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Ecstatically shooting everything in sight using my beloved Nikon D3100 with AF-S DX Nikkor 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6G VR kit lens and AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 G prime lens.
Also capturing outrageous beauty left and right with my Nikon D7000 blissfully married to my Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D AF prime glass. Don't be jeal.
And then there was the Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f:3.5-5.6G ED VR II zoom. We're done here.
Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;
But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.
But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.
For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
So then death worketh in us, but life in you.
We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I BELIEVED, AND THEREFORE HAVE I SPOKEN; we also believe, and therefore speak;
Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.
For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.
For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
II Corinthians 4
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THE DREAMERS
In the dawn of the day of ages,
In the youth of a wondrous race,
'Twas the dreamer who saw the marvel,
'Twas the dreamer who saw God's face.
On the mountains and in the valleys,
By the banks of the crystal stream,
He wandered whose eyes grew heavy
With the grandeur of his dream.
The seer whose grave none knoweth,
The leader who rent the sea,
The lover of men who, smiling,
Walked safe on Galilee --
All dreamed their dreams and whispered
To the weary and worn and sad
Of a vision that passeth knowledge.
They said to the world: "Be glad!
"Be glad for the words we utter,
Be glad for the dreams we dream;
Be glad, for the shadows fleeing
Shall let God's sunlight beam."
But the dreams and the dreamers vanish,
The world with its cares grows old;
The night, with the stars that gem it,
Is passing fair, but cold.
What light in the heavens shining
Shall the eye of the dreamer see?
Was the glory of old a phantom,
The wraith of a mockery?
Oh, man, with your soul that crieth
In gloom for a guiding gleam,
To you are the voices speaking
Of those who dream their dream.
If their vision be false and fleeting,
If its glory delude their sight --
Ah, well, 'tis a dream shall brighten
The long, dark hours of night.
> Edward Sims Van Zile <
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Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known freedom and then lost it, have never known it again.
TG spotted a bright-green cicada on Audrey's tire yesterday.
Then he looked from another angle and saw the tired old brown shell the critter had vacated.
Several hours later, when Audrey was ready to depart for home, the cicada was still chillin' on her tire. TG flicked at him and he flew into the arms of the oak that towers over our house.
In late-summer gloamings the cicadas sing -- no; scream -- from the emerald recesses of this tree, culminating every so often in a shimmering crescendo that seems to make the very air vibrate.
What the cicada left behind, I imagine, is a bit of driveway dust.
After a fiery furnace of a lion of a June in the Midlands of South Carolina, July came in like a balmy breeze-laden lamb. Perfect for sitting outside by the pool in the middle of the day.
I tripped over Erica's flip-flops while she basked on a float. She told me she could put her flip-flops wherever she wanted (sass!) so I put them where I felt they truly belonged: in the pool.
TG and Audrey looked on with what I interpreted as mild disdain. I get this look often from family members and I've stopped trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong. Besides, I don't take much off people who wear two pairs of glasses AT ONE TIME.
Later, after dark, TG (not for nothing but I love it when his hair looks like this) helped us girls play with cheap fireworks.
Javier thought the end of the world was at hand, but it was only a sparkler. It didn't help that bombs were bursting in air all over the neighborhood.
Later (really later) we made fruit trifle a la Nostalgic Nana ... thanks luv, for posting that recipe! ... except we did not make orange pound cake but only plain. Everything else was the same.
We had that rouge-blanc-bleu thing going on with the strawberries, blueberries, and whipped cream.
To round out the day in keeping with the spirit of rouge-blanc-bleu ... or should I say bleu-blanc-rouge ... (having seen to it that our collective sweet tooth was amply cared for), and to scratch our ever-present Gallic itch, we watched Marion Cotillard's spectacular star turn in La Vie En Rose.
It was the first time for the other three to see it. Of course I cried ... again. At the end. Actually a bit before the end. I start crying when Edith realizes Marcel has died.
Listening to my Edith Piaf CD today as I prepare hamburgers, potato salad, and baked beans. Don't you love long holiday weekends?
Every time a bell rings. Stock photoLook, Daddy! Teacher says every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings!
~Zuzu Bailey~
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If you say the name quickly, it sounds like you're stuttering about a place where lots of animals live.
Zuzu!
