Nothing like a visit to the most beautiful part of the United States, the northwest, to improve one’s state of mind. IRC friends from New Jersey, Utah and Oregon met for several days of beachcoming, crater viewing and get-together fun. I’d love to go back and relive those days, not only for the beauty and fun of it all, but because one of us has gone to the great divide and others are no longer together. But for all the sadness, the memories are priceless and forever.

Link back to Weekly Photo Challenge: State of Mind

You’re welcome to visit my Barns! Barns! Barns! photostream in flickr where you can register for free and upload your own photos of old barns, farm houses and other farm-related items. There are currently 349 members and 2,100 photographs and growing. If you love barns, you’ll love this website!

Over 40 years had past since the last time I had visited Crater Lake National Park. No hand-feeding of chipmunks on this trip, but plenty of hand-rubbing, as it was plenty cold. Still, the drive was beautiful and the lake was stunning.

Contemplation was the order of business during this post-sunset scenario at a place I can’t even remember where. It was still cold.

And this was the sunset that greeted us at this unknown place.

A brief stopover at Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park resulted in plenty of greenery. There were some mighty tall timber that day on our way to the Pacific Ocean.

I was trying to get a shot of the waves breaking over this rock aways off shore when this darn flock of birds got in the way and ruined the whole thing. You can imagine how upset I was. The funny and sad part about it—I was. LOL Now I look at it and think to myself—wow! How cool.

The western United States has its own version of the Twin Towers in the twin volcanoes of Mt. Shasta, northern California. Fortunately, these twin towers are still there. I’d hate to think what would result if these two blew their tops.

This photograph didn’t appear in the local newspaper, but one like it did, along with an article talking about our IRC get-together. What a time it was. It will always be remembered. I actually like this one better.

There’s not a lot of ABCs out here in the country, so I had to come up with a little ingenuity in order to meet this week’s challenge. I hope I passed the audition. Love to you all. Have a great day!

Comments are always welcome.

Link back to Weekly Photo Challenge: alphabet

You’re welcome to visit my Barns! Barns! Barns! photostream in flickr where you can register for free and upload your own photos of old barns, farm houses and other farm-related items. There are currently 315 members and 2,058 photographs and growing. If you love barns, you’ll love this website!

The ABCs of LOVE

 

This is the home of my dear friends in rural Iowa. In their 90s, and not getting around like they used to, yet they’re always bright with sunny dispositions. In keeping with this, they welcome their mailman with bright and sunny flowers (mailbox off screen to the left).

Comments are welcome.

Link back to Weekly Photo Challenge: On Top

You’re welcome to come visit my Barns! Barns! Barns! photostream in flickr where you can upload your own photos of old barns, farm houses and other related items.

©2013 Cris Coleman All Rights Reserved

There's no posing this child, not if you wish to get a natural look. Once in awhile, something nice slips through . . . if you wait long enough.

Sariah by Cris Coleman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

This is our Santa Claus, giver of gifts, handing out of the loot.

Jessica by Cris Coleman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

Our MMR-caused autistic child. Not in a smiling mood, but definitely lost in her own little world. Shot from across half the house. Probably should have gotten a 'leetle' bit closer.

Rachel by Cris Coleman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

The wonder of it all. . . . Even harder to pose than Sariah, but well worth the wait.

Ashley by Cris Coleman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

Mom always says every photo taken of her catches her with her eyes closed. . . . But I'm quicker on the draw.

Jen by Cris Coleman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

Nope, daddy's not sleeping. Just very laid back.

Mike by Cris Coleman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

Here’s wishing you a very, Merry, Merry Christmas and a Happy, Happy New Year!

Love, Grandpa