The other night, several youth from my church went to a puppet show featuring the PETER Puppets.
In the picture above, “Skip” is trying to figure out what to do about a peer pressure problem.
He gets some solid advice from an old friend.
And he sings too!
The youth from our church who went to the show are part of our own puppet ministry. The kids research, write, rehearse and perform stories at our church, so we thought it would be educational for them to see how the pros do it!
At the end of the show, Chris, of PETER Puppets, spoke to our kids about how he got his start in puppet ministry.
Our kids were inspired by the show and are excited to continue to develop stories for our church! We’re doing a promo skit this Sunday during Children’s Time for this summer’s Vacation Bible School featuring Prince William! Shhhhh! Don’t want to give too much away. See you in church on Sunday! It’s going to be so much fun!
P.S. Note to Chris and the PETER Puppets: My 7-year-old son, Gregory, whispered to me during the show: “Mom, they spelled ‘Soda Shop’ backwards.”
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 2:40 pm
Six days after Easter: This is the day on which we first observe the emergence of leaves on the dogwood we are watching. Pathetically, the pool only has one entry: mine. I am guessing she’ll be at full blossom by Day 21 after Easter. What’s your guess?
Both of the pictures in today’s post were taken Saturday afternoon around 4:30 p.m. See the leaf buds on this one? I love watching trees grow!
As a little bonus spring shot, this is the view from my desk at The Times. Those are Natasha’s flowers. Thanks, Natasha, for the pretty view!
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 6:38 am
Four days after Easter: This bud is near the top of the tree. This could take weeks!
In case you’re new to the blog, we’re watching to see how many days after Easter my dogwood blossoms. Let’s start a pool! I’ll start the bidding at 21 days after Easter for fully opened blossoms over most of the tree.
Remember Twirly? Bradley says I should make a “wanted” poster with this picture. He’s seriously squirrel obsessed.
Wanted: one dogwood that can survive a winter’s worth of squirrel claws.
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 3:14 pm
Three days after Easter: Did I say I would POST a picture of my dogwood every day until she blossoms, or just TAKE one? Well, in any case, for my dogwood followers, here’s yesterday’s picture, a close-up on manual focus. I have really bad eyes, so manual focus is iffy at best. I love the hint of the crown of thorns in this shot though.
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 6:33 pm
We’ve been watching all week to see if the dogwood might blossom in time for Easter. Considering the fact that she normally blossoms around the middle of April, I figured there wasn’t much chance this year. But we watched anyway, just to see if there would be any sign of life in the winter bud. While she has looked pretty much the same every day in terms of bud-opening, or not opening, she certainly is colorful when we look closely!
The picture above was taken before the sunrise Easter service at my church, at around 6:30 a.m. The golden color is the light in the dining room glowing in the window. She’s not blossoming in time for Easter, but true to my promise, look for a picture a day until she does blossom!
The rest of the pictures below follow in chronological order, generally, through my Easter Sunday, starting with the sunrise service in the church cemetery, above.
That’s Bradley singing in the choir — he’s the tall one in the center in the tie. I promised him that every year after he sings at the sunrise service, I’ll take him to Dunkin’ Donuts. That’s worth getting up at 6 for. No?
The light was beautiful.
But man, it was COLD! Somebody said it was around 30 degrees when the service started.
Love the light in this one too.
In between services, I took the obligatory boys-dressed-up-for-Easter picture. Gregory just LOVES having his picture taken. He sang at the 9 o’clock in a robe three sizes too small. Next year, I promise, Gregory will have a robe that fits.
My choir fully appreciates Brenda, our director/organist, especially after the later services on Easter Sunday when she plays that Toccata for the postlude. I always know it’s Easter when I hear that Toccata. And I love to hear Amy sing “Was It a Morning Like This?” I especially like the lyrics, “Did the grass sing? Did the earth rejoice to feel You again?” Thanks, Amy and Brenda, for being such a big part of Easter for me!
I’m not saying a word.
The senior choir sings at two indoor services on Easter. In between, we are treated to omelettes courtesy of Ramon. (I paid for mine with a picture.)
My omelette was delicious and there were NO BUGS!
All joking aside, Ramon, you are the OMELETTE KING of the Easter feast! Thanks!
After church, I went hunting for proof of spring. Found it in one little tulip on the verge of blooming in my backyard…
…Found it in the games of wiffle ball too…
…and in the bird watching.
Found spring in the outdoor child supervising.
…And more wiffle ball.
I love this picture of all my boys.
Did I mention the G-rex loves having his picture taken? (Not really, but he LOVES being on the blog so I promised I’d get a post done for him as long as he gave me a nice picture! Yay!)