Those two syllables bring a smile to the face of most people. They conjure an image of a joyously exclamatory James Stewart as George Bailey, just having returned from being worse than dead.
Thanks to wingless angel Clarence Oddbody, our hero has gotten a glimpse of what it would have been like if he'd never even lived.
He's not sure if he's had a nightmare or fallen through a tiny crack in the time-space continuum, of which undoubtedly he'd never even heard.
Capra At His Most Capraesque
But then he touches his lip and finds that it's once more a bit smashy, from his run-in with the irate husband of his daughter Zuzu's teacher before the bad dream began. And then he reaches into his pocket, and there they are.
Zuzu's petals!
And it's then that he knows he's really back from that cold, strange, bitter, never-been-born place. He knows the Building and Loan is still eight thousand dollars in arrears and the bank examiner is waiting to have him arrested and Mr. Potter is lurking in the shadows ready to seize all the property in Bedford Falls.
But none of those things matter because Mary waits anxiously at home with Pete and Janie and Tommy ...
And Zuzu.
Of course I speak of the classic film It's A Wonderful Life, released in 1946 and starring James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Gloria Grahame, Thomas Mitchell, Henry Travers, Beulah Bondi …
And Karolyn Grimes.
Better known to most as Zuzu.
As Enduring As She Is Endearing
In 2007 I learned that Karolyn Grimes -- or Zuzu -- was alive and well and living in the Pacific Northwest. At that time she was 67 years old. In a radio interview she once provided her email address and invited anyone who wished to, to write to her.
Off on her next adventure. Photo courtesy Karolyn GrimesAnd so I did. In the email I told Karolyn/Zuzu how much I loved It's A Wonderful Life, which I do -- dearly.
(We watch it several times every December, and throughout the year we often quote lines from the screenplay. Lines from IAWL are like code in our family. "I-I want a big one!" and "This is a very interesting situation," are frequently used expressions.)
I also told Karolyn/Zuzu that my "other favorite" Christmas movie is The Bishop's Wife (1947), starring Cary Grant, David Niven, and Loretta Young, in which Karolyn played only child Debby Brougham.
A Charming Correspondence
And Karolyn promptly wrote me back the kindest message:
Hello Jennifer,
Thank you for writing. I always enjoy hearing from folks who love these films as I do. Family is the true backbone of this country and this movie gives us a chance to remember and renew in our hearts how important that it really is. May you always have the ability to find the good in every path that you choose. Life is not always wonderful but we have been given the great gift of making our own choices. Always keep the magic of these films in your heart and remember that each of us has our own Clarence watching over us.
God Bless,
Karolyn Grimes/Zuzu Bailey @>----
Unforgettable characters, unforgettable film. Stock photoDuring Christmastime of 2008 I intended to write to Karolyn again, but, consumed with the season's busyness, I forgot.
Zuzu Gives Me My Wings
In 2009 I remembered to write and wish Karolyn a Merry Christmas. She wrote back a few weeks after the new year, gracious as ever:
Hello Jennifer,
Thank you for writing and sharing how you watch the film each year. I took a look at your web site....wow! You are good!!!
I do feel that it was a great honor to work with some of the great actors of all time...I travel most of the year for the film and I speak about the many messages that are forever applicable in our lives. The movie is timeless.…
If you would like to learn more about me you can check out my web site www.zuzu.net.
You have one wonderful sense of humor and a darling critical wit! I love it!
Thanks again for writing and God Bless,
Karolyn @>----
In the meantime I'd discovered that on July 4, 2010, Karolyn would turn 70 years old. I began planning this post, which at present isn't going as well as I'd hoped.
Shadows Lengthen Early In The Day
See, I'd planned to write more about Karolyn's life since the time, as an adorable five-year-old, she played the immortal Zuzu.
It hasn't been a path strewn with petals.
The child star. Stock photoAccording to her on-line biography, Karolyn's mother died of early-onset Alzheimer's disease when Karolyn was a young teenager. Shortly after, her father died in an automobile accident. Karolyn was sent by the court to live in Missouri, spelling an end to her film career.
In due time Karolyn married and became the mother of two daughters, but she and her husband eventually divorced. Two years later, the father of her children was killed in a hunting accident. Karolyn remarried a man with three children, and together they had two more.
If you've been counting, that means Karolyn raised seven children!
