's raining again. After the hot and dry July we had, this is good news.

© 2011 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Heartland in High Summer

2011-08-06T15:03:00.009-04:00

I took a walk down the other direction on Possum Hollow Road this morning before the heavens opened up and we got some much-needed rain.

The Amish farm across the road

A panoramic view of South Mountain

The train crossing on Possum Hollow Road, with South Mountain in the background

Cornfield and rail-side grain depot

And what better song to go with this than Peter Ostroushko's "Heart of the Heartland", here played live by Peter with the Guy's All-Star Shoe Band on A Prairie Home Companion in 2004.

PS: I also just put up a post on Duke Ellington's "Caravan " on the Just A Song blog. You are cordially invited to check it out!

Carousel

2011-08-01T18:10:00.000-04:00

I was pretty sure this one would work as a black & white.

And here's some appropriate music - "The Carousel Waltz" from Rogers & Hammerstein's Carousel:

The Shippensburg Community Fair

2011-07-28T16:22:00.000-04:00

It's Fair Week here in Shippensburg, and like all summer fairs in farming country, the Shippensburg Community Fair emphasizes four things - cows...

tractors...

rides...

and food provided by every church and volunteer organization in the area.

There are also garden produce and home goods, but those areas were still closed when I was there at lunchtime. So I'm going back after supper tonight so I can get shots in the Home Goods buildings and shots of the rides all lit up. So there'll be a Part 2 to this post. Stay tuned!

© 2011 by A. Roy Hilbinger

A Missed Anniversary

2011-07-21T00:25:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was the 42nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing but I forgot about it, so I'm playing catch-up today. Above is a shot of Neil Armstrong walking on the Moon, and below is archival footage of those first steps.

And the perfect music for celebrating humanity's first venture onto a new planetary body - Isao Tomita's 1974 synthesizer realization of Claude Debussy's Clair de Lune. Enjoy!

Monday Potpourri - A Butterfly, Mandela's Birthday, and the 405

2011-07-18T16:27:00.001-04:00

I got this macro shot of an Eastern Comma butterfly along the Dykeman Walking Trail on the way to work yesterday.

Happy Birthday Tata! Today is Madiba's (Nelson Mandela) 93rd birthday. Let's have a party!

And in honor of the disaster that never happened - i.e. "Carmageddon" - here's a short (3 min.) movie that achieved legend status on the Internet back in 2000: 405 - The Movie. Enjoy!

Castles in the Air

2011-07-15T14:32:00.001-04:00

Bugs

2011-07-10T16:55:00.000-04:00

Despite the heat and humidity I took a walk down to the Dykeman Wetlands Park and Walking Trail. The air was full of butterflies and dragonflies, and some even sat still long enough to a picture or two. No macros here (I couldn't get close enough), so all shots are via the zoom, mostly set at a focal length of 400mm. And since the light was so bright and contrasty I used my circular polarizer filter, so the colors are a bit more intense.

Meadowhawk dragonfly

Cabbage White butterfly

Blue Dasher dragonfly

Common Whitetail dragonfly

Tortoiseshell butterfly

Calico Pennant dragonfly

An Annual Event

2011-07-04T17:01:00.001-04:00

"... and amber waves of grain." (Okay it's still green, but it'll be amber grain in a couple of weeks.)

Yes, faithful readers, it's that fateful day again. For those of you fairly new to this blog, I have a particularly loud bee in my bonnet, and I let it out for a spin every U.S. Independence Day (aka Fourth of July). That bee is - we need a new national anthem.

I don't like "The Star Spangled Banner". It's a chest-thumping, militaristic poem about a particular battle early in our history, set to a British drinking tune, which explains why it's so hard to sing - you have to be drunk to sing it, and that rise up to the high note (... o'er the laaaaand of the freeeeee...) was where they raised their flagons high in the pub and spilled beer all over themselves. It doesn't say anything about the country, the people, and what the country is all about. All it's about is barely winning one battle. And as the character Belize says in Tony Kushner's Angels in America: "The white cracker who wrote the National Anthem knew what he was doing. He set the word free to a note so high nobody could reach it." (Yes, Francis Scott Key, the "poet" who composed the lyrics, was pro South, pro slavery, from a slave-holding family from Carroll County, MD.)

