A Stone-Still Squirrel

I stepped outside to get the mail today and saw a squirrel flattened to a branch of my crepe myrtle tree. He had a huge magnolia tree pod in his mouth, and he just sat there without moving. I knew he'd make a great picture, but didn't think he'd still be there after I walked by, went into the house, slammed the door, etc.  But on a hunch, I got the mail, went inside, and came back out with my camera.

The little darling hadn't budged--in fact, I was beginning to wonder if something was wrong with him.  Did he have that huge pod stuck on his front teeth?  Had he been frozen in fear?  Was he dreaming of all those little red seeds inside the pod?

I may never know, but he let me take several pictures without even flinching, and when I went back inside the house, he still hadn't moved.

Friends, meet squirrel.  He's all set for winter.

~~Angie 

Ecclesiastes

I'm reading the Bible through this year historically, meaning in the order the various books were written. It sort of jumbles things up, and makes me view things at angles I've never considered.

I've just finished reading the book of Ecclesiastes.  I've never paid too much attention to the book, and have even heard that Solomon was a little off his rocker when he wrote it near the end of his life.  By then, of course, he had been pulled away from his devout love of God by his foreign wives, who influenced him to do all sorts of terrible and idolatrous things.

But Ecclesiastes is chock full of wisdom--it's just a sort of wry and slightly jaded wisdom, and its truths aren't exactly what a lot of folks want to hear.  Give it a read sometime soon, and you'll see what I mean.

I particularly loved this passage found in chapter six:

Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don't have. Just dreaming about nice things is meaningless; it is like chasing the wind.  

Angie here again:  A friend of mine used to paraphrase this by saying, "A lot of people spend all their time wishing for things they could have if they didn't spend all their time wishing."

And this verse:  Everything has already been decided. It was known long ago what each person would be. So there's no use arguing with God about your destiny.  

Lots of folks who imagine themselves champions of their own destiny will be dismayed to read this. But nonetheless, it's true.  God, who is eternal and lives outside of time, has already written the book of our lives, and the story includes the choices we freely make/made.  It's all been decided in eternity. But we live in in the present, so our choices are free and real to us.

And here's a great verse for a writer/speaker: The more words you speak, the less they mean. So why overdo it?

Why, indeed?

Over and out,

Angie 

Pianos and Paintings

Two things:

First, my latest digital painting:

And second, a video I think you'll enjoy.  :-) 

Have a great weekend!  We are all buttoned down for the Isaac storm, so we hope to be back and ready to go in the morning! 

~~Angie

Hurricane watching, puppy picture-ing

While we keep an eye on the hurricane charts (we have shutters and a generator, so if it comes around we're not too worried), I went to the SPCA this morning.  It's like a puppy paradise there!  I don't know why, but we've had lots of pit bull puppies, and they are adora-bull.  :-)

I also met a Corgi today who could be a canine model.  He knew how to pose and really didn't take a bad shot.  And a Shepherd mix and some other really sweet dogs --

Anyway, here's a sampling of today's beautiful dogs.  And after I share those, I really  need to clean my house!

Angie

Abby

Bella

Covu

Eddie

Ellie

Kiarra (most photogenic of the day!) 

Nala

Cody

Scout

Simba

Gracey

While my granddaughter sat on my lap tonight and watched BABE (I was babysitting), I did a digital painting of Gracey, one of the SPCA dogs who has been happily adopted.

I don't know if this qualifies as fine art, but I like it.  Maybe I'll move on to doing people--once I get the animals figured out.  :-0

--Angie

Puppies at the SPCA

I took a break from my researching today to go to the SPCA to shot pictures--and they had PUPPIES!  What fun.  I got lots of puppy kisses and lots of pictures of wriggly rear ends, but I also got some cute pictures of pit bull mix puppies.  AND--I've been learning how to turn digital photos into digital oil paintings.  :-)  (No, you can't do it with one click--it takes hours.)  Cli

So tonight I turned one of today's puppy pictures into a painting.  It's lacking details like whiskers, etc, but you can get the general idea.  Click on the first photo to see the painting details.  The second photo is the original photo.

Have a great week!  I have to go back to work tomorrow.

Angie

Spca--PUPPY time!

Spent the morning in a downpour at the SPCA--and despite the rain, I got some lovely pictures of puppies--and people were adopting them left and right.  I was lucky to get shots before the puppies went home with their new families.  I wish them all the happiness in the world.

Here are the doggies of the day:  Bear, Anita, Crystal, Harley, Lou, Oddball, Odie, Perdy, Rucy, and Leola!

Anita

Bear

Crystal

Harley

Leola

Lou

Oddball

Odie

Perdy

Ruby