New Covenant

I am a blacksmith

There is a living history museum, a California State Park, just north of Santa Barbara, that we frequent every so often. It is one of the 21 California missions established by the Spaniards in the late 1700s and early 1800s. A visit to Mission La Purisima is an enchanting adventure, back in time, which is enhanced by the regular events held on the grounds in which docents, in period costumes, perform the daily tasks one would have seen, back in 1820.

Besides the bread baking and tortilla grilling, there is soap and candle making, some working looms, and a bona fide blacksmith at work. From the Santa Maria Times there's an interesting slideshow, highlighting the work of, and person who is, the blacksmith - Moises Solis. Take the time to watch:  I am a Blacksmith (by Ian Vorster).

Note: I have posted several photos of Mission La Purisima at Imago Articulus (see here, here, here & here).

Gunpowder, July 4th, & Homeschooling: finding the interesting to be informative

Not far from our home, every Independence Day, there is a big fireworks show. It's close enough to our house that we can sit in our driveway and enjoy it.

This year, our oldest child set up her point-and-shoot digital camera on a tripod and shot some images of the fireworks show (an example of one of her photos is on the left).

The day after the show we took a walk down to the park where the fireworks are shot from. We walked down to a running track, at the local school, and found a section where it appeared the fireworks were set up. Littered about were spent shell casings, fuses, wires, and burned bits of cardboard. Some labels were still legible and we saw many with the word "peony" on them. As we stopped, to examine the material, many questions arose: "What is this piece?", "Is that gunpowder?", "Will it still explode?", etc. Left to themselves, they would have gladly collected armloads of spent fireworks to bring home and fiddle with.

As it was, I let them bring a select few pieces (see photo to the right) home to pore over and examine. Once we got home, I did a quick Google search on fireworks and was able to find a video explanation of how fireworks operate as well as some nifty diagrams of the components of various fireworks. We were able to ascertain that the half shell shown in the lower right of the photo is the outer shell casing of an aerial shell (see diagram below). We also noted that the label indicates a 3" shell that was to be launched from a mortar tube. And we noted that the fireworks were made in China, the birthplace of gunpowder.

It's experiences such as these that homeschoolers strive for - the wonderful, and unexpected, opportunities for our children to do some serendipitous learning. At the end of the day our children were left wondering just which of the brilliant explosions they saw, on Independence Day, was caused by the spent casings they now held in their hands.

Abstract Courthouse

The McKinley County Courthouse, in Gallup, NM, (Google Maps) on a summer evening, this past June. Every night, during the summer, Indian dances are performed nightly at the courthouse square. We had arrived a few minutes early and, to pass the time, I wandered off with my new 50mm lens (and a polarizing filter).

This particular shot is of the recent addition to the courthouse (by clicking on the Google Maps link above, you can see the extent of the addition).

By using the polarizing filter, I was able to generate an image that, when converted to black & white, has a near black sky. I chose the off-angle composition at first due to the limitations of using a straight 50mm lens combined with a 1.4 conversion factor on my DSLR; but after playing around with different angles, I ended up liking the alternative perspectives I was getting.

I was honored to have this shot featured, recently, at WeeklyShot for the category, Light & Architecture.

- image © 2007 A. R. Lopez 

8 Things: a meme

Ilona, at True Grit, has tagged me with a meme to tell you eight things you didn't know about me (of course, how do I know you don't know these eight things about me?).

1. I went to the same university as, and had a couple of classes with, Weird Al Yankovic.
2. I worked in Saudi Arabia for about 6 months in 1983. One of the most interesting things that happened to me there was when a Saudi guard, outside a bank (they always had a guard outside a bank), his hands resting on an automatic weapon strapped around his shoulder, got upset with me for walking around town with my hands resting on a camera strapped around my shoulder. BTW, I don't really know what he said since he only spoke in Arabic.
3. There have been three times that I have jumped out of an airplane (which was flying 3,000 feet above the ground). I made sure, for every jump, to have at least two parachutes strapped to my body.
4. My wife and I were married in 1991, but went out on our first date in 1981, and dated for just under two years.
5. Despite my conservative bent, I looked like this in college, and some of my favorite musical artists  were (and still are) the likes of: the Beatles, Dylan, Neil Young, Lynyrd Skynyrd, well... Classic Rock.
6. And, despite looking like this in college, I've never been drunk (or high).
7. I set a triple jump record, at Mission Viejo High School, which remained unbroken for eight years.
8. When I was younger, much younger, my hair was thicker and very red. My parents gave me the nickname "Rusty" to counter the name "Carrot Top" (which was already being levied against me). "Rusty" is pretty much what I go by in all walks of life informal.

