Redeeming Grief

This is a section of a sculpture at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at the University of Notre Dame. It is the removal of Jesus' body from the cross. I felt the artist did an amazing job of capturing the facial expressions on each person in the scene. The man behind Jesus particularly intrigued me, and the grief is evident on his face. Imagine the look on his face 3 days later, when they found the empty tomb, or after that, when Jesus appeared to the desicples in the locked room.

© 2009 Mexipickle

Basilica

This is the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. It is absolutely gorgeous and hard to capture in a photo, at least when I left my tripod in the car. I also feel very self-conscious when shooting in a church. One can feel the Spirit in this church, and there are many people there to pray or just spend time with God. I don't want to distract them from that, nor do I want to be disrespectful in the church.

But.....

the colors and majesty are absolutely stunning and beg to be shot.

This is the main altar (lower right), the tabernacle (center), and the rear of the church (with side altar) to the back of the tabernacle.

To read more about the Basilica, go to the basilica's home page.

© 2009 Mexipickle

Party Animal

Meet my mom. Last weekend, my brother invited us to attend the Notre Dame-USC football game at Notre Dame. So, the kids and I, and my mom, headed up there (my wife had to work). The six of us had a great weekend, which included a tailgater before the game.

This was my mom's first college football game (or so she claimed!) and first tailgater (again--she claims). As you can see, she has great form and seemed to be an old pro!

(To be fair, this was my son's football and my brother's beer--mom didn't have either!)
© 2009 Mexipickle

Grrr-V

You never know what you'll see driving on the freeway in Atlanta.

Today, I was riding with my brother up I-85 heading to Lake Lanier when we happened upon this pick-up/dog pen. I'm not sure what's going on here....could be that the driver doesn't like the pit bull in the cab with him, but doesn't want him jumping out of the bed of the truck....could be that he's moving and wants to keep his dog safe....could be that he's homeless and this is how he cares for his dog. I don't know why I only know that it made me look more than once!

© 2009 Mexipickle

Self Portrait?

Okay, so I was on the road and bored and had my tripod and light stand (ghetto) with me. I thought I'd try some self portraits.

Y'know, that's a lot harder than it looks.

This is the best shot I got. You might notice something missing...like "self" in this "self portrait!" My flash was malfunctioning...I'm not a good portrait sitter...I have no clue what I'm doing....so, this is what I got--a test shot!

Maybe someday I'll try again.

© 2009 Mexipickle

California Boy

Recently, my family had the pleasure of a visit from my first cousin and his grandson. They are both true Californians. My cousin Mike still surfs most days (at 60 years old) and takes his grandson, Adam, with him regularly. Adam is the prototypical California kid--blond hair, green eyes, gorgeous smile, and a great tan, all with a lovely personality and attitude. At 12, he has a great balance of respect and joking around that worked well with my 9 year old, me, and my dad. It was my pleasure having him here and I hope they both come back soon.

Hang ten guys!

Oh, this was processed using the high bleach bypass from Lightroom, and that's about all.

© 2009 Mexipickle

The Elijah Cup

Our church has a program called "The Elijah Cup." Each week, a family takes a chalice home from Mass and, using that as a focal point, prays for a week for vocations--for priests, deacons, brothers and sisters. We also pray for the ministers that are currently serving, that they are led by the spirit and buoyed by the people they serve. It was nice spending time each evening after dinner with my son and daughter (and my mom, too) praying and thinking and remembering all of the ministers who have served us over the years. I have moved quite a bit, and always attended Catholic school, so there was a long list of priests and nuns that emerged from the cobwebs of my mind during this week of prayer.

The name of this program comes from the story of Elijah and the widow in 1 Kings 17:7-15. In that story, the Lord ensures the widow, her son, and Elijah have food during a drought for a year, with the oil and flour never running out. It took me a while to figure out why this passage was chosen, but then it occurred to me--just as God didn't let the widow's groceries deplete, He will not let the supply of priests and other ministers deplete, despite the drought of young people committing to this type of service. And so, we pray for the young people called to serve, and we pray for their friends, that they will encourage following this call, and we pray for their families that they will support their sons, daughters, brothers and sisters as they work to live up to God's call.

Forgive the sermon, but it's been an interesting week. As we've been praying for vocations, my wife has been following in Jesus' footsteps during a 2 week pilgrimage to the Holy Land...very powerful stuff! I can't wait to hear all the stories.

© 2009 Mexipickle

Mother and Son

Friday was my brother's birthday. The number doesn't matter--the fact that he's STILL 2 years older than me does matter! ;)

My mom is giving my brother a big "happy birthday" hug.

I love my family!

© 2009 Mexipickle

New River Gorge Bridge

The longest arch bridge in the western hemisphere is over the New River on US Highway 19 just north of Beckley, West Virginia. The road is 876 feet above the river...enough to put the Washington Monument and 2 Statues of Liberty and still have room left over!
© 2009 Mexipickle

Wettin' A Line

At the church picnic Saturday, J wanted to try fishing. The first time he tried was about 2 weeks ago, so we tried again yesterday. We haven't caught anything yet, but it's really more about the casting than the catching at this point.

After spending about ten minutes detangling the line after one of his more creative casting motions, I gave him the rod and reel. First cast....another knot, this one requiring cutting the line and starting all over again.

Of course, everytime he casts he expects to hook a huge fish within, oh, 3 seconds of the hook hitting the water. That hasn't happened yet, although a couple of folks with us did catch a couple of bass. I hope we get a chance to really whet his fishing appetite. It's not one of my big hobbies (I think Flickr/photography are in the top spot), but if he likes it, I'll help him.
© 2009 Mexipickle