Was it a beautiful day or WHAT?!
Name that park. (That’s TOO easy!)
It’s still cold enough for ice skating.
Bradley is the man of many colors today. From choir boy in a tie at sunrise, to bird watcher, wiffle player, military virologist (yeah, don’t ask, trust me on that one)…
…to slurping jello through a straw in the evening.
I love my family!
Thank you to all my blog readers for taking this “Walk Through Holy Week” with me. I’ll continue to update you on the dogwood until she blossoms. I have faith that she will eventually show us her colors, reminding us of her Easter story, even if Easter has come and gone so early.
Peace, my friends,
jules
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 10:28 pm
This is my new favorite “unportrait” of Bradley and Gregory! Love the angles, the light, the sky, the clouds, the honey locust trees, the depth, everything! COOL! We were out all afternoon playing on this beautiful Saturday before Easter, and I took lots of pictures of my sweet boys. LOVE YOU, GUYS!
Later on, as I started to edit the pictures in the waning light of sunset, I was talking to my mom on the phone — she lives in Charleston where the dogwoods are in full blossom and I’m SO jealous — and she asked me if I knew why Easter is so early this year.
By the way, here’s today’s dogwood mugshot. (And some more randomly scattered throughout this disorganized post.) My dogwood is not going to blossom by Easter morning. But we knew that already and can still appreciate the Charleston dogwoods, thanks to my friend, Jill.
So anyway, the timing of Easter for us Western Christians (as opposed to Eastern Orthodox Christians) is based on a complicated formula of the Gregorian calendar, as in Pope Gregory XIII. (My Gregory will like reading that one!)
Generally speaking, Easter falls on the first Sunday after the full moon that occurs after the vernal equinox.
But that’s not entirely true.
Because the “full moon” of which we speak is not the ACTUAL full moon, but an ecclesiastical full moon, which just means that it’s the full moon as determined from tables, and not necessarily the exact date of the astronomical full moon.
But, thankfully, that table of full moons is pretty close to the astronomical one. Phew!
So, Easter falls on the first Sunday…
… following the ecclesiastical full moon…
…that occurs on or after…
… the day of the vernal equinox.
This ecclesiastical full moon is the 14th day of a tabular lunation. (Day 1 of a tabular lunation corresponds to the ecclesiastical new moon.)
(Got a headache yet?)
… And since the vernal equinox is fixed as March 21…
… that means that Easter can never fall before March 22 or later than April 25.
The vernal equinox occurred on March 20 this year, and the ecclesiastical full moon occurred on March 21, so, happy Easter tomorrow!
Just remember, you can’t go by the astronomical full moon…
… because there are differences between the astronomical full moon and the ecclesiastical one. Lunar motion is a complex system!
In 1962, for example, the astronomical full moon was on March 21, 6 hours AFTER the astronomical equinox. The ecclesiastical full moon was on March 20 and BEFORE the ecclesiastical equinox on March 21. If the date of Easter was determined by the astronomical full moon, Easter would have been on March 25 in 1962. But following the rules, Easter was not until the Sunday that came after the next ecclesiastical full moon on Wednesday, April 18. So Easter Sunday fell on April 22 in 1962. My brothers, Steve and Bill, age 2 and 4 then, would have had a grand and fully warm Easter that year!
And I most definitely have a headache!
So for my mom, down in Charleston with the blossoming dogwoods, here’s a pretty bud for you and the gift of answering your question, “Why does Easter fall so early this year?” (Information gleaned from the United States Naval Observatory and various calendars and astronomical tables.)
Above, that’s my dogwood from the point of view of the squirrel-proof bird feeder looking up at the sky.
Incidentally, here’s a little Julie tidbit for all my loyal blog readers…
… my mom was BORN on Easter Sunday! Her name is Easter! Her birthday won’t fall on Easter again until 2018, on which date, she says, she will turn 4 years old.
…Because thanks to leap year and the ecclesiastical moons and the vernal equinox and the… oh never mind… I have to be at church at 6:40 a.m. GOODNIGHT!
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 8:17 pm
At last night’s Maundy Thursday Tenebrae Service, the bell in the Sanctuary tolled 33 times in complete darkness, once for each year of Jesus’ life on earth. After the last bell, and a moment of silence in a crowded Sanctuary, the pastor lit the Christ candle, symbol of hope for what is to come on Easter morning, and yet we leave the Sanctuary in darkness, speaking little, if at all, to our friends as we headed toward Good Friday.
Instead, we listened to the profound silence.
