Shot From the Hip

Saw Jerry and Jennifer (Jen) last night.  Talking about old times, I thought of Meadowlake and for a brief moment missed it.  Then came the flashbacks of arachnid infestations and their unholy spawn and I didn't miss it so much.  I do miss the fellowship though, and in the summer the ability to grill at any moment.  There's something about waking up on the weekends and being able to throw a piece of steak or a chicken thigh on the grill just because.  Hopefully there will be more BBQ's this year.  Here are a few of my favorite pics from a recent BBQ

A co-worker said this looked like it was from a catalog.   

First time really grilling corn.  Surprisingly tasty.  I'll need to grill corn more often now that corn it's in season.  Good corn is hard to find, but when you find it, man its good.

Now that BSF is over for the year, I have to work a little bit for my daily QT's.  Today I stumbled on this prayer that I have not read for a while.  I got this from a speaker at WCC a couple of years back.  A great reminder for me when I get a bit too self-centered.

PRAYER of DETACHMENT

Deliver me, O Jesus
    from the desire of being loved,
    from the desire of being extolled,
    from the desire of being praised,
    from the desire of being preferred,
    from the desire of being consulted,
    from the desire of being approved,
    from the desire of being popular.
    from the desire of seeing immediate results. 

Deliver me, O Jesus
    from the fear of being humiliated,
    from the fear of being despised,
    from the fear of suffering rebukes,
    from the fear of being forgotten,
    from the fear of being wronged,
    from the fear of being ridiculed,
    from the fear that others may be loved more than I.

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire
    that others may be esteemed more than I,
    that in the opinion of the world,
        others may increase and I may decrease,
    that others may be chosen and I set aside,
    that others may be praised and I unnoticed,
    that others may become holier than I,
        provided that I may become as holy as I should.

~ St. John of the Cross (1542 – 1591)

Here are some pics from my trip last week to Yosemite: [Glen Aulin]
The weather was gorgeous.  Considering the low snow levels (29% of normal) at Tuolumne this year, I knew that I that I'd have to go up earlier than normal.

Wanting to get on the trail ASAP, I told my self that I would not stop on the side of the road.  Not sure why I tell myself that since I know I can't help myself.

Trees in front of a misty meadow.

Last year I tried to hike Glen Aulin but the trails were flooded until mid-June

The streams were running, but definitely crossable, with good balance and grippy shoes.


Snow melting quickly from the peaks

The meadows are still yellow from the winter cold. 

I would prefer green meadows, but the yellow, does go well with the blue. 

In comparison.  Here's a pic from June last year where the meadows had a little more time to turn green.  Plus I think it was rained most of May which helped.

Here's where I turned around at the Glen Aulin High Sierra Camp.

I was exhausted, especially since I had not trained with a full pack.  It was worth it though.

The clouds were definitely cooperating that day.

I had never photographed this type of cloud before. 

On the way back, the shade from the clouds were welcome.

Is that an outhouse?

So what's next?  Well, I'm looking forward to Half Dome in July with the folks from BSF.  In the meantime,  I'll be visiting Joseph up in Portland and I think I'll try to hike up Mt. St. Helens.  If anyone has good tips/suggestions, let me know. 

Still no bear sighting.  I might need to try again pre-hibernation.  Weather was great though, sunny but cool with just enough clouds to make the sky interesting.  Whenever I set out on my one day trips, I never know what to expect.  This time it was like clockwork.  I left home at 3 am, started hiking just before 8 am, got off the trail just after 3 and was home before 9.  My personal accomplishment was that I only drank one can of coffee for the whole day. Usually I drink at least 2 if not 3 or 4.

So the purpose of this trip was to determine if it would be possible for me to bring all of my gear to 1/2 dome.  While I think I technically could, if I trained with a backpack, I don't think it will be a good idea.  I packed at least 30 if not 40 lbs of gear today.  4.5 l of water, 2 DSLR's, 3 lenses, one tripod and food.  Hiking with it for 12 miles was brutal.  I wasn't sure if my knees could handle it, but they were fine.  My shoulders on the other hand are in pain.  Regardless, for those who have time, this is a good time to visit Tuolumne.  Park services are still not up and running yet so the hikers are just trickling in.  Plus the weather is great and right now you don't really have to worry about mosquitoes though there are a few.