My suggestion for a new national anthem is "America the Beautiful". The words were written by Katharine Lee Bates, an English professor at Wellesley College, in 1893 after a trip from Boston to Colorado Springs. The music was composed by Samuel A. Ward, a church organist and choirmaster. Unlike "The Star Spangled Banner", "America the Beautiful" is meant to be sung in a reverent and respectful manner and actually praises America for its beauty and principles. Let's face it, it's just a much more pleasant song, both lyrically and musically, than the current national anthem.

O beautiful for spacious skies,

For amber waves of grain,

For purple mountain majesties

Above the fruited plain!

America! America!

God shed His grace on thee,

And crown thy good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet

Whose stern impassion'd stress

A thoroughfare for freedom beat

Across the wilderness.

America! America!

God mend thine ev'ry flaw,

Confirm thy soul in self-control,

Thy liberty in law.

O beautiful for heroes prov'd

In liberating strife,

Who more than self their country lov'd,

And mercy more than life.

America! America!

May God thy gold refine

Till all success be nobleness,

And ev'ry gain divine.

O beautiful for patriot dream

That sees beyond the years

Thine alabaster cities gleam

Undimmed by human tears.

America! America!

God shed His grace on thee,

And crown thy good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea.

Here's a beautiful orchestral/choral setting:

Of course, those of you in the audience who know me well know that my own favorite setting of "America the Beautiful" is the one by the late, great, never-to-be-forgotten Ray Charles. And in my never very humble opinion, instead of starting sports events off with wannabe superstars butchering an already botched piece of music, they ought to use those giant video screens in every arena and stadium and play one of the many videos of Brother Ray singing this song. Like this one:

Deck Perspective

2011-07-03T17:38:00.003-04:00

It was too hot and humid to go on much of a hike today (I had today off), so I got these macro shots of the back deck emphasizing perspective. Oddly enough, given the movement of the grain and all in this wood, these didn't work well at all in black & white. Oh well...

Thursday Close-ups

2011-06-30T14:46:00.000-04:00

Wandering down around the duck ponds (which I've learned is officially called the Dykeman Wetlands Park), I got these shots.

A Distinctive American Voice - In Music

2011-06-28T12:24:00.001-04:00

Last week while working on my tribute to Clarence Clemons I got to thinking about Bruce Springsteen's music and how uniquely American it is. And that got me to thinking about a unique "American voice" in the arts in general - iconoclastic, individualistic, pulling influences from everywhere and synthesizing them into a new, unique entity. So I figured I'd do a series of posts on the "American voice" in the arts, starting with this one on music and going on to literature and the graphic arts.

And of course I start with Bruce Springsteen. I identify with him the most because he's of my generation, the tail end of the Baby Boom, growing up hearing a melange of music on the radio - old Rock & Roll, R&B, Blues, the Folk revival (and in Bruce's case, especially Bob Dylan)... All of these elements are evident in Springsteen's music. You can hear the edgier rock of Jerry Lee Lewis and the Big Bopper, the early R&B of Aretha and Sam Cooke and James Brown, and the lyricism of Bob Dylan in his music. He was part of what I've always called the Second Wave of rock, growing up listening to the first wave and after gestating while the glory days of the '60s degenerated into the Disco era, erupting in the latter half of the '70s with a new, leaner and meaner version of rock firmly rooted in the first wave but influenced by other voices.