Next on the tag list:

Greg
Bonnie
David
Phil

Abstract Zen

Calla lily, in black & white.

Sometime close to Christmas, 2005, I shot a series on several calla lily flowers in my backyard. Most of the shots I kept in color, however this particular shot seemed to call out to be imaged monochromatic. I decided to go with a tighter crop, excluding a full shot of the flower, as well as shooting the image with a vertical orientation. One of the things I like best about the image is the general flow, from top to bottom, of white to black.

I was fortunate to have the image selected to be featured in the weekly contest Weekly Shot under the category of Zen. Being a concrete-sequential thinker, I sometimes have a difficult time addressing topics such as... Zen. The idea (and the photographic results) seem to be a bit too subjective in nature and much too open to personal interpretation. That said, how does one actually get an image selected as indicative of Zen? Is it simply a matter of the consensus of other subjective opinions as to what constitutes Zen? Who is to say that this image qualifies as Zen in the same manner that another image would qualify for the category Hands?

Perhaps, just perhaps, the spiritually stagnant secular notion of Zen is but a glimpse of the enigmatic experience of Joy as expressed by C.S. Lewis, in the quote,

The very nature of Joy makes nonsense of our common distinction between having and wanting.

Joy, as defined by Lewis (and, in many respects, the Bible), is not equivalent to happiness and it certainly isn't equivalent to fun. While Zen, as an attainment of awakening, may attempt to understand Joy, such an attempt is bounded by the ever present limitations of our human existence.

Maybe, as Lewis said,

If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.

Weekly Shot Feature

Image - © 2005 A. R. Lopez

the demise of uppercase tho in know way related to ee comings...

recent events in thenews have brought to lighte the fact that many of our high school and college aged kids are using the web for communicatiobn. in perusing their sites one finds a greta many of them fail to use uppercase in their coummuniques nor do they mak any serious attempt at spellchecking their work. also they dont really like to use proper punctuation

why is that  what do u think??? i mean its not like they dont know wher the keys are located  they certainly know how to make smileys :^)  8)  ;)  and so forth but what is it about takin the time to simply hit the shift key or to check your words to make shure theyre spelled correctly ???  how often do you see LOL spelled lol??? well mabye sometimes

r we really that busy and stretched for time that we cant construct proper sentences and at least appear semi intellgent?

whats wrong with us

Reality Club...

A night club, along old Route 66, in Williams, Arizona.

It was late September. We were heading towards California, and stopped at the small town of Williams for a break. Since the high season was over, the streets were essentially devoid of tourists. The business route through town is actually a section of the Mother Road - Route 66. Upon entering the town, the route splits into a divided highway, the reason being (I'm assuming) to allow more storefronts along the highway. While walking along the eastbound section, I noticed an empty lot, all that was left of building that was demolished. On the east side of the lot stood the Canyon Club.

The Canyon Club. Package liquor. Cocktails. Mexican food. And, dancing.

How deep-seated, our desire for meaning, for acceptance, for satisfaction. How temporal, the reality of our existence.

Perhaps, the "2 HOUR LIMIT" sign is a prescient reminder that we are but dust.

image © 2006 A. R. Lopez

Abstract Doors & Window...

Two doors, and a window, on the side of a metal building, in the tiny town of Los Ojos, New Mexico.

It was a lazy afternoon in late September of 2006. Only a few days before, an early snow had dusted much of that region in northern New Mexico. This afternoon, however, the weather was mild, and the sky cloudless. We were on a two-week vacation, and I was getting a bit cabin-crazy, so I decided to go for a solo drive - just me and my camera.

In Los Ojos, not much was going on. I don't think much ever goes on in Los Ojos. I stopped by the San Jose Catholic Church to see what photographic opportunities might present themselves. On the north side of the Church there is a large field, along with a covered area, presumably for outdoor gatherings (e.g., picnics, cookouts, etc.). On the adjoining lot stood this building, gleaming in the late afternoon sun.

I found the harsh shadows on the wall, complete with the dents, to be strangely appealing. Two white doors, one black window, and the vertical lines of the green wall. I wonder - how many of these structures have been manufactured? How many are still standing? How many have been found to be attractive?

- © 2006

(also ref. WeeklyShot)

Whether or not it's true...

Melinda, at STR blog, links to an appearance by Greg Koukl (aka "The Coke") on Hugh Hewitt. She also links to an article, by Greg, in which he states,

Many people think of God like they think of ice cream, not like they think of insulin. In other words, they choose religious views according to their tastes, not according to what is true. The question of truth hardly even comes up in the conversation.

