Blogs of everyday activates and adventures.
“Serenity in Reflection: Capturing Nature’s Canvas at the Lake”
First day of August, last year our first frost was on August 25th, but it is near 90 today, so we will see what the month brings.
Finally took the boat out this summer. The loons are swimming with their babies. Hope to get photos of them next time.
Serenity in Reflection
Nature’s Fury: The Dramatic Beauty of Shelf Clouds
Last month brought some stormy weather where I live, two shelf clouds this year so far. They move very fast being pushed by some horrific winds. The clouds roll at you in so many different shapes.
The first one here, it was a big shelf cloud with some cloud movements like nothing I have ever seen. Video Below.
Video Below; or click this title here to see the video on my You Tube Channel, Natures Fury
The Second Shelf cloud storm was more straight lined right across, rolling like pie dough in a tight line. Both with winds and rain that almost made me run back into the house. 🙂
Nature’s Fury
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
The Old Windmill – In the 18th century, the Great Plains were considered unfit for cultivation. The area was termed the “Great American Desert.” Droughts would follow rainy spells and the sun and wind would dry up surface moisture.
In 1854, Daniel Halladay developed the American-type windmill. It was smaller, less expensive and could be shipped and built easily. Its sails were held into the wind by a weight, which would rise slowing to reduce the area of the sails when the wind was too fast. Traditional cloth covered sails were soon replaced with smaller wooden blades.
These new windmills were ideal for settlers on the plains. They could pump water from great depths at a steady rate. They could shift into the prevailing winds and functioned well in fast and slow winds. And to top it off, they required little maintenance.
You can still find a few of these scattered across the states. Iowa still has a few, I took this photo from the RV window. There is just something nostalgic about these windmills.
I don’t know how many of these old windmills are in Iowa these days.
But it does say there are 6000 of these wind turbines in Iowa alone as of today. The giant thing in the background of the photo below. A big difference in windmills from the old days.
I won’t get into the efficiency of these or all the controversy about them all over the country. I know at this little horse show I went to, I photographed a lot of children with their horses and had to delete a lot of windmills from the background. Which is not that hard to do in photoshop these days.
The Old Windmill
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
In Twilight’s Hush, where whispers drift, The storm clouds weave a gentle shift, Like ghosts in realms of azure seas, They float with soft, enigmatic ease.
With edges brushed in shades of grey, They roam the sky in a fleeting ballet, Their wispy tendrils tease the night, An ethereal dance of shadowed light.
They gather slow with sighs of lore, A murmured tale of tempest’s core, Yet in their grace, a calm prevails, An artful play where calmness sails.
No thunder’s roar or lightning’s claim, Just drifting clouds with no ill aim, They kiss the heavens, drift and part, An endless play of storm and heart.
Their fleeting forms in twilight blend, A moment’s breath that does transcend, In wispy trails, their stories told, Of storms unbound and skies unrolled.
In Twilight’s Hush
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Silhouettes and Sunsets – In the quiet of dusk, where day meets night, Silhouettes dance in the fading light, Outlined figures against the golden blaze, A moment suspended in the sun’s last gaze.
Trees stretch their limbs like ink on the sky, Birds soar in patterns, bidding day goodbye, Silhouettes of wings, elegant and free, Caught in the hues of a painted reverie.
And when the night arrives, with stars aglow,
Silhouettes fade where memories flow,
But in the heart’s canvas, they remain,
Silhouettes and sunsets, eternally framed.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Silhouettes and Sunsets
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Part of the Farm – My niece not only has horses, pigs are a part of the farm during the summer months. Her two children and their cousins show pigs, sheep and rabbits at their local fair. Which we are going to this year.
It is a great way for children to learn how to take care of animals and the importance of feeding and grooming them, even pigs. I don’t know much about pigs, but it is fun to watch the children work with them and take care of them.
They are a very curious animal, I was standing at their fence trying to get a photo and this one kept wanting to get close, looking for more food I reckon.
Part of the Farm
What Keeps You Busy in the summer months? Well, I love to work in the garden. But as I am getting older, it gets harder to weed the garden and plant it when it is at ground level. I have been reading a lot about raised garden beds. So this is what is going on here.
