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Mom and her Mom

It was a cold 31 degrees this morning.  I still haven't exchanged my summer clothes for my winter clothes, so I just bit the bullet with what I had at my is disposal and was cold all day.

I also was completely uninspired about taking a photo today, so I found this image of my mother and her mother when they lived in the Bronx.   This might be the only photo I have of the two of them together so I really cherish it.

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Group of Peruvian Seniors

Our first workday in Lima, my group of about 12 and adults from the local church traveled to a camp in the hills and we had some medical assessments and discussions, a great lunch and then some fun playing games.

Always an opportunity for a group photo at the end of the day.

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An Aunt and a Niece

At a family reunion this weekend, these two hit it off really well and for some reason they both had the same T-shirt, so of course they had to have their pic taken together.

It was a great weekend.

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Pickleball Game

White taking a photo of the rackets in the previous post I decided to get a shot of a game in progress.  These 4 folks are really good.

I still need all the help I can get...

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Training Photo

One of the photos seen in the WASP Museum in Sweetwater, TX dedicated to honoring the women who were part of the WASP group during WWII.  These women flew all assignments that the men flew except for combat missions.  

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Portraits of members of the WWII WASPs.

These are just a few portraits of the women who were WASPs (Women Airforce Service Pilots) during WWII located in the WASP Museum in Sweetwater, TX.  

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Silhouettes of WWII women pilots

There's a museum in Sweetwater, TX dedicated to memorializing the first women who were pilots in WWII.  Those women were part of the WASPs~~Women Airforce Service Pilots.

Thousands of women applied to be part of this group, but only a little more than 1,000 were accepted into the group.  They flew every type of mission during the war that they men flew except for combat.

They were highly trained pilots.  38 of those women pilots died during the days of combat.

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Car Enthusiasts

A section of the huge crowd that attending the Abilene annual car walk a few nights ago.  The weather was spectacular, there were some live bands, many food trucks, businesses were open and there was vendors selling their products, and of course, beautiful cars.

My heart is happy that:

I'll get to see the grandkids at their lesson this morning.

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9/11 Tribute

This is an older, much older, image from 2015.  I was looking through some of my older posts and came across this one and several more from the same shoot.  The post was created in 2015, the 14th anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy.

Many towns throughout the United States held/hold a "Stair Climb" as close to 9/11 as possible in honor of the responders who died that day.  This one was in Utica, NY at the tallest building.  Not sure how many flights it is, but the participates go up and down as many times as necessary to replicate the Twin Towers.

Each participant wears one or two name tags of a responder who died that awful day and at the end of the climb they post the name tag on a central viewing board for everyone to see.

If you can navigate to it, the post was in 2015 on Sept 11 where you'll see more photos of the event participants.  It's actually a full weekend of different events.  

I attended the event for several years and there wasn't one time when I didn't shed a tear or two while there.

My heart is grateful for:

selfless men and women

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Hiking Gals

Once upon a time, in a land far away, there was a real winter season.  Dead leaves were on the ground and the air was crisp and people needed to wear jackets and other winter clothes.  

I'm beginning to think I'd enjoy being there right now even though I don't love winter.  For the first couple of years we hiked once a week in the Adirondacks, but we stopped when the weather started turning cold.  After a few years we decided to brave the elements and we hiked all year, although in the winter it was mostly on trails (not mountains) and the hikes were shorter.  We used snowshoes or spikes if necessary.  Thinking back on it, those were good days...

I'm grateful for:

those winter hiking memories

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Girl's Night Out

It has been such a long time since we've declared a girl's night out.  Among the many reasons, people have kids who are being homeschooled, some work, schedules are difficult to coordinate.

All it takes is one to organize the night out, and in honor of several Feb birthdays, one person actually did take it upon herself to arrange the evening.

We need to do this more often.

Not As Easy As It Sounds

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I follow the blog (here) of a professional team (2 women) who conduct workshops and seminars pretty much all over the United States.  They specialize in nature photography, with a very strong emphasis on animals and flowers.

Their flower images are usually macro which are almost always handheld.  The images are pretty amazing, a testament to the skill and passion of the two women.  

I try.  Just let me say this about that.  It's not as easy as it sounds.  Handheld is out.  No way handheld is going to happen. Not in my hands.  Even with the tripod, I despair of getting the kind of images I see in my mind's eye.  But....I try.

These are the lilies I bought last week.  I managed to get them planted before they died, and they're doing great.  At least for now.