When it gets cold, I like to imagine warmer places, like the beach at Maui. We went in 2008 and are ready to go back any time. Cold weather not only affects toes and fingers, but it messes with the brain. I noticed that someone else had written recently that cold weather makes them feel alive. Yes, it does that. And I have admitted at other times that I can miss snow. But I love being warm. And my one trip to Hawaii was in March. I could go in December or January or February.

I took this photo with a 11-18mm zoom lens, iso 200, .6 second exposure at f/20. The longer exposure blurred the action of the waves.

Some might think this odd, because you are either too young or already live in the country. But when I was a kid, my dad would announce that we all were going for a drive in the country. I loved it. It was a a chance to see something new, to go somewhere we hadn't been. And we would just roam the country roads. At least, it seemed that way to a kid.

I spent a lot of miles driving during my ministry, especially during the five years I was a superintendent. Again, it was new territory for me, and I have always enjoyed driving. This photo is on the road along the Mississippi River, just south of Nauvoo, among the prettiest places in Illinois.

I have waited on this hilltop several times for dawn. I was first introduced to it in 1997 by Bill Fortney and John Shaw at a photography workshop. This was in the last century when film was king. However, this is a digital image. And now it is hard to believe that this spot is only a little more than three hours from my house. I do think you have to be here every morning or very lucky to get a spectacular sunrise. I have seen some fantastic photos from this hilltop because I think every photographer east of the Mississippi River knows where this is. I'd like to take a great picture here, but it is a challenge to get out of a warm bed and drive in the dark up to this spot. But how will you know what dawn looked like unless you make the journey?

Today's lesson from the Psalms (123) concludes with these intriguing lines: "Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt. Our soul has had more than its fill of the scorn of those who are at ease, of the contempt of the proud." The petition comes from those near the bottom of society, those who live at the margin, those who are looked down upon.

The petition is as true today as it was thousands of years ago. People grow weary of being treated and used as things. And they plead to God, to be noticed, to hope their plight will be noticed by God because they are ignored and mistreated by the powerful. I find it to be a rather convicting message. I'm the one that walks by and looks down.

I loved riding a bike as a kid. I love it as an adult. I learned how to fix punctured inner tubes and to remount tires on rims. And then you need air. The nearby filling station often had an air hose attached to the building. Often, they would tell us kids not to use up all their air. But it was always free. And as we got older we realized that there was a compressor somewhere in the garage that provided the free air for bike tires and basketballs. I saw this "tireflator" on the wall of an old service station in Cowan, TN. One half of the building is a museum, while the other half is the town library.

Most of the time I photograph alone. Judy is often with me on my trips. She helps with a lot of knowledge about nature, and she sees things that I might overlook. And sometimes, I travel with non-photographer friends and they tolerate my stopping to snap. I usually feel like I am impeding their excursion, and knowing the whole time that I'm not really getting enough time to do "real" photography. Every photographer knows the inner tension I am describing. But once in a while, I take a friend with me as I did on this trip to the Missouri Botanical Garden. I thought autumn color would be wonderful and my friend needed a break from the routine. So I called and announced that I would be coming to her house to pick her up to take her to Shaw's Garden. She protested, but agreed finally. It was a beautiful day. And I took some nice fall photos. And I think I doubled my joy by bringing someone with me.

This is a serendipity photo. I stopped not to take a photo of this scene, but to retrieve a bicycle wheel. We were driving in Wisconsin, with our bikes attached to the bike rack on the top of the car. We had already driven several hundred miles when I noticed in the rearview mirror that a bicycle wheel had flew off our roof and was bouncing on the pavement and disappeared into the tall grass. I tried to keep track of where it had vanished and turned around when I had an opportunity to go back to the spot. We parked alongside the road and began to search all over. It took a good while. Slender, bouncing wheels do not leave much of a trail. We did find it. And then I noticed the light streaking through this grass and got out my camera.

I do not recall why we turned down this road in upper peninsula of Michigan. On a repeat visit, I noticed that it was a rather small sign that points toward Rapid River Falls. The water in this river flows to Lake Michigan while rivers in the northern portion flow toward Lake Superior. I stood in the river (in a shallow spot) with my tripod to take this photo.

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