The other thing so American about Springsteen's music is his appeal to the blue-collar middle class; Bruce's music is all about the workers, their struggles, their concerns, and their activities. Springsteen is the working man's troubadour, much more so than Dylan. In many ways a lot of Springsteen's music is like Steinbeck set to a tune and backed by a band. The perfect example of that part of his repertoire is his song "Youngstown":

But the working class concerns also show up in his good-time, all out rockers as well, the perfect example of that being his biggest hit, "Born to Run"; it's all about kids living on the wrong side of the tracks looking for a way out and into a better life - pure Steinbeck as arena rock, with a strong element of R&B from Clarence Clemons. This is Springsteen at his best!

But Rock & Roll isn't the only form of music that fosters a unique American voice. So-called "classical" music (more accurately called art or concert music; "classical" is an era within that category, from back in the late 18th and early 19th centuries and best exemplified by the Hayden family and Mozart, and early Beethoven) has fostered more than a few - Edward MacDowell, Amy Beach, William Grant Still, Charles Ives, Howard Hanson, Leonard Bernstein... But for me the ultimate "American" composer was Aaron Copland. His subject matter was most often the American heartland and its history and utilized American folk music elements as well as iconoclastic, individual twists on classic European compositional rules. You can listen to his "Appalachian Spring" in the sidebar of this blog. For this post I decided to include his "Fanfare for the Common Man" (a link with Springsteen and other American artists - an emphasis on the "common man", an American philosophical emphasis since the days of the Revolution):

Of course, the ultimate "American" music, considered by all the world as America's major contribution to the world's artistic culture, is Jazz; it's a unique synthesis of African, European, and American folk traditions. There are innumerable musicians in this category, but for me the Jazz ambassador to the world will always be Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington; his combination of "jungle" beat, compositional complexity, fluid melodic lines, and suave, urbane, almost European cosmopolitan sensitivity is so uniquely his that his music even transcends the "American" categorization, except for the fact that it's so American in it's blend of influences. There's a lot of Ellington music I could post here - "Take the A Train", "Things Ain't What They Used to Be", "Sophisticated Lady", "Prelude to a Kiss", etc. - but I chose this piece, "The Degas Suite", because it's so characteristic of Ellington's work: a soundtrack written in 1968 for a documentary about an exhibition of racing paintings by Impressionist painter Edgar Degas, it exemplifies all of Ellington's most characteristic compositional traits. In effect, it's all of Ellington's best music in 27 minutes. It's a bit long, but worth sticking around for. Enjoy!

On the Way Home, Again

2011-06-23T18:14:00.000-04:00

I cut through the duck ponds and the Dykeman Walking Trail again on the way home from work this afternoon.

Mama and babies cooling off on a hot afternoon.

A Little Wood Satyr butterfly.

The Day Lilies are up. Profusely!

Daisy Fleabane

Deptford Pink, with a wee visitor.

And up on Possum Hollow Rd. near home, Baby was up and posing by the nest; I suspect he/she will fledge (learn to fly) before the weekend is over.

© 2011 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Farewell to the "Big Man"

2011-06-20T16:25:00.000-04:00

Clarence Clemons, The Big Man, along with Bruce Springsteen himself the heart and soul of Springsteen's sound. He's gone, passed away Saturday, June 18, from complications from a stroke he suffered on June 12. He was 69, and that's just too damned young!

The Boss and The Big Man were musical soul mates; they both believed that and said so publicly. Of their original meeting Clarence said this:

One night we were playing in Asbury Park. I'd heard The Bruce Springsteen Band was nearby at a club called The Student Prince and on a break between sets I walked over there. On-stage, Bruce used to tell different versions of this story but I'm a Baptist, remember, so this is the truth. A rainy, windy night it was, and when I opened the door the whole thing flew off its hinges and blew away down the street. The band were on-stage, but staring at me framed in the doorway. And maybe that did make Bruce a little nervous because I just said, "I want to play with your band," and he said, "Sure, you do anything you want." The first song we did was an early version of "Spirit In The Night". Bruce and I looked at each other and didn't say anything, we just knew. We knew we were the missing links in each other's lives. He was what I'd been searching for. In one way he was just a scrawny little kid. But he was a visionary. He wanted to follow his dream. So from then on I was part of history.