As I was walking into the church last night, the sky was beautiful against the trees and clouds. Can you see the moon? (Bottom center.) Bradley and I have always thought of pink clouds as being a symbol of hope, so I thought it was interesting that I’d be walking into church last night and notice pink clouds.
This morning Bradley and I watched the alternate DVD version of the movie “I Am Legend” with a different ending from the theatrical one.
SPOILER ALERT. Not to worry. If you haven’t seen the movie or read the book, my discussion will not spoil if for you, so keep reading.
A voiceover in the alternate version says, “You are not alone. There is hope. Keep listening.”
That’s the message of Easter! Because I committed myself to writing about Holy Week, I’ve been listening very carefully, and watching with an open mind, waiting for inspiration.
The great thing is: It was there all along! All I had to do was open my eyes and ears.
I hear it in the seasons, too, watching the trees. Above, today’s dogwood mugshot.
We’ve been watching her all week. And even though I’m pretty sure MY dogwood won’t blossom in time for Easter morning, the dogwoods SOMEwhere are blossoming!
In fact, just today, my friend, Jill, in Charleston, took pictures of her blossoming dogwood and posted them on her blog JUST FOR US! See? Keep listening and watching.
There is hope!
Coming tomorrow on my walk: don’t know yet. I’m still waiting for inspiration.
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 4:05 pm
The title of this post should have been “A Day of Random Reflections” because that’s what it’s turned out to be. My life has a weird randomness to it that has my head spinning.
I’ll start with the first pictures of the day, taken around 2 a.m. at the Metuchen train station, above.
That truck was too tall to fit under the train trellis. It rammed into the bridge and sheared off the top of the cab.
I’m just letting you know in case you heard a really loud crash some time last night and wondered what it was.
I thought the parking sign was interesting covered with rain drops and glowing in the streetlight. The randomness of the little reflections combined with “24″ as in round-the-clock randomness — see? That sign is my life.
Ever since I got my new camera, I wondered if I could take a picture of the church courtyard at night with no flash, and actually get a decent shot. It worked!
First thing this morning, I checked on the dogwood.
Still not much movement in the blossoming department, but the pictures are challenging my graphic edgyness. I like the one above for it’s random focus, yet nicely spaced intervals.
I took this one of Bradley working at the computer, trying to see if I could get a cool reflection in his glasses. Ah, not so cool, but I still like the picture. It has a graphic composition of balanced corners that I like.
To complete the circle of randomness, I went to the Concert for Peace at Gregory’s school today. That’s Gregory, the tall one in the tie.
Above, and below: random pictures from the concert.
(Wide angle lens.)
(Sisters.)
Just after the bow at the end of the concert. (He bowed into her head!)
I’m heading out the door in a minute. My choir is singing at the Maundy Thursday Tenebrae Service at church, my favorite worship service of the whole year, and the one which will end my randomness for the day. The church will grow darker as the service progresses through the story of Jesus’s last night, ending with the Sanctuary in complete darkness, the symbol of the darkness of the tomb. And then one candle, the Christ candle will be lit…
Coming tomorrow on my walk: Hope.
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 5:41 pm
My Lenten Promise has nothing to do with my dogwood tree, but I couldn’t resist posting that gorgeous picture of today’s bud! I’m having lots of fun every morning inspecting the tree for signs of blossoming.
For all you budding photography pros out there, I fully recommend taking pictures of plants and trees as a way to learn the settings of your camera.
And now…
MY LENTEN PROMISE
February 5 was the last day I let myself waste time doing senseless computer nonsense. Namely, this nonsense was in the form of a photography forum I visited quite often.
When I was first starting out, I needed that forum of professional photography colleagues to help me figure things out. It was a valuable business tool and worth the time I spent searching the forum for answers to the many questions I had.
But as my participation in the forum grew, and I developed friendships with people, I eventually came to realize that I was using “downtime” to sift the forum, entering into thread discussions that really had nothing to do with my business or my photography. In short, I was WASTING TIME!
Considering the fact that I work roughly 18 hours a day, 7 days a week, and still have a long list of tasks to accomplish, I CAN’T AFFORD TO WASTE TIME!
So I prayed about it, asking God to help me control my downtime. The answer came quickly: Ban yourself from the forum, child!
So I banned myself from the forum.
Starting at midnight at the beginning of Ash Wednesday through Easter, I promised myself I would not use downtime unwisely by going on the forum. That was my Lenten Sacrifice.
In my personal world view, though, Lent should not be a time of sacrifice solely for personal gain, but a time of sacrifice that ultimately betters the world or community around oneself.
At first, it was hard not checking out the forum because clicking over to the site had become a habit — something I would do when I just needed a “minute” to myself. Problem was, it was never just a minute!