Greg does a wonderful job of illustrating the important point of truth as it relates to belief.

I try to drop this same message, from time to time, in casual conversations with co-workers. For instance, while discussing religion someone may mention that they think everyone is entitled to believe whatever they want. I respond with, "Yes, I agree that people have that right. But the issue is whether or not what they believe is, in fact, true." I then attempt to demonstrate to them that just because someone doesn't like the law of gravity does not exclude them from the reality of its existence.

Truth, you see, trumps everything.

Yet, the general consensus within our society is that opinion trumps everything. In The City, Babylon, Anthony Esolen relates the experience he had when a colleague was explaining to a class in Western Civilization the profound differences within the Genesis creation account and, essentially, all the rest. As Esolen states,

One of the students raised her hand and said, "But isn't this just your interpretation?  And isn't one interpretation just as good as another?"

Well... how about the interpretation that your interpretation is WRONG?

Reality Inversion...

A temperature inversion layer, which leads to the accumulation of particulants beneath it - smog, looking out over Los Angeles, California. The Griffith Observatory is situated upon a hill overlooking the city of Los Angeles. The brown L.A. haze is not perpetual, but was quite evident the day I happened upon this location.

It's interesting, in a paradoxical sort of way, to consider the causes for that dirty air. Quite simply, it's people... take away the people, and the smog would not be there. Yes, the temperature inversion layer would still occur, but man-made pollutants would not be dumped into it. On the other hand, one of the reasons that so many people live in the southern California basin, is that there are plenty of opportunities to make a living (another reason is the climate - the photo above being taken in the middle of January with the temperature in the mid 70s).

Many of the people who live here have come here because there is virtually no opportunity to provide for their family from where they come from. So, is the smog a necessary environmental evil?

- photograph © 2007 A. R. Lopez

Cool!...

From CNN,

Two astronauts stepped outside the hatch Sunday for the second of what would be a precedent-setting three spacewalks in nine days, making upgrades to the international space station's cooling system.

What's so cool about this, besides the fact of actually doing a spacewalk, is that I went to high school with one of the astronauts - Michael Lopez-Alegria.

If the schedule stays in place, both U.S. astronauts would hold spacewalking records by the end of the month. Williams will hold the record for the most by a woman, and Lopez-Alegria will be the U.S. champion, surpassed only by Russian cosmonaut Anatoly Solovyov for the all-time record.

We competed together on the track & field team, while in high school.

Now, that is awesome!

Abstract Solar...

A view of the open dome and the stairway leading up to it, which houses three solar telescopes, at the newly renovated Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, CA. Inside the observatory, at the west rotunda, visitors can view a real-time white light image of the sun (weather permitting), a diffracted spectrum image, and a filtered red spectrum image (allowing for real-time observations of solar prominences).

Man seems to have always had an interest in the Sun. One of the exhibits at the observatory illustrated how mankind has used the sun, moon, and stars to measure time for both the short and long term. What a wonderful opportunity that provided me, as a homeschooling parent, to reiterate to our children that Genesis 1 indicates that God made the sun, moon, and stars to "be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years". It would seem that God is interested in being intimately involved with his creation, even if such involvement means taking the time to create entities so huge, and so distant from this planet Earth.

Besides that, how very cool it is to learn about his creation!

- photograph © 2007 A. R. Lopez
 

Reality Glory...

A swallowtail caterpillar preparing, as it consumes the leaves of a fennel plant, for its potential transformation into a swallowtail butterfly.

We found many of these little fellows in our yard - they like fennel plants. Life is hard on them, though, as gophers like the fennel plant as well. Birds, on the other hand, like the swallowtail caterpillar, and it is not unusual to see the caterpillar's numbers dwindle from day to day. Rescuing a few of these guys, we placed them in a butterfly incubator, along with a daily supply of fresh fennel. In time, with suspended chrysalis, they performed their transformation dance, eventually emerging as swallowtail butterflys. Life renewed, our pleasure fulfilled, we granted them their well earned freedom, from their safe confines, into the landscape of our front yard.

What an envigorating experience it was, to see an aspect of the handiwork of God, creator and designer of the natural realm. The integrated complexity of even a small section of the ecosystem we live in is truly amazing. Yet not even the slightest motion of a cog, nor the barest turning of a wheel, goes without notice, or approval, of the One who created it.

How wondrous is their transformation... a renewal of sorts... life anew. Hope. Hope for what is to come. From the cursed bondage of corruption, to the hope of the future of glory, we rest assured.