This photo is my garden from last year. It has to be fenced because of the deer. But imagine this spot covered with grass that is at least 4 ft tall and intertwined into the fence around it in the spring.
It is so discouraging to start a garden when you have to clean up the weeds first.
My husband is an amazing guy, he rototilled the garden for me and it looks ready, but I asked him if he could maybe build me a raised garden area in this spot. I showed him a picture of what I was thinking of, and by the way, he can build anything. I am quite impressed at what all he does for us, from fixing our cars to caring for our home and RV.
So he started with one box, than the dirt had to be moved.
Then he built another box, so on and so forth.
We did not have enough dirt to fill the boxes so husband cut up a bunch of dead trees to fill the boxes up half way.
We put a fence around the garden that the birds love to perch on.
Plus, they are helping me weed the garden I think and picking out bugs.
This is the final project. So much easier on my back when it comes to planting and weeding. The entire thing is planted and now I just have to maintain it. Thank you dear husband. 😉
Have a great weekend.
What Keeps You Busy
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Horse Art – nothing prettier than a team of draft horses in harness I think. I raised draft horses for years. But never did drive them. I only raised them just because they are beautiful animals. I had one that I rode which was a blast. He weighed in at almost 1 ton. His name was Big Mac.
Draft horses and mules seem to go together. They sometimes use mules to train young horses to lead. This mule below is a cutie, also belonging to my niece.
Horse Art
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Whistle the Paint Horse – this is my niece’s horse, I made this first photo for her this year. Showing Whistle when she was just a youngster and how she has grown into a beautiful 3 year old mare this year. She does have one blue eye as well. Beautiful horse indeed.
The paint horse is a very popular breed, thanks to its flashy coloring, genial temperament, and versatility. In fact, the American Paint Horse Association counts around 100,000 members in roughly 40 countries around the world.
Whistle the Paint Horse
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Outstanding in Her Field – who me?
Thank you very much the White tailed deer says. She is outstanding in beauty perseverance. 🙂
Outstanding in Her Field
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Stormy Weather here lately. From Iowa and up where I live. Iowa is known for a lot of stormy weather. Seems like their tornado warnings go off quite often there during the summer months.
Angry cloud face.
Stormy Weather
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
The Rose Garden – Not my rose garden, I have never actually planted a rose bush in my flower garden. Not sure why not, I guess I have heard they need a lot of care and I don’t have the greenest of thumbs. 🙂
But I love photographing roses, so many different kinds. Have a wonderful Wednesday.
The Rose Garden
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Hanoverian and Thoroughbred – I just love horses. Most of you know I raised many of them in my younger years and now I love photographing them. I actually wasn’t into photography back when I had horses. That is when I should have started though, that would have been fun.
These two beautiful animals are from the Mobile Al mounted police department. I made a portrait of these two and sent it to the department. They loved it and said thank you, plus they told me the horse on the left is a Hanoverian, and his name is Avalon. He retired this year. The one on the right is named Papa and he is a thoroughbred Percheron mix.
They were in a parade where I took these photos. I was watching these two horses and they seemed like buddies and were just hanging out in line with the other horses and their police officers.
When it comes to getting just the right shot, I take a lot of photos waiting for just that right look, and these two gave it to me as they were touching noses in my last photo. That is the one I picked to make the portrait.
As if they have a language all their own, a moment of beauty.
Hanoverian and Thoroughbred
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
For as I was saying earlier. We had talked about moving to this spot here, but at the last minute something told me to just stay where we were.
Raindrops from Heaven – gentle reminders of His power and presence.
In the quiet of twilight, they begin to fall,
Silver tears from heaven’s gentle call.
Raindrops, soft and fleeting, grace the earth,
A symphony of whispers, a timeless rebirth.
Video Below or click here – Rain Drops and Flowers
Raindrops from Heaven
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
This is the last of our stops in Columbus Ms. This cemetery was founded in 1839.
