25 Years

 Today was the 25th wedding anniversary of our son Mike and his wife Melissa. I can hardly believe it has been that long, and that I am that old. Here is a recent picture of them.

Here they are in China 14 years ago when they adopted their daughter.

And here is their wedding picture from 25 years ago!

Chains do not hold a marriage together. It is threads, hundreds of tiny threads which sew people together through the years.

 ~Simone Signoret

* I did not take any of these pictures, they were taken by different people at different times.

Blackbirds

 The Red-Winged Blackbirds love sitting on the cattails and calling.

Blackbirds sit on the cattails

And sway in the breeze

Their shrill calls sound like creaky door hinges...

Me

The Scariest

This house gets my vote as the scariest in the neighborhood. They have the same things out every year, and add a new item each year. We celebrate fall, but not Halloween. I prefer the light rather than the dark.

I was walking in the night And I saw nothing scary,

For I have never been afraid of anything. Not very.

 ~Dr. Seuss

“…whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

Philippians 4

Mystery Building

 So what do you think? Pig house? Air raid shelter? We have no idea!

“People have grown fond of me, like some old building.”

Katharine Hepburn

Suffering?

 We saw a woman with this tattoo on her back. I managed to read it and take a quick shot while she was facing the other way. It made me wonder what kind of relationship she had. Did she have to suffer for it?

This is the verse in the Amplified bible:

 Love bears all things [regardless of what comes], believes all things [looking for the best in each one], hopes all things [remaining steadfast during difficult times], endures all things [without weakening].

And this is the verse in The Message. 

 ^…Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

Blackout

 There are plenty of black gourds around now. I have not seen any actual black pumpkins. Can black gourds be eaten? I know that some gourds can be eaten, and some can't. But I would be scared to eat one, how about you? Just the color is so off-putting.

Spotted

 This post is just a mixture of unusual things I have spotted over the years.

This was NOT near Halloween, it was in the summer. 

We were driving behind this car in the rain. What was in the back window made me smile.

A man needing a nap waits at a bus stop in Richmond, Va. I hope he didn't sleep through his stop.

Yellow peppers growing low to the ground.

An elderly mailman with a giant dreadlock.

I must go now. My intrepid assistant has fallen asleep on the job.

“Good photography is not about Zone Printing or any other Ansel Adams nonsense. It's just about seeing. You either see or you don't see. The rest is academic. Photography is simply a function of noticing things. Nothing more.”

Elliott Erwitt