And Springsteen said this in a public press release on Clarence's death:

Clarence lived a wonderful life. He carried within him a love of people that made them love him. He created a wondrous and extended family. He loved the saxophone, loved our fans and gave everything he had every night he stepped on stage. His loss is immeasurable and we are honored and thankful to have known him and had the opportunity to stand beside him for nearly forty years. He was my great friend, my partner and with Clarence at my side, my band and I were able to tell a story far deeper than those simply contained in our music. His life, his memory, and his love will live on in that story and in our band.

The music will never be the same, so much so that many are wondering now if the E Street Band will go on, or if Springsteen will go back to playing solo. Certainly there will never again be any moments like this:

Nor will there be any more experiences like this:

Rest in peace, Big Man. That proverbial band in heaven just got a helluva lot better!

National Soldiers' Cemetery, Gettysburg PA

2011-06-16T12:37:00.001-04:00

Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.
– Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln, November 19, 1863

Rhode Island section

Minnesota section

World War II soldiers section

Until last October I lived in Newport, RI, an area that in many ways was the center of the colonial era of American history; Newport was settled in 1639, and historical monuments, cemeteries and gravestones, and even some houses went all the way back to that time. Then, due to adverse economic circumstances, I had to leave Newport and come here to live with family in Shippensburg, PA.

And entered another era of American history, because this area of Pennsylvania is very much the center of Civil War history. Chambersburg, just south of here and the town in which my mother lives, was burned by Confederate forces; Shippensburg was occupied by those same forces. And they were on there way to face off with Union forces in a bid to force an end to the war. The forces met in Gettysburg, just over South Mountain to the east of here. The battle at Gettysburg was the turning point of the Civil War, starting the decline of the Confederacy.

These days Gettysburg is a national military park, dedicated to the brave souls who fought there and to the memory of what was arguably the most important battle fought on American soil. It was bloody, it was horrible, and it decided the fate of the nation in three days in July of 1863. My mother and I went over there yesterday on a road trip. At 81 she's not as spry as she used to be and we didn't stay as long as I would have liked, but we did manage to spend some time at the National Soldiers' Cemetery, where most of the dead from the battle, both known and unknown, are buried and where President Abraham Lincoln gave his most famous oration, quoted in full at the beginning of this photo essay.

[Note: For those interested in this kind of thing, I processed the photos in Photoshop™ using the Exposure 2™ plug-in to emulate sepia-ed daguerreotypes, in keeping with the period of the battle.]

Finally, I couldn't resist including this fantastic video of Jeff Daniels reciting the Gettysburg address, with fitting music and period photos. Enjoy!

Odds 'n' Ends

2011-06-14T17:42:00.005-04:00

Shots taken walking to and from work today.

Middle Spring Creek at McLean House on King St., the Summer version.

Baby's got feathers! The Redtail little'un has graduated from fuzz to feathers and may be fledging sometime soon.

The World Is Sacred - One Pagan's Values

2011-06-09T16:58:00.000-04:00

This essay is part of the 3rd Annual International Pagan Values Blogging and Podcasting Month, which you can learn about here and here.

The world is sacred.
It can't be improved.
If you tamper with it, you'll ruin it.
If you treat it like an object, you'll lose it.
–Tao Te Ching, Chapter 29 (Stephen Mitchell translation)

I'm not your typical modern Pagan: I don't worship gods and goddesses and I don't cast spells. Nonetheless, I practice a human-centered, Earth-based spirituality, and the basis for that spirituality is the belief that all Creation is sacred. From a value standpoint, this means that if you consider everything and everyone sacred then you treat all with honor and respect.