Unspeakable tragedy enveloped Karolyn once again when her youngest child committed suicide at the age of eighteen. Shortly after, Karolyn's husband of twenty-five years died of lung cancer.
What I like about Karolyn Grimes is that she did not allow any one of these events -- not to mention the sum of them -- to turn her into a bitter or angry person. At age 70, her smile is as radiant as ever. Far from perceiving herself as a victim, Karolyn radiates hope.
It Really Is A Wonderful Life
Happily for Karolyn, the public's interest in It's A Wonderful Life has never waned. If anything, it has burgeoned. She has traveled the world as an unofficial ambassador for the film and spends her days bringing smiles to the faces of people everywhere.
Life is a precious gift. Photo courtesy Karolyn GrimesA few days ago I wrote to Karolyn to tell her that I would be writing a post in honor of her birthday. I asked for the use of a few pictures, which she promptly supplied.
I wish I could put into words what it means to me that Karolyn -- Zuzu! -- is such a nice lady that she would write to me, allowing me to share even the tiniest bit in her trials and triumphs.
The fact that this sweet, unassuming woman was once held in the arms of the likes of James Stewart, and had the Christmas story told to her by Cary Grant … and yet she is open and willing and generous and much kinder than she would have to be, just amazes me.
So happy birthday, dear Karolyn … you will always be Zuzu and she will always be you, and we'll watch every year (in fact, I think I'll watch today!) and cherish the story and cry a sentimental tear when you deliver the next-to-last line of the film.
The one to which James Stewart/George Bailey replies: "That's right! That's right ..." and gives a conspiratorial wink heavenward.
Please take a moment to send Zuzu a happy birthday message of your own! I believe she'll be thrilled to hear from you.
Freedom. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010Isn't this a nice idea? Great American Donna Staas of Made in Heaven sponsors the Brenda Photo Challenge. Today's theme -- fittingly -- is Freedom.
I'm new to this meme and I thought I read somewhere that the limit for number of photographs entered is three. But of course I have more than three photos I want to show you.
So I'll give you my BPC pics first, then the extras will follow. You'll soon see why three were not enough!
God Bless the United States of America on this Fourth of July and always. Confound her enemies, foreign and domestic -- especially domestic -- until God's plan for mankind is fulfilled and republics are no longer necessary.
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And the truth shall make you free.
If I take the wings of the morning ...
God bless America and her brave warriors.
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Give a green light to Freedom.
Freedom from want.
Celebrate Freedom!
These last two photos were taken by my son, Airman Andrew Weber:
Best that grows. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010As a result of participating in SkyWatch Friday I have had my consciousness raised to many wonderful photobloggers around the world -- not to mention the skies they live under.
(I do not consider myself a photoblogger; I'm just a freelance writer who loves to take pictures, then quasi-force unsuspecting passers-by to look at them, a la obligatory postprandial home movies of days past!)
I find it interesting when I encounter blogs that, immediately you click into them, begin playing music. Generally that's a blogging no-no and I personally would never do it, but to each his own. If I don't like the music, I leave. That doesn't happen very often.
On the rare occasion you discover some interesting tunes that way.
And that's what happened today when I clicked on the blog of Lori Skoog to see her SkyWatch Friday pictures ... which, by the way, are astounding.
But this music began playing ... Danny Boy ... a song which always makes me weep.
See, I'm Irish. An Irish Baptist who does not say Aves -- don't even know what they are, for that matter -- but Irish nonetheless, with the attendant gift of gab and hyper-emotionalism, if not the penchant for frittering away my paycheck on Guinness.
I've never even tasted stout ale. Have no plans to.
I'm a Baptist Irish Teetotaler ... and I wouldn't have it any other way. I like being different.
Anyway, I didn't know who the late Eva Cassidy (1963-1996) was -- never heard of the lass until today -- but you can bet your four-leaf-clover I'll be figuring out how to buy one of her albums.
(She and I may be related. My grandmother's maiden name was Cassidy.)
Here she is (Eva; not my grandmother), singing from beyond an early grave what I consider the quintessential Irish heartbreaker of a song: the matchless Danny Boy.
Close your eyes! Sit back. Listen. Emote. Do feel free to weep. I'm right there with you.
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Tuesday, July 6, 2010 at 12:44PM 