(also ref. Imago Articulus & WeeklyShot)

- photograph © 2006 A. R. Lopez

Abstract Blue...

The corner of a roof, against a deep blue sky, on a vacant building in Chama, New Mexico.

Blue on blue. Cracked, chipped, and peeling paint. Just a rundown, vacant old building, wasting away at 8,000 feet above sea level.

How near to our lives is the juxtaposition of this building against the sky? Next to the simplistically pure beauty of God, do we waste away, cracked and chipped? Manmade artifacts, decaying in the thin air of higher elevations. Color that is close, and yet so far from the real thing. Layers of paint that, while they mimic the hues of reality, have nothing near its steadfastness.

Curse this bondage of corruption...

- photograph © 2006 A. R. Lopez

Reality Turkey...

Melting butter, basting and coating, quietly browning a Christmas turkey amidst smoking, wine soaked wood chips. A roasting pan filled with celery, onion, apple, arugula, brocolli, carrots, wine, and water. Two hours in an oven, two hours with the charcoals, and then two hours back in an oven.

Moist, tender, richly flavored delight.

Sometimes - most of the time - good things take time and effort. While such a notion may seem obvious, it also seems to be lost on our society. An elaborate meal, such as the Christmas turkey, can serve to not only bring pleasure to our senses, but to bring a lesson in delayed satisfaction.

Abstract Curve...

A bright, sunny autumn morning in Williams, Arizona.

At the Grand Canyon Railway, tourists lined up to board the train to the Grand Canyon. Avoiding the crowds, we grabbed some morning coffee, and then headed into town to do some shopping (and, some shooting...). Situated right on the old Route 66, Williams is an interesting place - sort of a combination of tourist trap chic with an Americana ambiance. After finding some leather goods (including a nice hat), it was time to leave. The railway station, now devoid of tourists, offered a variety of potential camera targets. A red caboose, on display, provided the inspiration for a detail shot along its side. I wish my investments would follow such a curve.  [also ref. Imago Articulus & WeeklyShot]

- photograph © 2006 A. R. Lopez

The Innocents...

Condensed post at RedBlueChristian:

I like to read Rod Dreher's Crunchy Con blog. I agree with a lot, but not all, of what he says. Today's post, however, struck me as a bit odd. In The Trauma of War, Dreher writes about the dehumanizing effect of war upon the American soldier. He posts an excerpt from a 2004 article in The New Yorker titled, The Price of Valor: We train our soldiers to kill for us. Afterward, they're on their own. Incidents are revealed about U.S. soldiers intentionally killing innocent women and children. Dreher asks, "Why are we doing this to our men?"

Why is this done to any man? For God made man in his own image.

To consider war is to consider that people, human beings, will die. Yet is Dreher incapable of distinguishing between acts of war and war crimes themselves? Is there not a difference between the soldiers who have intentionally killed women and children and the soldiers who have not?

In Flags of our Fathers, U.S. Marines recount stories of, upon landing at Iwo Jima, seeing their buddies brutally dismembered by artillery, mortar, and heavy arms fire from Japanese soldiers. Young men, sometimes boys, who moments before approached the beach with cocky enthusiasm suddenly had to see a friend disintegrate when directly hit by a mortar or, even worse, watch the life drain out of a half-existent fellow Marine. Would such an experience cause a Marine to kill an innocent Japanese family? Or would the Marine realize the difference between himself and the Japanese soldier who may have participated in the Nanking Massacre of 1937?

I remember speaking with a friend, after his first return from Iraq. His tour saw the liberation of Baghdad. His tour also saw an incident of mistaken identity in which a vehicle, carrying an Iraqi family, was destroyed by his unit. His experience during that tour has forever changed him - as I suspect such an experience would do to any rational and normal human being.

The world we live in is fallen and we cannot fix it.

Abstract Rust...

The rusted side of a railcar, at Cumbres Pass, in Colorado.

The Cumbres & Toltec narrow-gauge train had just stopped for water, after climbing a couple of thousand feet in elevation from the town of Chama, New Mexico. It was late September but only a few days before, on the last day of summer, an early storm had dropped about 10 inches of snow on the ground. Upon quenching its thirst, the steam engine whistled a warning, and the train pulled out of the station on its way to Antonito, Colorado. A few moments later, with but the echoes of the train's whistle to be heard, I meandered about the small yard, curiously spying for a photograph. The brilliant warmth of the rusted railcar, alit in the midday sun, caught my eye - and my shutter finger.  [also ref. Imago Articulus & WeeklyShot]

- photograph © 2006 A. R. Lopez