I saw this contraption in Eureka Springs last week. I suspect that it had something to do with a steam powered water pump that was nearby and might have been some kind of water distribution system. The collection of valves could be utilized in such a way as to send water to different destinations. But all of those connections were long gone. It did remind me that we always have options to resolve the situations in which we may find ourselves. There is more than one answer, more than one solution, more than one option. We have hope. I imagine you thought of hope when you saw this collection of valves.

The epistle lesson for today is Philippians 4:1-9. Paul is writing from prison to the small congregation at Philippi, encouraging them to care for one another through consideration and compassion. And he tells them not to worry. Easy for him to say might be a contemporary reply when fear appears to be marketed in every media. Fear of terrorism, and fear of disease, and fear of poverty, and fear of the other political party, and fear of spying, and fear of other religious faiths, and fear of other races, and fear of criminals, and fear of those who will take our weapons, and on and on. But Paul's message is counter to the culture then and now. Anxiety is a threat to personal well-being and community peace. Fear is the opposite of trust. And the result of trust is joy. Worried people, even those who claim a faith, will find it a challenge to experience lasting joy because fear is a shroud of darkness and death. Kirkegaard called anxiety "the sickness unto death." Paul's letter encouraged his readers to let it go. There can be another way to life.

Our last two trips to my mother's home in northern Indiana, we have tried alternative highways to the typical interstate route. And as we drove through this small Indiana town, I saw this theater sign. I often say to myself, I should stop and take a picture of that. And this time I convinced myself that I would. And as I was stopping, I saw the second sign, and found it humorous to include them both in the same picture. I suspect it's not pronounced the way that it appears. It never is.

Judy gathered up a lot of blossoms from our Hydrangea bush in our front yard and brought them in and arranged them in two different baskets. We have enjoyed their fragrance this summer as they stood just outside our front door. I found the display by the fireplace intriguing, and even more so, as I took the photo seeing that the background was nearly the same shade as the highlight of the blossoms. In reality, it is not. But something mimicked the color and added to an ordinary photo. Sometimes, maybe often, the photographer gets surprised.

I'm enjoying my new camera and exploring its capabilities. And I couldn't help noticing how the afternoon sun was lighting this hibiscus bloom and casting a shadow on the petals of the stamen. Even the stem appears to be radiant. it's all about light.

I typically try to avoid taking waterfall photos on sunny days. The contrast in the scene usually makes for a rather difficult exposure. So I generally choose to do waterfall photos on cloudy or overcast days. But I found this scene when we were in the Smokes last week as we hiked north of Tremont. I took the photo and admit that I didn't expect much, given what I had seen in the past. But the combination of the lighting through the leaves overhead made for a photo that appeals to me. I see a different energy in the picture because of the interplay of the bright light and the shadowed patterns.

Exposure 1.3 seconds, f/6.3, iso 100. I opened the shadows when I processed it in Lightroom, and tried not to blow out the highlights, which is challenging, given the lighting. Polarizer and neutral density filter used.

Today's photo is from the same parking spot as yesterday's photo in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It is different beyond being a horizontal photo as compared to a vertical photo. The fog is different. It's in a different direction. It feels different. Photographs have an emotional as well as a visual quality. If the viewer experiences something beyond the visual, then the photo speaks. There are hints of fall color here, obscured by the fog. Change is in the swirling air. You can almost see it move. I hope you can feel it.

Last week we drove through Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It was raining. It was foggy. We had just crossed over the overlook near Clingman's Dome (couldn't see anything, other than the road) and was heading downhill when I pulled off the side of the road. And waited. I got out of the car with my camera and watched the fog come in and dissipate. There was a possibility for wonderful pictures, if one is patient. The trees are always there, in the same spot. But it is a different scene each time, because of the quality and direction of light. Fog is even more fun, with diffuse, even light as it obscures and reveals and hides again. So there were dozens of photos as the scene changed as I stood in the rain. I must have been a sight. Other cars would stop, and the passengers would look to see what I was looking at, and they would shake their heads, and drive on. If they had just waited,...