Blogs of everyday activates and adventures.
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
The Tombigbee River- The Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway is a 234-mile system of canals, locks, and dams that connect the Tennessee and Tombigbee rivers. It links commercial navigation from the nation’s midsection to the Gulf of Mexico and is administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
This river is commonly known as the Tenn-Tom, it was controversial from its inception, and optimistic predictions of its economic benefits by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers never materialized. Originally estimated to cost $323 million in 1970, the total cost at completion in 1984 was almost $2 billion.
They were not sure if creating a waterway consisting of 65 dams and lift locks was feasible. But, eventually the funding was approved.
The waterway was completed two years ahead of schedule on December 12, 1984, and on January 10, 1985, the towboat Eddie Wexler was the first commercial boat to sail upon it.
I did not know this history of the river when we were camping right next to it. But one morning I woke up to the sound of a loud motor coming towards us. I went outside and here coming down the river was a tug boat.
Well, I lived near the Mississippi river for years, and I loved watching the tug boats and barges cruising up and down the river. But the Mississippi river is so large, one can’t really get a close up look at the barges because they are so far away.
Not these. We pulled up our chairs and watched the boat traffic go by on and off everyday. Love this campground.
And beautiful sunrises as well.
The Tombigbee River
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Corp of Engineer Campgrounds – As we left the south a few weeks ago, we decided to start exploring some new areas again on our travels. Sometimes one gets comfortable staying in a routine, the familiarity of it makes things simple and faster.
Especially when it comes to traveling. Finding new campgrounds can be a challenge, but if I plan far enough ahead, it usually results in finding new beautiful places that we have driven by so many times but never stopped because of the routine.
So Columbus Mississippi is our first stop off the beaten path. When you turn 62, you can get the Federal recreation pass that gives discounts on campgrounds, getting in free and discounts on overnight camping.
The Corp of Engineer campground are included with this pass. They have great recreational parks, with lots of room, similar to state parks.
While we often hear about the COE campgrounds, the Corps of Engineers has a much broader mission other than just providing beautiful camping spaces. The Corp’s true mission is “to deliver vital public and military engineering services; partnering in peace and war to strengthen our nation’s security, energize the economy and reduce risks from disasters.”
So, how did the Corps get into the business of building campgrounds? The Corps manages land along a number of lakes and rivers, as part of the mission to operate dams. This land is protected from private development. Luckily, the Corps opted to make it possible for our nation to use these prime landscapes for recreation.
Columbus MS is a very historic area, we love to explore places like this. The history of the people who have gone before us, living during times that are so different than today. These small towns have some wonderful folks who love to share this history, many museums with volunteers who take the time to teach anyone who wants to hear about the past.
Corp of Engineer Campgrounds
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Lighting and Pet Portraits – both of these photos are of the same mule. Lighting can make such a difference for your subject. Soft warm colors, or shinny bright colors.
Photography has a world of opportunities to create different looks. That is what I love about it. Everyday is a new challenge and new opportunities to create art with just one click.
Have a great weekend.
Lighting and Pet Portraits
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
All About the Ears when it comes to Mule Portraits. Well, and the eyes, they have the most beautiful expressions from the eyes.
All About the Ears
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
More Bokeh Lights and dew on the grass make for double the bokeh lights. Blurred lights in the foreground and bokeh lights in the background.
Fun with Photography
More Bokeh Lights
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Bokeh Lights Photography – Bokeh, also known as “Boke” is one of the most popular subjects in photography. The reason why it is so popular, is because Bokeh makes photographs visually appealing, forcing us to focus our attention on a particular area of the image.
Basically, bokeh is the quality of out-of-focus or “blurry” parts of the image rendered by a camera lens – it is NOT the blur itself or the amount of blur in the foreground or the background of a subject. The blur that you are so used to seeing in photography that separates a subject from the background is the result of shallow “depth of field” and is generally simply called “background blur”. The quality and feel of the background/foreground blur and reflected points of light, however, is what photographers call Bokeh. Confused yet? Take a look at the following image:
This flower stem covered with dew is in focus, (which means that it is inside the depth of field), while the background is out of focus (which means that the background is outside the depth of field). The small or “shallow” depth of field is the result of standing relatively close to the subject, while using a large aperture.
Aperture can be defined as the opening in a lens through which light passes to enter the camera. It is an easy concept to understand if you just think about how your eyes work. As you move between bright and dark environments, the iris in your eyes either expands or shrinks, controlling the size of your pupil.