Native American peoples certainly understood this concept:

Honor the sacred.
Honor the Earth, our Mother.
Honor the Elders.
Honor all with whom we share the Earth:-
Four-leggeds, two-leggeds, winged ones,
Swimmers, crawlers, plant and rock people.
Walk in balance and beauty.
– Unidentified Native American elder

Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.
– Chief Seattle, 1854

All value, all "morality", stems from one's attitude toward the environment in which one lives. If, as in the Abrahamic religions, you believe that humankind was created to dominate the world it lived in, and that that environment was only temporary and often deceptive, then you will treat Creation as the object of your exploitation, and even treat your fellow humans as objects to be dominated and controlled. Old Lao Tzu certainly pegged that one, as noted in the quote above: "If you treat it like an object, you'll lose it." As you can see, we're most definitely in danger of losing the world through our objectification and exploitation of it.

But if you believe, as the Native Americans did, that all Creation is woven together in an infinite, interconnected web of sacredness, then you can't help but treat the Earth and your fellow creatures with honor and respect. From that perspective the Golden Rule - “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them..." (Matthew 7:12) - takes on a whole new meaning.

A human-centered, Earth-based spirituality by its very nature engenders a value system based on respect, honor, kindness, and toleration. When all is one, then there is no "other" to fear, and harm to one is harm to all. I believe this and I strive to achieve it. These are my "Pagan values".

I'll leave you with this video I put together several years ago to illustrate the Tao Te Ching quote with which I began this essay. The music is "Moon Flower" by Peter Kater and R. Carlos Nakai from their "Improvisations in Concert" CD. Enjoy!

Glimpses of the Daily Walk

2011-06-06T17:48:00.000-04:00

Walking home from work today I stopped by the Duck Ponds park again.

It was a little surprising to see this young Raccoon out in the daylight; they're nocturnal creatures, and seeing them out and about in the daytime is usually a sign of illness, often rabies (of which disease Raccoons are major carriers). So I kept my distance.

Not the Duck Ponds, but Timber Hill along Possum Hollow Road, where I live. This is what I call "the home stretch" on my walk home. And as you can see, the corn is planted and growing.

Walking Home

2011-06-04T16:50:00.000-04:00

On the way home from work today I cut through the Dykeman Walking Trail and the Duck Ponds park. You've seen most of these scenes before in other seasons; here they are in almost-Summer.

Stump Study

2011-06-02T17:35:00.000-04:00

It was a gorgeous day here at last; the air was cooler and drier with a nice breeze, and it was one of my days off this week. I went out with the camera but got just one shot; I was too busy enjoying the day after a stretch of brutally hot and humid days. But I managed to get some shots of this stump in the back yard, and I processed the best one several ways to show off various qualities of the wood.

Monday's Leftovers on Tuesday

2011-05-31T20:24:00.000-04:00

So here are some photos from yesterday that had nothing to do with the Memorial Day holiday.

I haven't identified the species on this spider yet; I found her hiding under one of the bridges in the Duck Ponds park, like the troll under the bridge in "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" folktale. She's a beauty, though!

Mother and child in the Redtail nest off of Possum Hollow Rd. The chick is still in the fuzz stage, no feathers as yet.

Memorial Day

2011-05-30T15:52:00.003-04:00

Here in central Pennsylvania, the war most remembered is the Civil War. Gettysburg is just on the other side of South Mountain from us here in Shippensburg, and here in the Cumberland Valley Chambersburg was burned and Shippensburg occupied by the Confederate Army in the course of Lee's march on the Union forces in Gettysburg. So for this year's Memorial Day post I thought I'd focus on a Civil War theme. Above is the grave of a Grand Army of the Republic soldier in Shippensburg's God's Acre cemetery on Prince St. behind the Vigilant Hose Company. And below is a video which includes an old recording of "Battle Cry of Freedom", the rallying song of the Union forces in the Civil War. The person who posted it says that the singers were veterans of the GAR.

I was going to include Lincoln's Gettysburg address in this, but my Mom and I are making a trip over the mountain to Gettysburg next week, so I'll save it for then. We were contemplating going there today, but there was a chance Sarah Palin was going to come through there on her bus trip, and neither one of us trusted ourselves not to commit mayhem on the evil witch. So next week it is.

