Bad Poetry #1

I've been going through some old boxes lately and found a poem I wrote -- most likely back in high school. I'm not sure what motivated me to write this. Please don't hold the bad poetry against me.

Another day is over
I see the setting sun
And now I am reflecting
On what I could have done

If I had been selected
To hold a starting place
If I had had two chances
I would have set the pace

But now my chance is over
And now the day is done
I'll wake up on tomorrow
And see the rising sun

Tomorrow will be busy
I'll hustle hurry run
To finish all the business
I haven't gotten done

We work so hard in getting
The things that just won't last
And all of man's endeavors
Lie rusting in the past

Please ponder this one moment
When years have flown away
Where will be history's heroes?
Just lying in the grave

Our actions seem so futile
Like seashells in the sand
The cold waves soon will wash them
To dark and distant lands

Our live are like those seashells
Now here now there then gone
And no one will remember
The things we've said and done

Thanks if you read this far. Installment #2 is coming tomorrow....if you can bear it.

Orange Architecture

"When you squeeze an orange, orange juice comes out - because that's what's inside. When you are squeezed, what comes out is what is inside."
-- Wayne Dyer

Rainy Morning at Forsyth Park [Color]

Rainy Morning at Forsyth Park [Color], originally uploaded by jeremypullen.

Rainy Day at Forsyth Park Fountain

Rainy Day at Forsyth Park Fountain, originally uploaded by jeremypullen.

Another shot the archives.....from Savannah last Fall.

Do Not Worry

Do Not Worry, originally uploaded by jeremypullen.

I tell you not to worry about your life.....Can worry make you live longer? Why worry about clothes? Look how the wild flowers grow. They don't work hard to make their clothes. But I tell you that Solomon with all his wealth wasn't as well clothed as one of them. God gives such beauty to everything that grows in the fields, even though it is here today and thrown into a fire tomorrow. He will surely do even more for you!
-- selections from Matthew 6:25-30 (The Message)

This is a white azalia. My yard is completely covered in red, white, and pink azalias -- and only have of them have bloomed so far. I love it!

Citrus Reflection

Citrus Reflection, originally uploaded by jeremypullen.

There's not much to say other than that I absolutely love food / kitchen shots. I'm a horrible cook, so it must have something to do with my love of eating......lol.

Cyclops

Cyclops, originally uploaded by jeremypullen.

I bought a used Canon 28-135 IS USM Zoom lens this week. It isn't a particularly fast lens, but I think it'll work well for general purpose shooting. The build qualiity is really good, the front ring doesn't rotate during zoom or focusing, and it'll do everything from macro to far away. All the reviews I've read about it are positive, and so far I agree. We'll see what it'll do in the next several months.

The Emerald Lizard

One of my favorite children's books, The Emerald Lizard, begins with the title story The Emerald Lizard. I highly recommend reading this story on Amazon even if you don't buy the (great) book. The story is a moving picture of humility, gratitude, and the sacredness of life. From the first few paragraphs....

"... Holding the wriggling lizard gently, he placed it next to his heart. The good brother then handed the lizard to the poor man.....The lizard had turned into a solid emerald...."

Goofing Off

This is an out-take from a short film I helped shoot for SOF Ministries last Summer. Watch the film for more context, and guess what role I played in the film (in addition to being the photographer).

Snow Makes Everything Beautiful

"Come now, let us reason together, says The Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool."
-- Isaiah 1:18 (RSV)

Grow Old With Me

Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life, for which the first was made:
Our times are in His hand
Who saith, "A whole I planned,
Youth shows but half; trust God: see all,
nor be afraid!"
-- Robert Browning (from "Rabbi Ben Ezra")

Lenten Rose

We had snow in Georgia today! In Stone Mountain we got 2-3 inches of snow that "stuck" plus a lot more that melted off. My kids can finally claim that Christmas happened this year. ;-)

This is a Lenten Rose (techically Hellebore) from my yard. These plants bloom every winter to add some much needed color to an otherwise bleak landscape.

Carillion Through Falling Snow

This is the carillion at Stone Mountain Park during today's heavy (for us) snow storm. It snowed here for six hours without stopping.

No Reason To Fear

"My son, don't fear
when I'm not near.
Our God will provide.
He's by your side."

"There is no fear where love exists. Rather, perfect love banishes fear, for fear involves punishment, and the person who lives in fear has not been perfected in love."

1 John 4:18

There's Nothing Like a (Great Grand) Mother's Love

"It is a wonderful thing to have somebody believe in you. This is the one great benefit of love. Love idealizes its object. It exagerates little tendencies into great virtues, possibilities into genius. Love is action and reaction. Where much is expected from an individual, he may rise to the level of events and make the dream come true.

Mother-love is the great, surging, divine current that plays forever through humanity.......How much men of genius owe to their mothers will never be told in cold words, because love cannot be analyzed, nor placed under the slide. " Elbert Hubbard - The Note Book of Elbert Hubbard, page 47.

The Angel of Life and Death

From the archives. This is another tombstone from Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah, Georgia. While this is HDR, it isn't as heavily processed as you might think. This place is just surreal.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

What Almost Every Woman Knows Sooner or Later
Husbands are things that wives have to get used to putting up with,
And with whom they breakfast with and sup with.
They interfere with the discipline of nurseries,
And forget anniversaries,
And when they have been particularly remiss
They think they can cure everything with a great big kiss.
.....
Husbands are indeed an irritating form of life,
And yet through some quirk of Providence most of them are really deeply ensconced in the affection of their wife. - Ogden Nash (The Face is Familiar)

To my friends and loved ones, but especially my sweet wife, Happy Valenentines Day!

Reflections On Ingenuity

Here's a good rule of thumb
Too clever is dumb. - Ogden Nash - The Face is Familair

Here's to the simple things in life, my friends.

The Intent of All Art

The intent of all art is to communicate your feelings and emotions to another. Art has its rise in the need of human companionship. You feel certain thoughts and you strive to express them. You may express by music, by chiseled shapes, by painted canvas or by written words. At the last all art is one. And as you work, over against you sits another who says "Yes, yes, I understand!" - Elbert Hubbard, "The Note Book of Elbert Hubbard", page 95.

I picked up this book that I've had for the longest time but had never actually read. It turns out the author was one of the drivers of the Arts and Crafts movement in the late 1800's and early 1900's. He and his wife died on the Lusitania. I suspect you'll be seeing more quotes from him in the future.

The Warmth of Winter

One of the things I miss the most about the winter is the comfort of a wood fire -- the smell of burning hardwood......the cracking, popping, and fizzing as the remaining moisture explodes from the tough fibers. Intense warmth permeates the entire room. Memories are made around the fireplace or wood stove. As convenient as modern heating systems are, we've lost something rich, ancient, and meaningful in the process. This is one reason I like camping. Something about a fire lets you free your mind unlike anything else. Take a minute to enjoy the fire today my friends, even if it's only through this picture.