This location is the burial site of four Confederate generals, more than two thousand Confederate soldiers, veterans from every war the United States has fought, as well as distinguished authors, legislators, and people from all walks of life. It is the site of America’s first Decoration Day (1866), inspiring the writing of the poem “The Blue and the Gray.” This site also represents the reconciliation after the Civil War, as the Ladies of Columbus put flowers on the graves of both Confederate and Union soldiers who had been buried there.
Many of the tree roots have grown around the markers.
Every spring a group of high school students conduct a tales from the crypt program in the cemetery. We went to it one night as I have never been to one. The students had to choose a person who was buried in the cemetery and study the person and his or her life.
They gave a speech as that person and dressed in the proper clothing of the time. It was very informative and all the students did very well.
The Friendship Cemetery
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Blues Musicians playing in Catfish Alley, Columbus Ms. I don’t know a lot about blues music. I never listened to it much. But I have to say these bands were very good, it was a treat to sit and enjoy the talents of these musicians.
Mr. Sipp – Grammy award winning artist below
Terry Big T Williams
And Blind Mississippi Morris
Below is a snippet of the musicians playing, or click here; Blues Music
Blues Musicians
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Inside the Home of Tennessee Williams. I love looking at antiques, the sad thing is, most of the stuff I grew up with, are antiques now as well. When did that happen. ☺️
He had a simple house with simple furnishings. I love the large windows in some of these older homes.
This was the entertainment room.
After leaving his house and having lunch on the lawn there. We listened to a gentleman named Blind Mississippi Morris, one of the country’s greatest blues harmonicist. He was exceptional, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to some live music.
Next we went over to Catfish Alley for more live music, which I will show you next week. Have a great weekend. 😉
Inside the Home
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Next Tennessee Williams Home – Who I thought was a singer, but I have him mixed up with someone else. This gentleman was one of the greatest American playwrights. I don’t know him that well, I have heard of some of his plays, like Street Car Named Desire. But I don’t know if I have ever seen it.
He had a regular old home, nothing like the antebellum homes. But unique by itself. The most interesting thing about going into this museum, which is free, was the woman we met that was volunteering there on that day.
She was the nicest lady who has lived in Columbus for many years and knew a lot of its history. She told us stories and historical facts for quite awhile. I sure appreciated her taking the time to share all of that with us.
Also the day we were there they were celebrating the start of Cat Fish Alley Music Festival. They had a pork roast on the lawn which we sat down and enjoyed with a lot of other folks. Listened to some wonderful blues music which I will show more of next week.
Such a fun little town, with lots of history and good people.
Next Tennessee Williams
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Antebellum Homes – meaning before a particular war, especially the American Civil War.
Columbus, Mississippi, boasts a rich heritage deeply rooted in the antebellum period, evidenced by its stunning architectural landscape. The city’s antebellum architecture provides a fascinating window into the past, reflecting the grandeur and cultural history of the American South before the Civil War.
Many of these historic homes have been meticulously restored and are open to the public, offering a glimpse into the past. The annual Columbus Spring Pilgrimage is a notable event where several antebellum homes open their doors to visitors, providing guided tours and insights into the historical and architectural significance of each property.
We happened to be camping near Columbus during the Spring Pilgrimage. We went down town to learn more about that while we were there.
We did not take the tour to go inside any of these homes this time. I will next time we visit. Everyone of these homes on the tour, people live in. But they open there homes up just during this pilgrimage to the public.
I can’t even imaging living in a home this large. The upkeep must be costly for sure. I live in a 400 sq ft cabin and that suits me just fine. But I still love seeing old homes like this. It is fun to imagine the life back then at places like this. Something right out of the history books before us. So fun.
Antebellum Homes
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Out For a Walk – We headed downtown Columbus to see what we could find next. Like most towns, they have the newer, shopping type areas. Which we try to avoid, it is the old part of town we like to see and Columbus has a beautiful area of old town.
The homes in this area are quite beautiful, with lots of flowers blooming everywhere.
With lots of historical homes, some of which you can go into on certain days that they are doing tours.
Of course a beautiful river walk that we came apon, with this old bridge that does not get used anymore according to the signs saying it may collapse.