Note: Tomorrow I'll be posting some other pictures taken on my walk today, including a new spider macro and a shot of Mama and fuzzy chick Redtail Hawks from the nest on Possum Hollow Rd. I didn't want to interfere with today's special Memorial Day edition, so stay tuned tomorrow!

Photo & text © 2011 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Myers Cemetery

2011-05-24T21:09:00.000-04:00

I went walking up to Orrstown today, about 4 miles (6.4 km) northwest of downtown Shippensburg. There was an old Mennonite/Amish cemetery that popped up in one of my weekly email newsletters from Geocaching.com, and you know me and graveyards, I just had to go find it. So since I had two days off in a row this week and the weather was decent, I picked today to go.

It was a goodish hike up there, and it was a little tough to find, being at the end of a dirt road off Orrstown Rd. in an area where most of the roads off Orrstown Rd. are dirt. But thanks to a kindly Old Order Mennonite lady named Mrs. Zimmerman who I bumped into along the road, I was able to pick the right dirt road. (And isn't it a wonderful coincidence that a Mrs. Zimmerman was my good luck on the birthday of yet another Zimmerman, one Robert, aka Bob Dylan!)

It's fairly plain and undistinguished. Most of the stones in the foreground are earlier, from the 1800s, and are plain, unpolished limestone or granite with simple lettering and little or no ornamentation. They very much reminded me of the Quaker cemetery and gravestones in Newport (which I did a post on 3 years ago) in their simplicity; not much of a surprise there, as both religious groups prize simplicity and plainness above all else, and it was William Penn, the Quaker founder of Pennsylvania, who invited the German Anabaptist Brethren (Amish, Mennonites, German Baptists, etc.) to settle in his colony and escape persecution for their beliefs and lifestyle in the old country.

What really captured my attention was the large number of infant gravestones, something that was also painfully common back in the colonial cemeteries of Newport. It was a tough life back in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, and the high infant mortality rate was one sign of that.

Note that the two 20th century stones are a bit more ornamental than the Minich sisters stone of the early 19th century. The stone for the son of Walter and Amanda Gettel (notice the lack of a name for the child even though he was 5 years old) has a characteristic "Pennsylvania Dutch" dove of peace design carved into it. But it's the stone for Dena Viola Meyers that intrigued me the most; the stone's shape is certainly interesting - the heart shape of the upper part of the stone with the palm fronds incised under it - but it's the lettering that's so fascinating. It's pure Art Deco! I suspect the grieving parents got hold of a carver outside their religious community, one who was more up-to-date in his aesthetic influences. It's still very simple lettering, but far more "stylistic" than your average Amish gravestone. I so love anomalies like this!

There were a lot more child and infant graves in this cemetery, but the rest of them were more like the Minich sisters' stone. Some had square tops rather than arched, and most of them were much smaller than the surrounding adult stones. But all of the stones, adult and child, shared the same simplicity seen in the Newport Quaker stones - name and dates, but no epitaph or symbolism. There's such beauty in starkness like that!

And speaking of beauty... I'll leave you with three shots of the beautiful scenery up Orrstown way, the top one looking east toward South Mountain and the bottom two looking west toward Blue Mountain and Broad Mountain (and Big Gap between them). Enjoy!

It's the End of the World as We Know It, and I Feel Fine!

2011-05-21T08:44:00.000-04:00

According to California radio evangelist Harold Camping, all the "true Christians" in the world will be taken up to heaven (called the "Rapture" in traditional Christian eschatology) around suppertime this evening. Of course most rational people just laugh this one off, especially as he's made this same prediction several times before. But I got to thinking; if his "true Christians" are like him and the other types who take this sort of thing seriously, then I hope it happens. Because it'll mean all the disgruntled, misanthropic sourpusses will be gone and the Earth will be left to those of us who actually know how to enjoy life. That sounds good to me! PARTY TIME!

