Donna Roberts Brown

Wheels In The Sky

Donna Roberts Brown — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 16:46:53 +0000

Background: When you think you might die, or that you might be about to embark upon the fight of your life…FOR your life…it really shakes things up in your mind and in your heart.

I was having discomforting symptoms that COULD indicate the presence of cancer. A couple of days after being sent for screening, I got a call…the radiologist saw something suspicious. I had to go back for more in-depth tests. The second appointment was a week away. Upon further testing, it appeared that whatever was there in the first screening was GONE…nowhere to be seen…on ANY of the more in-depth tests. Life is now back to ‘normal.’ Or IS it…

Things I learned from walking hand in hand with thoughts of my own mortality for a week:
1] Why me? Why NOT me?
2] I am not immortal. It is highly likely I will at some point, lay down this present carbon unit and return to my previous ethereal state of being. I may have been CREATED to be immortal, but something went horribly wrong, and now inhabitants of our world are walking out an entirely different sort of being and purpose.
3] Some things that usually seem to be of great importance, are not.
4] Simple, little things…like a sunset, a pet frolicking in the grass, watching a fish swim in your pond, hearing a bird sing…seem so much more significant and beautiful, when you are acutely aware that a day may come when you will no longer be able to experience such things. And suddenly you become aware that it IS just such ‘simple little things’ that add so much value to our existence.
5] I am blessed to have a job that offers income and benefits that enable me to access modern medical treatments that could help me overcome a potentially lethal disease. And my heart bleeds for the many who do NOT have such blessing.
6] I am blessed with FRIENDS so faithful, so true, so treasured beyond measure.
7] You look at others who have had to fight for their lives…whether disease, or any myriad of other horrifying things that some have had to face…and you wonder HOW did they get THROUGH that?! And you realize that if fate takes you in any such similarly dreaded direction, that you, like so many others before you, will simply do what you have to do. The wheels of life keep on turning, and somehow you have to figure out how to keep turning with them…and somehow, most of us always DO.
8] Sometimes, the experiences we may have to endure in order to SAVE our lives, are more painful, distressing and long-lasting than just letting go and giving up would be. And yet, we endure it, and fight to the bitter end with all that is in us (which is often far more than we ever knew we HAD). Why? Where does that will to live…often even at the cost of your own quality of life…come from?
9] We all — myself in particularly — need to reassess our stewardship of these mortal finite carbon units — respect them, nurture them, support them, value them and appreciate them…instead of abusing them, taking advantage of them, using them for indulging in selfish and less than honorable purposes and taking them for granted.
10] And while we’re at it, perhaps we need to do much more of the same for OTHER carbon units, and all of the life and nature that surrounds us and supports the quality of OUR lives during this mortal journey.

In summary, last week’s temporary blip in my seemingly mundane existence had much to teach about personal stewardship of ALL things…recognizing blessings and goodness and beauty in things too often taken for granted…and in the whole grand scheme of things, what is REALLY important, and what is not. I could no doubt think of much more than just 10 such considerations that wafted through my thoughts during the above mentioned said week, but another thing I learned is that there is no promise of tomorrow for any of us, and right now, I have ‘cares of this world’ to tend to, along with a good appropriately rainy weekend in which to take care of them. Thoughtful contemplation is a good thing…so is getting things done. It’s all about learning the proper balance. Finding that balance has always been an overwhelming challenge for me…probably always WILL be. Yet in comparison to the challenge I feared I MIGHT have to face in coming months, finding BALANCE is a challenge I welcome with great relief!

Happy Resurrection Day!

Donna Roberts Brown — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 16:29:00 +0000

“the place which may seem like the end may also be only the beginning.” ~Ivy Baker Priest

“I am the Alpha and the Omega [the first and the last, the beginning and the end], the One who is, and who was and who is to come” ~Yeshua ben Yoseph, of Nazareth

What a blessing this day has turned out to be! And so it should be. This post is entirely for the One who made it so…forever and always, the Lover of my soul.

Two of my favorite resurrection songs. Listen to the words of Your Great Name:

Lost are saved; find their way; at the sound of your great name
All condemned; feel no shame, at the sound of your great name
Every fear; has no place; at the sound of your great name
The enemy; he has to leave; at the sound of your great name
All the weak; find their strength; at the sound of your great name
Hungry souls; receive grace; at the sound of your great name
The fatherless; they find their rest; at the sound of your great name
Sick are healed; and the dead are raised; at the sound of your great name

Jesus, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain for us, Son of God and Man. You are high and lifted up; that all the world will praise your great name. Redeemer, My Healer, Almighty
My savior, Defender, You are My King.

