A visit to Idaho

My Daddy and his dear wife, Diana, have lived in Boise, Idaho for a number of years.  A few years ago, he moved to the Boise Veterans Home due to his advanced Alzheimer's disease.  In the entry hallway are photos of all the residents in their youth in their military attire.  It is so great to see how these men and women are honored by the staff who lovingly care for them.  A couple of times a year, I'm able to visit Daddy, and though he usually seems like he doesn't know me, and no longer speaks, I have to believe that somewhere deep down, he knows it's me.  This time, as I was leaving, he gave me that old, familiar loving look.  I told him "I love you, and I know you love me too".  And he looked me straight in the eye and said "Yes".  

My good friend, Brenda Mallaburn, also lives in the neighborhood.  We've been friends for years, and not only did our photo schools together, we also did a couple of very fun photo trips to Sydney, Australia and Fiji.  The autumn leaves of southern Idaho were putting on a grand display the end of October, so we took some time together and had a blast!

The Lone Star State

Late October had us heading out on another trip. I made a bold step and decided to leave my wonderful, but heavy, Canon 5D Mark II at home.  The plan was to buy a lighter weight, but still very capable, camera.  I found that when I traveled, the DSLR often stayed back in the hotel room because of its bulk and weight, and I depended on my iPhone for the photos.  Now the iPhone is great, don't get me wrong, but I wanted something more than that, but less burdensome than the big Canon.  So.....after doing my research, I decided on a Canon G12.  This is the "maiden voyage" of this camera, and so far I'm more than excited about the decision.  It's not everything I could hope for in a camera, shutter-lag being at the top of the list.   The convenience by far outshines the deficits.  So now, I've got a new travel buddy.  The clarity, the detail, the macro capability - mahvelous!  Let me know what you think too!

So. Back to the trip.  First stop - the great state of Texas.  Well, there's NOTHING like the Texas State Fair, held in Dallas.  In addition to the (Texas sized) ferris wheel overlooking the famous Cotton Bowl, there is fried EVERYTHING!  Fried butter, fried snickers, fried s'mores, fried lemonade, fried alligator!  Did I partake??  Not this time ;-)  

East Texas - a much more tranquil setting in the early fall.  Ranch lands, rolling hills, oak trees....

The Cooksie Family

There's nothing much sweeter than a family celebrating the cuteness of their precious little one!  I've never seen a cheerier baby, and she kept us all smiling!  The Dad is bravely serving our country in the Army, based in El Paso.  Mom is a photographer who hasn't done the photo shoot yet of their baby that she'd always promised herself she'd do.  So, calls and emails were flying back and forth after they arrived for their vacation, and we settled on this beautiful little beach just minutes from my home.  What better place for family photos than Hawaii, right?

Whirlwind Sydney

Last weekend, we had a brief stay in Sydney.  I hadn't been there since the 2000 Summer Olympics when I was there with my photo school classmates.  Sure did enjoy the ferry ride to Manly on a beautiful Sunday evening!

Beautiful New Zealand

I'm just finishing up a wonderful two weeks in New Zealand.  First time to this beautiful country was 1984.  Some places just stay with you, if you know what I mean, and this is one of them.  We have deep relationships here that have been life-forming.  So every time we're invited back, we know it's another treasure in the making.  And it has been so again.  We had a very quick jaunt around the country - Tauranga, Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland.  

Here's a small collection of photos: the light over the water in Tauranga was mesmerizing, and I just couldn't edit those photos out any more than I did (you should see how many didn't make it into the blog!).  On my birthday in Auckland (blog post about that a couple posts ago), we took the ferry into the city and visited a wonderful photo exhibition.  Christchurch is a city of valiant people - the earthquakes there have not completely overwhelmed them even though so many lives were lost, many homes now destroyed or unlivable, and the beautiful city centre completed fenced off.  Yet they still believe in their future and have a firm hope in spite of the difficult circumstances.  The rainbow and warm sunshine with the dark skies beyond speak of the magnitude of what they've faced and what they'll come to find.  Such a blessing to be able to be a part of lifting up their heads.