Well, the cables for Half Dome are up.  Conditions are good, all trails are open.  Weather looks really  nice this weekend.  For those of you wanting to beat the tourist crowds that will descend upon Yosemite this weekend and next, let me know.  If all goes well, I'll be heading to Tuolumne Meadows to do the Glen Aulin trail(11mi).  Tuolumne just opened a few weeks ago, but they're still getting infrastructure up to speed so traffic should be relatively light (as compared to Yosemite Valley).  Last year my efforts were foiled partly due to the crazy number of mosquitoes eating me alive but mostly due to lack of proper preparation.  This is my second try.  If you don't see me back online Sun. night, I may have been eaten by a bear. 

Here is my fifth an final Israel Gallery: [Israel]. 

I'll start off with...

While on vacation BSF happened to be on break.  When I saw this guy studying I could not help but think of the Thursday gatherings where a few of the leaders would get together at Books Inc., work on homework and hang out.  Not the most productive time for me, but I will miss those Thursdays now that the BSF year is about to end.

This was an unintentional illegal picture.  When in the Temple Mount apparently they frown on you climbing on walls.  I'm right next to the Golden Gate too.

Here I am peeping through the wall. 

Here's what the defender would actually see

All around the Temple Mount there were various areas of construction.  Not a lot of people doing actual work though.

Checking out the market area from the rooftop.

I didn't realize that they watched so much satellite TV.

The view from the Mount of Olives the morning of Good Friday just after sunrise.  A beautiful morning

BTW, for those in youth group the little metal drum set was bought by one of my roommates years ago when he visited Israel.

By the time I got this image I had passed by this church and tree at least a dozen times if not more. Each time, there was no reason to take a picture until finally the light hit it just right with the clouds.  Not a particularly powerful photo, but one I personally enjoyed immensely.

I just thought it looked like stars

Ever since AP Art History I've been interested in the Roman aqueducts. Such an amazing feat of engineering.  To be near one was awesome.  Too bad we only spent a few minutes there.

From the walls of Masada.

 

Just when you think I've run out of pictures, there's more.  [Life in Israel]

Having only arrived a few hours beforehand I could not wait to get into the old city.  Some kids playing football.

I've always wanted to shoot the moon.   From my little camera.  Not bad eh?  The color was natural.  In fact, I recall it being even more orange.

Mixing Marvel and DC.  Its like wearing a Cal shirt with red shorts, its just wrong.

Doing laundry on a wall

Arab graffiti.  I'm not big on vandalism, but I like seeing how different cultures express themselves.

A bunch of cute kids.

 
A little out of focus, but still one of my favorite images of the entire trip.  Met this kid when we visited with a Palestinian family who lost 2 children in the on-going Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  Sometimes we forget these are people not numbers.

Nice Palm tree

Apparently he's popular.

More graffiti? 

"For all of the Children of Abraham".  cool. 

They don't mess around when crossing the street.

Maybe graffiti is the same all over the world. 

These and other faces were all over.  Not sure what they were for.  Creepy. 

This cat was posing for me.  I don't usually shoot pets. but I liked the color. 

Singing and dancing as they brought the a scroll with the Old Testament to the Western Wall. 

 

A camel at Sea Level with no sea.

Israeli crocodile farm.  Really?  A crocodile farm?   

Roman toilet.  So where does the toilet paper go?

So tempted to buy a shofar.

It seems every time I go to the beach I see girls posing for each other.

Cool kite.  A few mods and this could be an X-Wing.

In Tel-Aviv, they are definitely a healthy bunch.  Lost of people exercising.

I've been wanting to shoot a sunset where the Sun was just a glowing ball.  Finally. 

Some guy doing the Karate Kid while walking a tight rope.  Ralph M. would be proud

Salt lollipop.   

I could either float or take pictures. Guess which one I chose. 

 
The Dead Sea is dropping at 1m per year.  Its dropped 30m over the past 50 years.  Soon without active intervention, there will be no Dead Sea. Go see it while you can.