Break Is Over

Hello there!!

What was supposed to be an August beak

turned into a little more than that.

No real reason, just what happened.

I'll catch you up on the last seven weeks.

It won't take very long,

it was a slow time as I spent most of it indoors!!

Here's what I did when I occasionally ventured outside . . . 

watched reflections as I chatted with my sister . . .

spent some wonderful "water" time with family . . .

searched for the last summer flowers . . .

enjoyed the car show at Queen Wilhelmina State Park in Arkansas

(our car is the red one, 1943 Ford five-window coupe)

kept a close eye on our buckeye tree trying to beat the squirrels to the buckeyes . . .

visited a different library and discovered a nature trail . . .

anxiously looked for signs of fall and cooler weather . . .

and started dreading the raking of the leaves!

I couldn't pass up the sad face on this particular leave.

Maybe it didn't really want to float to the ground!

That's about it in a nutshell!

I did do a few other things, but I'll save those for another day.

So glad to be back!
So glad you stopped by!!

Marylake

My camera is sitting on a shelf collecting dust. I have no desire to pick it up and especially have no desire to be outside. With heat indicies over 100 I'd rather stay inside. I know, that you know, I DO NOT LIKE SUMMERTIME!! Enough said about that! Anyway I was scrolling through some old summertime blog posts trying to get a little inspiration when I discovered a post I'd begun, but never finished. So I thought, why not share it now? I can do that from the coolness of my living room and it's an amazing place with an interesting history!

Nestled in the woods beside a lovely spring-fed lake sits a castle-like rock building built in 1926 as the Shriner Country Club which included a golf course, clubhouse, and swimming beach. During the late 1920's, the country club was popular with wealthy Little Rock residents, who drove 15 miles down a dirt road to attend dances in the ballroom. Although the country club did well for a while, the Shriners struggled to make payments on their construction loan during The Great Depression and were forced to close it.

a postcard view of the side away from the lake

found at http://www.rrmerritt.com/mabelvale/MHS_Brinkley.htm

After the country club closed, the land and the building were sold. That's when the inhabitants of the building gets interesting.

• 1937 - Property was bought by the infamous Dr. John R. Brinkley  who was known as one of the greatest quacks of the 20th Century! He preformed surgical procedures transplanting animal organs into humans. He used the building as a convalescent home for his patients. Needless to say, he was run out of town!

• 1944 - Little Rock's Baptist Hospital bought the property for use as a convalescent home.

• 1947 - Property was sold to R. G. and Evelyn LeTourneau with the stipulation that it be used for "Christian purposes."  The couple opened an interdenominational camp called "Pine Lake Camp" for underprivileged boys.

• 1951 - The property was sold to Carmelite Friars. The clubhouse became Marylake Monastery which serves as the novitiate house of our Province of St. Therese. Here men undergo a year of intense prayer, discernment, and training in the Carmelite life.

Jesus was given honor when the property name "Pine Lake" was changed to "Marylake" after was His mother. The former country club ballroom was converted into a chapel.

This beautiful swinging bridge was built in 1963 by Father Herman Estuan prior at Marylake. Father Herman studied the Golden Gate Bridge to get the proportions correct, and then he designed this suspension bridge, that leads over to the cemetery which was formerly the 9th hole of the golf course.

Even though Marylake is on a fairly busy road, there is a feeling of peace as you stand looking over the fence.

I've been there several times and every time I've seen dragonflies land on the fence posts.

The still lake is perfect for reflections and . . . 

waterlilies!

I hope you enjoyed this little history lesson about the great rock castle in the country. I have this insatiable appetite for information about historical buildings. I want to know when it was built, who built it, and who occupied it. I find if I post the information on my blog, I can remember where it is and revisit it.

Hope you're having a great summer!

Scene & Story - October 2017

I think we all know how peaceful it is to be near water. Recently I sat on this bench, swinging my feet and soaking in the beauty of Lake Carlton in the San Bois Mountains in Oklahoma. When I first sat down it was dark and chilly, but as time passed the sun began to rise behind the mountains. It wasn't a beautiful sunrise. The sky was full of dark rain clouds and occasionally a light mist fell. As the sun rose I watched a large flock of geese land on the water and slowly glide across the lack. I watched a father and son fishing from their kayaks. I looked across the lake and noticed autumn colors just beginning to show. I was calm, content, and happy.

This pictures looks peaceful, doesn't it? What you don't see in this picture is what was behind me. The fact is, a fall festival was happening behind me with thousands of people wandering around, carnival rides, food vendors, live music, and an antique automobile show. We were there taking part in the automobile show and were fortunate to be able to park our car near the lake. This was perfect for me. I was able to find peace in a situation that certainly wasn't quiet or peaceful. As photographers we can tell the story we want by what we allow in the frame of our camera.

"Photography is about finding out what can happen in the frame.

When you put four edges around some facts, you change those facts." 

~ Garry Winogrand

* * * * *

I'm linking with Scene & Story hosted

by Sarah and Lee.

Join us each month as we choose a photo and tell a story.

October Skies

"From out yon nimbus cloud, the mighty sun

Sweeps o'er the raptured woods his golden beams,

And wakens in my soul such dulcet chords

As harp or breathing organ never swelled."

~ James Rigg  1897 ~

I love the rich colors of autumn:

orange pumpkins,

red, yellow, and gold leaves,

green cedars and pines.

Autumn colors are all beautiful, but my favorite is blue; the rich blues of the skies this time of year. It's the perfect background for the beautiful clouds that been sweeping through.

I read something this morning that said to reduce stress, share something you love with others. So here I am, sharing what I love . . .  clouds, skies, and quotes. I hope you enjoy them!

"They never stand still—

but they're not

in a hurry either."

~Terri Guillemets

"Clouds on clouds, in volumes driven,

Curtain round the vault of heaven."

~Thomas Love Peacock

"It's wonderful to climb the liquid mountains of the sky.
Behind me and before me is God and I have no fears."
~Helen Keller

"Hardly a day passes but we may see
in the sky above us
that God is producing scenes of perfect beauty,
or of glorious majesty,
which so far as we know
are only produced for the sake of
giving us pleasure."

~Alfred Rowland, "The Clouds: God's Angels of the Sea,"
in The Sunday Magazine (London), 1884

"I thank you God for this most amazing day,

for the leaping greenly spirits of trees,

and for the blue dream of sky

and for everything which is natural,

which is infinite, which is yes."

~E. E. Cummings

I encourage you to go outside, look up,

and soak in the beauty of autumn skies.