Becca's perspective of Buster

Becca had a chance today to use her new camera to take pictures of one of her favorite subjects. She slipped on the ice and sort of fell into this perspective. She was quick enough to snap the shutter, so she thinks she may be a photographer some day.

Ice Storm

We have been buried in ice the last few days and are thankful that our power is delivered underground instead of from poles like other parts of the state.

There are very few original trees from when we first moved into the house and one of them is this Magnolia that is sagging under the weight of the ice. I sure hope it pulls itself up when the ice thaws. We have shot many three point shots through its branches over the years, so it will be hard to imagine the front yard without the Magnolia hanging over the driveway.

Becca and I went out this afternoon to take some pictures of the sun reflecting off and through the ice.

I also wanted to record some of the damage that occured around the house as our gutters were pulled slightly away from the house under the weight of the ice and constant rain snuck behind the flashing against the brick in the back of the house under the main roof.

Taking photos of minor damage seems trivial as the state experiences the second largest power outage in history.

If you can see past all of the damage, the vision is rather glorious.

The kids have also taken advantage of the comfortable 32 degree weather, lack of friction on the ground, and no school for the entire week.

Lots of sledding and sleepovers.

As I passed the elementary school on the way home from work, I noticed many families that decided to have some fun instead of cleaning up trees. Most of the tree cleanup can wait, but you can't sled next week.

The last picture is of the Tulip tree in our back yard. Seeing how this is the Kentucky state tree, one would hope that it would survive Kentucky weather. It lost some branches, but it is fairing better than our Cherry, Lilac, Dogwood and Magnolia.

I Dare You

While we were staying with Jackie's dad over Christmas, I looked through an old Purina 100 year anniversary book that had some great photography. I saw a reference to a book written by William H Danforth, the founder of Ralston Purina Company.

"I Dare You" was written to inspire the people of his company and the youth of America to pursue excellence and develop themselves in a balanced manner.

He tied these basic truths to the checkboard that helped to establish the long lasting brand on every mill and every bag of feed and on every box of cereal. The four sides of the squares represented fourfold development:

• Think Tall - Mental Development
• Stand Tall - Physical Development
• Smile Tall - Social Development
• Live Tall - Religious Development

After enjoying the entire book, some of my favorite parts were references to other great leaders like this statement by Sir Wilfred Grenfell, "If the hardest thing in the world to resist is temptation, we should present a vision of Christ that tempts men the right way..... it intoxicates with deeds of kindness, justice, chivalry, love".

Later he shared a perspective of the story of the loaves and fishes that struck a chord with me. His focus was on attitude, not the work that was done. The attitude that takes account of the resources possessed rather than the difficulties presented. "Measure your powers, not your problems". When the disciples counted the crowd and complained that a few loaves were not enough, Jesus said "Don't look at the hillside, look at the basket. Don't count the crowd, count the loaves." Resources and powers are given to those who use what resources and powers they have.

• Through the use of our muscles, our muscles group and harden
• Through the use of our mind, mental capacity increases
• Through the use of our spiritual powers, these powers heighten