The Shadow

2011-05-20T11:54:00.000-04:00

I featured this card a couple of years ago as part of the Theme Thursday challenge, but I figured I'd repeat it today as part of the ongoing Tarot series.

The traditional #15 Major Trump card is The Devil; I renamed it after the Jungian archetype The Shadow because the two basically mean the same thing. The shadow represents the repressed weaknesses, shortcomings, and instincts lurking in the unconscious mind, the part of ourselves we're reluctant to show, and which we tend to project onto people we don't like. It's almost literally the "shadow" of the persona, the face we show the public. As a culture, we've conveniently projected those parts of human nature that we don't like onto the mythological antithesis of the deity, hence the figure of the Devil, Satan, Ahriman, devils, jinn, etc. He's a convenient scapegoat for avoiding dealing with our own shortcomings.

The interesting thing about the shadow is that Jung stresses the point that it's in the shadow because these are things we repress rather than integrate into the personality. Much of Jungian psychology is concerned with integrating those repressed instincts, compulsions, impulses into a healthy persona. Jung theorized that the repression itself is what makes these energies "evil", and that free from repression they become something positive: aggression becomes optimism, repressed sexuality becomes relationship, violent anger becomes passionate advocacy.

In the end The Shadow (both the archetype and the card) represents transformative energies rather than evil or danger. True, transformation can involve a certain amount of danger, but in the end the transformative energy of The Shadow is more challenge than threat. As you can see, The Shadow can be an interesting card to turn up in a reading!

No music for this one; I just couldn't find something that matched the Jungian concept of "shadow". Oh well...

© 2011 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Spring Color

2011-05-18T16:40:00.000-04:00

Banks of Dame's Rocket by the cattail swamp along the Dykeman Walking Trail, taken while walking home from work this afternoon. There was a light Spring rain falling at the time.

© 2011 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Country Living

2011-05-16T17:35:00.000-04:00

Some scenes from a walk around the house and property today.

The old half-barrels behind the shed.

A scene beside the shed.

Blue Jays congregating on an old log.

An Acadian Flycatcher keeping an eye out for food.

A Chipmunk in the backyard.

Sunday Potpourri

2011-05-15T17:14:00.000-04:00

Here are some leftovers, and one conversion, from Friday's photo safari.

One of the bridges over Middle Spring Creek in the Duck Ponds park. I thought it looked very Japanese.

Mama Redtail sitting on her eggs. I saw her and her mate set up house in this tree off Possum Hollow Rd. and I've been keeping track of them ever since. Hopefully I'll get to post some shots of chicks in the nest.

While processing the original color version of this for posting (see my last post), I just knew this would make a great b&w shot. I think I was right!

© 2011 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Scenes from the Macro-World: May Flowers

2011-05-13T15:00:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a picture-perfect Spring day, and the macro lens got quite a workout with all the available small flowers around.

Lily-of-the-Valley in front of the house

Daisy Fleabane along the Dykeman Walking Trail

Thyme-leaved Speedwell in the Duck Ponds park

Yellow Wood Sorrel in the Duck Ponds park

Dame's Rocket along the Dykeman Walking Trail

Spring Comes to the Duck Ponds

2011-05-10T12:10:00.000-04:00

Along with those reflection shots I posted the other day, I also got some more photos while wandering in the Duck Ponds park. Here's a scene you've seen before, Middle Spring Creek running through the park. You've seen it in Autumn and in the Winter; here's what it looks like now:

There were several Baltimore Orioles singing to each other back and forth over the north pond. Here are two shots of the one who was right in the tree overhead, singing away.

And that's all there is for now. There were lots of other birds around singing their hearts out, but they were camera shy. Still, that Oriole was definitely the most colorful of the lot!

Before I go, just a brief note: I just posted an article on Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" on the Just A Song blog, including Whitney Houston's version as well. You are cordially invited to go visit!

© 2011 by A. Roy Hilbinger