In photography, the “pupil” of your lens is called aperture. You can shrink or enlarge the size of the aperture to allow more or less light to reach your camera sensor. The image below shows an aperture in a lens:
Just remember to put your subject between you and the light source and shoot away to get bright bokeh lights in the background.
Bokeh Lights Photography
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Spring Rains and the beauty that is left behind. Water Droplets
Have a great weekend.
Spring Rains
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Spring Art Wildflowers – in the spring you can find wild flowers growing in the strangest places. The earth is waking up and the plants rise to meet the sunshine.
This small flower below is growing right through a fire pit grate at a campground. It made for an interesting photo.
Dandelions are quite amazing when you look at them really close. Designed to fly in the wind, the seeds are like tiny fireworks busting with silk feathers.
Spring Art Wildflowers
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Dancing Ribbons of Light
Northern Lights, the northern lights are an atmospheric phenomenon that is regarded as the Holy Grail of skywatching. are beautiful dancing ribbons of light that have captivated people for millennia. But for all its beauty, this spectacular light show is a rather violent event.
The northern lights are created when energized particles from the sun slam into Earth’s upper atmosphere at speeds of up to 45 million mph (72 million kph), but our planet’s magnetic field protects us from the onslaught.
Dancing Ribbons of Light
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts By Sandra
Northern Lights in Iowa – Is this Heaven? No, this is Iowa.
That phrase is from the movie Field of Dreams. I have been very busy lately visiting family in Iowa on our way back north. The one thing I was not expecting this trip was to see Aurora Borealis, Northern Lights in Iowa. People all over the country witnessed this sighting all the way down to Alabama.
I almost missed seeing them entirely. Just so happened my little dog had to go outside at 3 am. I took her out and looked up and saw that the northern lights were still visible, as I had gone to sleep early and missed them when everyone else was out looking at them.
Actually at 3 am, they were not very colorful at all, but I went back in and decided to get my camera out and set it up outside. It is mesmerizing to say the least, to witness this event.
About an hour later, all of a sudden, the colors started to show up and they were lighting up the night sky. Shooting stars along with dancing lights.
I stood in the middle of this country road, no traffic and only the sound of coyotes howling in the distance.
These photos are straight out of the camera, I could see the pinks and greens with the naked eye. But a camera set with a long shutter speed will pick up even more of the colors. I was using 3 to 5 second shutter speed. ISO 4000, f2.8, and a wide angle lens.
Northern Lights in Iowa
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra
Pet Portraits – I took a lot of pet portraits for folks this past winter. Lots of dogs, a few cats and one bird. We are traveling now, so when I want to take pet photos, my pets are the models. I never get tired of adding photos of my own pets to my collection.
The one thing we all know is that our pets just don’t live long enough. So I love taking their photos and enjoying every minute with them.
Chloee is a great model for still shots. She loves to just sit and look around when we are outside. She has such a beautiful face and expression in her eyes. She is 11 years old this year.
This is my little dog named, D-0-G, let me review what her name is. Her name is d o g, not the word dog, the letters d o g. Say it like, d oooo g, a little longer sound on the 0. Or if this spelling helps. Deohgee, I use that spelling at the vets because they don’t understand, d o g. 🙂
They ask me, ” is her name dog?”, I say, ” no, d o g“. They say, ” I know how to spell it”, I say, ” There you go”,
They say, ” Ohhhh, now I get it”,
We got her from a shelter when she was 4 years old. She is 17 years old this year. She is still doing really well for that age. She does sleep a lot more, but she still eats great and loves going for walks.
Then there is our cat, her name is Kit Cat, 🙂
What can I say, she is a great cat, gets along great with the dogs and she loves to travel. She does like to punch the dogs now and then when they walk by her. She gives them a wack on the head and hisses at them and takes off running.
Typical cat, 🙂
Pet Portraits
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Chloee Having Fun – Last month my dog Chloee had some dental work done. She had a broken tooth in the back, one of those big teeth in the back. It needed to come out, it was loose. I called a made an appointment for her and the day before she was to go in, the tooth fell out.
But only part of it did, so she went in anyway and had a couple teeth pulled and all her teeth cleaned. She is like a new pup again, playing fetch and running around.
Dogs can get tooth aches as well as we do, never any fun with a tooth ache.
Chloee Having Fun
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
April Showers – Flowers are blooming and the smell of fresh cut lawns is in the air. May is a time of new birth in nature. The world is waking up after a long winters nap.
Below is the before photo, then I softened it up a little bit and blurred the background to make the photo print above.
April Showers
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