You are my savior, my defender, and my King. I’m so glad I met You.

*Disclaimer: These images are not my own. I found them on Google Images. As best I can tell, the first image is by Patrick Devonas/1965 and entitled Allegory of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ (artrenewal.org). In reality, it’s a bit unrealistic in it’s representation of the body that lay in that tomb on that particular morning, but I liked it anyway. I wish I could have found who created the second, it looks as though it may have been a photo from a church dramatization somewhere. It’s file name was 2003-Resurrect. If I can track down the artist, I will certainly give him/her the credit they are due! For today, these images, like the Man they portray, belong to us ALL.

The Humble Cicada

Donna Roberts Brown — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 02:07:28 +0000

A few years ago, I stumbled upon this peculiar empty shell stuck to the underside of a leaf near my fish pond…and as with most peculiar things I stumble upon, I took a picture of it. Had no idea what it was, until I saw a show on NatGeo a year later about cyclical cicada emergences. Their active lives (the part spent outside the ground and cracks in trees) are short and seem to serve no relevant purpose other than to provide a tasty snack for the local wildlife. How could anyone hate such a humble, lowly creature?

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE CREEPY CRAWLY COLLECTION!

Click HERE to hear a sampling of a variety of cicada love songs.

Thanks to my buddy Mollie for sharing this video with me on Facebook! They are predicting the emergence of the 13 year cicadas this spring. (You know who “THEY” are, don’t you?) A few years ago, it was the 10 year cicadas, and this video is of the 17 year cicadas. Just how many cyclical cicada emergences ARE there anyway?! Call me weird – you won’t be the first OR the last – but this video makes me cry. I think these creatures are BEAUTIFUL and I LOVE their love songs.

Creepy Crawlies

Donna Roberts Brown — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 15:18:11 +0000

VISIT THE NEW CREEPY CRAWLY ALBUM!

Finally started a new album! Whooda ever took me for a fan of creepy crawlies?! And the pictures in this album today are probably less than HALF of the total I have…this is just the BEGINNING of what may well be one of my largest collections. I discovered macro photography when I started playing with my first digital camera, a Sony DSC F717. I’d go out in the yard and just start looking for things to photograph, and discovered that there is an entire nuther WORLD of living things – fluttering, creeping, crawling, buzzing their way to and fro – things that most of us seldom see, simply because we aren’t LOOKING for them. Some are quite creepy; others, surprisingly strikingly BEAUTIFUL; some curiously interesting.

Once captured in pixels, I found myself trying to identify these new acquaintances and learning all sorts of fascinating details about the life that thrives around us every day…the life we seldom notice…but much of which plays a very important role in the overall balance of our existence. SOME day, when I get around to doing all those things I fully INTEND to get DONE…SOME day…I’ll accompany all these shots with identifications/posts. Until then, just enjoy the visual treat.

On my wish list is a new macro lens for my Canon DSLR. Should anyone reading this wish to contribute to a meaningful cause, I would give a donated macro lens a very good home and purpose. Until then, I will just have to hone my skills on the ancient Sony. *sighs*

I Guess I’ll Go Eat Worms

Donna Roberts Brown — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 02:34:07 +0000

Nobody likes me, everybody hates me,
Guess I’ll go eat worms,
Long, thin, slimy ones; Short, fat, juicy ones,
Itsy, bitsy, fuzzy wuzzy worms.

Nobody likes me, everybody hates me,
think I’ll go eat worms…
big fat juicy ones, little slimy skinny ones,
hope they don’t have germs!

So it rained like a monsoon all night and stormed all morning on Wednesday. While walking up to the door at the office that morning, I noticed that there were hoardes of earthworms stretched out all over the sidewalk. What is it about long hard spring and summer rains that make it seem as though earthworms just materialize out of NOWHERE…even seemingly out of concrete sidewalks?!

I had no earthworm image to accompany this brief commentary of wonderment. I don’t find earthworms to be particularly aesthetically appealing. So I dug out (no pun intended) this image of a tomato worm feasting on one of my tomato plants from summers past. Admit it, he is unarguably downright PRETTY. But as I contemplate this statement, I wonder – if I looked at just the right angle, in just the right light, in just the right setting – if I might be able to portray a common earthworm in a more favorable light. I think I’ll consider this a personal challenge to myself…before the summer is over, I purpose to create a portrait of an earthworm…a thing of beauty.

