This tendril stretched for something, anything, to grasp. These modified leaves will wrap quickly around another stem to support the plant. Passion flower, clematis, and morning glory use tendrils to climb and seek additional support.

These flowers are quick to seek support. There are times that we humans need to be quick to seek support as well. The whole system is stronger when connected together, and it is difficult to determine which one sought the other.

You may have to be a railroad buff to appreciate seeing Bailey Yard in North Platte, Nebraska.

The world's largest classification yard is 8 miles long and 2 miles wide. It has over 200 tracks with nearly 140 trains with 14,000 railroad cars passing through the Bailey Yard EVERY DAY.

This photo from the 8 story tall observation tower shows the locomotive fueling and service center; 8,500 locomotives pass through this facility every month.

You might have thought North Platte was only famous as the home of Buffalo Bill Cody, and missed this. And maybe not.

All in one day:

We stopped at a Goodwill store to check out their hardback books, only to discover they had more than I had ever seen at Goodwill. Soon a clerk was rolling another cart down the aisle overflowing with books. "Wow, even more!" I said. They are only romance was the reply. "And I don't look like the romantic type? If you only knew, ..." And she laughed.

While we were eating lunch, a cell phone rang and the man across the way pulled out his flip phone and dropped it on the floor. I retrieved because he couldn't reach it, and then he told his caller that a nice young man had gotten his phone for him.

Later, in the same day, we met travelers from California and we took turns photographing the other couple near the town's fountain. And he said, as he admired the photos, "Not bad, for two old guys!"

Hmmm... It's all about perceptions, and what one sees, and what is true.

The weather has taken a decidedly cool turn. It is the night temperatures that affect the warmth of the pool. Swimming season is over. Time to put away some of the toys, like these "Noodles". I liked the rainbow effect.

During the second half of a long train ride, I began to look around at what I could photograph. The first portion was filled with new sights. But on the return trip, we changed sides (required) but all we could see now was vegetation covered hillsides. And soon, I began to wonder. What if? What if I slowed my shutter speed and the ISO way down. The railroad car swayed and rocked and I made little attempt to hold my camera still. I would check the image on the back of the camera after each exposure and make further adjustments that could create a different effect. Those who sat near us asked what I was finding to photograph and that so clearly had interested me with dozens of exposures. I would show them, and they would just shake their heads. What do you see, they would question further. Light! And motion! And a train trip.

Several years ago I went to West Virginia for a photo workshop on my way to a professional conference at Duke University the following week. In between the two events I had a free day besides the time needed for travel. I saw that Floyd County, Virginia was on the way. Fred First, a blogger at Fragments from Floyd, was someone I wanted to meet. I spent the night in a nearby motel so Fred and I could have breakfast together in downtown Floyd. And our meeting was all that I had hoped. Fred is a kindred spirit who shared many of my interests. I had read his blog for several years but I found him to be even more engaging in person. He felt like he was an old friend, who happened to live a long way away. Afterwards I drove on the Blue Ridge Parkway and encountered fog and this tree. I did not know what was beyond the tree for I could barely see it. I felt like I was in a small world, just like my breakfast conversation a few hours before. I think the world would be a lot different if we lived like it was small and that what we said and did would have consequences that mattered. A world no further than we could see.

The Gospel Lesson for today is Matthew 18:21-35. Peter, like everyone of us, has been harmed by someone else. And he asks Jesus, "How many times must I forgive? Seven times?", which sounds like a generous offer. But Jesus replies, "Seventy time seven." The parable following this passage is troublesome on many levels and those questions entice us to evade the push of Jesus' answer. We all want forgiveness. It is hard to keep giving it over and over to those who wound us again and again. Who is going to forgive that much?

It is not about counting or keeping track of wrongs. Life is not about revenge. Rather, we are to practice extending forgiveness. Easy to say, tough to do. But this is advice about how to live in community. Sooner or later, we all need to be forgiven for a word or an action that harmed another. And we will want the other to forgive us. Again and again and again. If our relationship is going to grow, forgiveness will be an essential part of our living together.

Sometimes the leaves float downstream, but this time they are caught, trapped by the force of the water, pinned to branches and rocks, unable to journey any further downstream. Could be us, wanting to be carefree, floating with the current. But we get caught by worry and fear and the mundane and what we regard as necessary and by others' expectations of us. I prefer to float free.