Out For a Walk
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Columbus Mississippi – One of the first things I do when I get to a new town that we are camping near, is to look up what there is to see in each town. Columbus has a lot of history and very unique homes, or should I say mansions.
I always check out google maps for historic areas of a town. The first thing that showed up was this old diesel locomotive. The actual first diesel locomotive, it ran for 38 years and retired in 1984. I do love trains and learning about them. They changed
From their start in England in 1830, railroads spread like kudzu across the globe. They unified countries, created great fortunes, enabled the growth of new industries, and thoroughly revolutionized life in every place they ran.
It is nice when they put signs up explaining what we are looking at. I will have more of my favorite trains on tomorrows post.
Columbus Mississippi
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
In the Silence – quiet the noise of the outside world, turn inward, finding strength in His presence.
Video Below or click Link – Angel Lights
In the Silence
Spring Floods can bring some cool looking landscape photos. This is actually a road going to a river, flooded by all the spring rains.
A New Boat to Me – Not the first photo, I just thought that one was such a bright pretty red color.
I have not heard of these boats below, apparently called Mud Boats. I do know they are fast and loud. Good for going in swamp type areas. Interesting, I learned something new on this day.
Have a great weekend.
A New Boat to Me
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
River Locks and Dams – This is the small lock on the Tombigbee river, you will find locks on many rivers especially if there are Corp of Engineer parks in the area.
I have never seen a tug boat quite like this one, it was coming out of the locks here when I was taking photos of the dam.
Lock and Dam No. 15 below, is one of my favorite places to stop and watch pelicans on the Mississippi River.
It is located on the Upper Mississippi River. It spans the river between Rock Island, Illinois and Davenport, Iowa. Lock and Dam 15 is the largest roller dam in the world,
Its dam is 1,203 feet (366.7 m) long and consists of nine 109 feet (33.2 m) non-submersible, non-overflow roller gates and two 109 feet (33.2 m) non-submersible overflow roller gates. It is unusual among the upper Mississippi River dams in that it has only roller gates
I took this photo below of the white pelican landing on the river when we stopped by there this spring.
Below is lock and dam 14 on the Mississippi river, another great place to watch birds and tug boats.
River Locks
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
The Back Waters of the Tombigbee river is where you can find some very peaceful landscapes. This campground called the Dewayne Hayes Campground has a very nice trail that leads to a viewing dock in the calm backwaters from the river.
The reflections are just gorgeous early in the morning and lots of wildlife.
This is a great campground, but it is also right next to the Columbus Air Force Base where they train pilots every day in these air craft below. So you do hear them going all day, but I didn’t not mind it. They were fun to see as well.
These training planes I see a lot down on the gulf coast, the only difference is, the ones down there go extremely fast compared to these here in Columbus. So the newbies must start in Columbus and then they graduate to flying over the ocean as fast as they can.
The Back Waters
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
World of Maritime Enthusiasts – There’s something magical about watching a ship glide gracefully across the water, leaving a trail of gentle waves in its wake. For some people, this fascination goes beyond casual admiration and becomes a passionate hobby: shipspotting.
I don’t actually record ships like those hobbyist that are into shipspotting. I just like watching them and photographing them. Below are 3 different rivers with different tugboats.
Have a great weekend.
Tombigbee River
Mississippi River
Ohio River
Large Tug Boat on the old Mississippi River
Video below or click this link here; Tombigbee River
World of Maritime Enthusiasts
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Not Your Normal Barges on the river, most of the ones I see carry coal, or farm goods like corn. A couple on this river have barges of a different kind. Lots of gadgets and signs that say warning.
The two below are named Deborah and Corey. As I was doing some research on tug boats, I found out that shipspotting is a hobby for many people. I get that, because I do love being by the water and seeing ships and boats go by and finding out more about them and what they are hauling.
There are websites that track every ship on all the waters. Very interesting stuff.
Not Your Normal Barges
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
A Variety of Tug Boats on the Tombigbee river that we saw while camped there. It was just so fun to see them so close.
A Variety of Tug Boats
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