The image above shows my computer screen and a sticky note I began as a diary of my addiction withdrawal. As you can see, I only wrote for the first three days. After that, I forgot all about it. While I do miss my forum friends, I can’t say that I miss the forum at all.
I’ve become so much more productive and focused during Lent, and I’ve found that I’ve been able to get so much more done! I completed several custom coffeetable book designs which my clients LOVE, scheduled extra shoots I didn’t think I’d have time for, designed birth announcements and thank you cards, revised my contracts, designed a new newsletter, and the list goes on and on!
But the accomplishment of which I’m most proud is the rehearsal tapes Web site I developed for my choir. Using rehearsal tapes provided by our director, I developed a system for uploading the music so that anyone can practice our anthems at home with the choir director singing each part — soprano, alto, tenor, bass — as a separate mp3 file! Members of the children’s choirs are enjoying it too because they can sing their church songs at home for their parents! It’s great for me because now I get to spend any “downtime” learning my alto part! The director loves it because she’ll be able to spend less rehearsal time teaching notes and rhythms and more time on precision and balance. I LOVE IT, and the feedback I’m getting from the choir members, from age 4 through 74 is that the rehearsal site is WAY COOL and SERIOUSLY HELPFUL! I can even download the songs to my iPod and sing on the train (inside my head, of course), and one of the choir members volunteered to burn CDs of the music for choir members who don’t have computers!
YAY!
My Lenten Promise turned out to be a grand success!
Plus, I’ve had more time to take fun pictures of the beautiful trees God gave us!
I don’t know about you, but I think that bud is dangerously close to popping!
Thank you, God, for giving me the Biblical example of Christ’s sacrifice, empowering me to thoughtfully examine my place in the world and what is expected of me, and to realize that Your gift of time on earth is not to be wasted.
Amen.
Coming tomorrow on my Walk: A Day of Reflections
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 3:12 pm
In the Living Dramatization of Leonardo Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper,” an event at my church last night, worshippers entered the Sanctuary just after Jesus spoke the words from Matthew 26:21 “…Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me.” This is the point at which Leonardo created his famous painting, and the point at which the dramatization began.
I was in the back balcony, taking pictures only during the songs with no flash. I took the picture above with my Nikon D3 on ISO 6400, f/3.2 at shutter speed 1/160 seconds. Focal length: 52 mm. The lights in the Sanctuary were very low; the actors on the edges were in shadows creating quite a lighting difference between “Jesus” in the center, and “Simon” on the far right and “Nathaniel” on the far left.
You can see the picture above as a 13×19 print displayed in the First Presbyterian Church of Metuchen Narthex on Easter Sunday.
This one realistically depicts the lighting, and how far back I was, except the camera makes it seem as though the chandeliers were bright, and they were actually dimmed quite a lot.
I could switch lenses and get closer too.
“Jesus,” right, stared straight ahead for entire length of the program.
The dramatization explored the instant emotional tumult the disciples might have felt just after Jesus spoke of the impending betrayal. One by one, each man broke his pose and delivered a soliloquy revealing his inner thoughts, ultimately questioning who the guilty one was, and each one ending with “Is it I?” before resuming his pose in Leonardo’s painting.
When I said I only took pictures during the songs, I lied! Yikes! I did take this one during “Philip’s” monologue as a way to illustrate the point of the dramatization.
We either need a slightly shorter table, or a spotlight.
In this one, I did a little photoshop work to see if I could even out the lighting by blending two versions of the same picture. I bumped the exposure up for the end with “Simon,” and darkened the side with “Matthew,” but I didn’t bother disguising the line between the two exposures because I think it looks kind of interesting, like a rainbow. I’m sure you can see it.
Here’s what it really looked like, with no exposure tweaking in photoshop. If you go back to the image at the top of this post, I bet you can’t see that line. I photoshopped it out on the picture I wanted to make as a big print. Sneaky, huh? (But it’s possible you can see a subtle line in the print.)
Click here for a little slide show of the split second after the actors finally were allowed to break pose.
To all involved in the production: EXCELLENT job! From the costumes to the backdrop to the acting, posing and music, it was a very moving service. Thank you for all your hard work!
Yesterday, I promised an update on the dogwood’s progress. Will she blossom in time for Easter? I seriously doubt there’s any chance we’ll see even a hint of blossoming by Sunday but I’ll keep watch, just in case.
Above, that’s her mugshot for today. Not much different from Monday, except the sun has gone away. Coming tomorrow on my walk through Holy Week: my Lenten promise.
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 11:36 am