View and purchase this image from the Creepy Crawlies gallery at the Online Store!

Something KEWL!

Donna Roberts Brown — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 01:34:20 +0000

So I’m prowling about the Internet and discussion boards and what not, trying to figure out how to put a sound file on this site with an auto load loop. I know, I know, there are plenty of folk out there who would be inclined to throw something at me just for saying that…HOWEVER…MY sound file is not music, at least not in the traditional sense. It’s nature sounds from the outdoors. And anyone who gets annoyed at hearing good quality nature sounds is just a wretch and needs to just crawl back under their rock or go back to their cave.

As you can see, I still haven’t figured out how to accomplish this yet. I’m looking for a simple plugin that requires me to do little more than click a button or two. What I’ve found thus far just isn’t quite that simple. Well, ANYway, I DID however, stumble across something really, REALLY KEWL…a website called Nature Sounds for Me. The homepage is a soundboard with loads of variables in combining a wide variety of sounds, with tempo, volume etc., so that you can in effect, create your very OWN nature sound composition, export it to your desktop and do whatever you will with it! Did I mention that this is entirely FREE?! I’ve already made several compositions of my own, and converted them from wav format to mp3 files with a priceless little program called Switch…(yes, there IS a FREEware version!).

If you’re still too lazy to create your own nature audio file, here are some really good resources I’ve purchased from in the past…GREAT quality sound and good customer service:

The Nature Guy These are mostly full length sound files. VERY high quality copyrighted recordings and wonderful customer service. Respect the copyright and ask permission to use the files on your website. And when permission is granted, observe the conditions and give credit where credit is due.

SoundEffect.com Mostly shorter to moderate length loops for websites. Excellent quality and very reasonably priced. Once you buy the track it’s yours to use as you will, royalty free.

If you have any more resources of your own, share the knowledge!

ABOUT THIS IMAGE:

This shot was taken at my backyard bird feeding station during a January snow. I was shooting out of my open bedroom window…the birds were literally COVERING the feeding stations and there was such a fluttering flurry of activity, my best bet at getting even one good shot was slim, with shooting in burst mode my only hope. This was one of those just plain LUCKY shots, of a Tufted Titmouse making a hasty getaway with his treasured seed.

View and purchase this image from the Bird Watching gallery at the Online Store!

Starting Over

Donna Roberts Brown — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 06:01:12 +0000

Soooo, this was once a fully functioning, generously populated website…UNTIL I opted to carelessly upgrade to the newest version of WordPress without first performing a full backup. As is often apt to happen when using an outdated theme, everything promptly went to hell. I wasn’t overly upset by this unfortunate turn of events, as it was my intention to do a major overhaul on this site anyway. I feel a compulsion to make some significant changes, and since my personal moral obligations will not allow me to make the changes in my personal circumstances that I would really LIKE to make, I must be content to tear down and rebuild a website instead.

Those of you who already know me, know where to go to view and purchase my pictures. If you don’t, CLICK HERE and now you will. But you won’t find ALL my pictures there. My portfolio has fallen victim to my flighty lack of organization, and I have LOTS of pictures scattered all about various and assorted hard drives and media, not to mention the dozens of images yet to be processed. Hence, I would like to think I might be able to adhere to a commitment to produce and add either a minimum of one new picture a day to the Zen galleries, or at the very LEAST, 5 new pictures per week. At least, this is my new intention. Again, for those who know me, you know how likely this is to endure the challenges of everyday life here at the Nuthouse Estate. Nonetheless, I MUST hold out hope that positive change truly IS possible…with enough persistence…even for the likes of me.

I will include a new picture with each post. It will be added to the galleries here (once I can figure out how this new theme gallery thing actually WORKS) AND at the Zen galleries at my Online Store. The picture may or may not have anything whatsoever to do with the post…I’m making no promises. Nor will all of them be brand new shots…though many will be ‘new’ shots to viewers here. I have GOALS people! I am artist…watch me grow (or fall, and get back up and go at it again…)

ABOUT THIS IMAGE:

November, 2010. This shot was taken while on one of those famous exploratory photo safaris with my shooting buddy, Sonja Dover. We stopped at an idyllic little farm in Campobello (Shady Oaks Farm), on the corner of 176 and 11, where Sonja and I were treated to a wonderful guided tour and visit with the charming proprietors, complete with stories to go with most every wonderful antique they had on display. UBER charming couple and delightful mini-farm!

View and purchase this image from the Still Life gallery at the Online Store!