As I was just climbing the stairs from my garage to my second floor apartment I reflected that I rarely go up stairs one at a time. Often I'm in a hurry, and going up (and sometimes down) stairs two at a time is convenient. But unless I am stuck behind other people (and usually impatient about it, ;-)) I always go up a set of stairs two at a time. I've just gotten so used to it that it is a deeply ingrained habit..."And thou Melkor, shalt see that no theme may be played that hath not its uttermost source in me, nor can any alter the music in my despite. For he that attempteth this shall prove but mine instrument in the devising of things more wonderful, which he himself hath not imagined."When I look at that paragraph I see something akin to what God could actually have told Satan ere he fell. Satan may think that he is in control (of anything), but in reality God is in control of all things, as revealed when Joseph spoke to his brothers in Genesis 50:20:
-JRR Tolkien, The Silmarillion, Ainulindalë, p 17, First American Edition
But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.God didn't merely use what his brothers did to bring about a good end, but he meant it for good.
Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.
Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.
Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.
Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.
High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.
Tonight I played Settlers of Catan with two of my nephews. I went over to my sister's place for a bit and happened to look at the work being done on Chase's room. I noticed that he was trying to assemble a hand-created board for Settlers. He asked if I would play a game with him--using my game.
Today we drove on the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail through the Smokies. This was the one section of the park I'd yet to visit (with the exception of driving through to the North Carolina entrance which my parents did before I arrived and didn't want to repeat). The loop actually starts in Gatlinburg, but winds beautifully through a chunk of the northern part of the National Park. There were several buildings, but the main focus of the day was on the scenery, unlike Cades Cove that really focused on the buildings. So the pictures below are mainly flowers and other scenery.
While we were hiking up to Grotto Falls I happened to look down and see this tiny evergreen branch laying next to a rock. It looked like an interesting tableau, so I grabbed a few shots from different angles. I think that this was the one that turned out the best. I wish that there had been a bit more color, or richer tones in the shot...but I think it still turned out well. The only thing that I moved was the angle of the camera.
I don't know what leaves made these shadows, but they were on the former lands of the Ogle farm, one of the first stops along the loop today. My dad and I hiked the entire loop through the farm, but my mom stayed back because the first part (actually the last since we accidentally went backwards) was pretty muddy. But this trail was a great place for photos, including some great flower shots.
My dad pointed out this flower, but I had fun with the angle. I think that the shadow and the green leaves lend some interesting points to the scene. I wish that the flower had been a bit more lively, but at least the color is still intact, ;-).
I have some more purple flowers, but for the sake of variety here is a white one. I have another version of this shot that focuses in on the fern you can seen in the background, but I don't think that it works as well as this one. I like the blurry background and how you can barely see the other green there, but at least it is there. I'm not sure if I took this horizontally or vertically...but I think that it could work as either. I'm leaning towards trying it as a background on my computer.
The last picture from our first stop is some fungi found on a log. I took several pictures after my dad pointed them out, but this was the first and honestly the best (unless I crop some of the others down). The lines are pretty cool, looking somewhat like tree rings. There were literally dozens upon dozens of these things growing on several different logs in the vicinity.
This shot was taken against the background of a crumbling stump, just visible as the red coloring behind the green plants. I don't know why, but again I like the first shot of this series over all of the other ones that I took in case this one didn't turn out. I find it slightly frustrating that a shot can look great on the tiny LCD screen and you don't realize the flaw until it is displayed on the computer. But, at least it is better than not even having a clue until you paid for the film to be developed!
that I've ever seen, just outside a blacksmith's shop in the Craftsmen area of Dollywood (no, I refuse to call it Craftsperson even if somebody else does). I'm happy the shot turned out as well as it did because I only took one from this perspective.
At one point the engineer blew the whistle for a couple of minutes, releasing me smoke than normal. As my part of the train came past the area where he'd started I grabbed this (and a couple of other shots) of the sun coming through the smoke.
Okay, so I happen to think that cameras are nearly always fun (though some around me don't agree, most either agree or have learned to grin and bear it). Tonight I decided to spare others and take some pictures of myself, with the benefit of a small tripod and time delay. I sent the camera for a longer exposure, relying on the campfire to illuminate the scene. I took a whole series, but I think this one turned out the best. And you have to admit, adding cameras and fire together (so long as no cameras are being destroyed) is guaranteed to be fun! :-)
We spent most of the day inside the park again. We drove through Townsend, TN to get to Cades Cove, which houses many well preserved buildings from the days when park land was privately owned. The first picture is from lunch, at a picnic area just outside the entrance to Cades Cove.
Sadly Bob had visited nearly all (if not all) of the buildings that we saw today. Most of the free surfaces were covered with graffiti. I understand when settlers carved their names into Chimney Rock, and those carvings are now historic. But carving your name into a historic building in a National Park is simply childish and disrespectful...it also ruins some good pictures!
I'm currently on vacation in the Smokies with my parents. We are in a campground just outside Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Today we drove into Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We drove to Clingmans Dome, the highest point in the park and my dad and I hiked up to the summit. Sadly it was cloudy up there so I didn't get any good distance shots, but here are some of my favourites from the day. We did make it into North Carolina for part of the day, which was cool because I'd never been in that state before. 
Now I think there are only 13 states I haven't visited. Alaska and Hawaii. Louisana (the only one of the lower 48 west of the Mississippi I haven't been to), New England (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut), Delaware, and the South-east (South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, and Florida). Wait, that is 14, :(.
I really need to organize my pictures. I use Picasa to view them, so I suppose I should use it to tag and organize them as well. I have some pictures of the Creation Museum grounds like this one that I'd like to organize with other similar ones. And now that it is earnestly spring I'd like to take even more pictures of the grounds.
