People

Farewell to Friends

Photograph taken on Saturday, June 18, 2016 by Henry
Farewell to Friends

Farewell to Friends

Nooree and Jane moved out today, heading back to Philadelphia and the next stage of their epic journey. We are so blessed to have had the chance to get to know them and look forward to hearing about the next stage of their lives. We’re also going to miss them and their darling, wonderful, exuberant, and beautiful children. Cathy and I have been involved in countless moves through the years and now that we’re the other side of 50 we have less trouble saying that we’ll play with the kids or I’ll take pictures for posterity. We actually didn’t even show up until the truck was about 99% loaded. Nooree asked if I’d take a group picture for them and here it is. Note: I’m in this picture. That part was taken by Cathy. The rest is mine.

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Leaving On A Jet Plane

Photograph taken on Monday, June 06, 2016 by Henry
Dulles International Airport

Dulles International Airport

Once again I’m late posting this (posting on Saturday, June 11) but the photo was taken on Monday, June 6. Cathy and I took the day off work today and the day was basically dedicated to getting Dorothy to the airport and on her way. We left home at about 11:30 and had no trouble getting to the airport. The airport in general was not crowded and the line at the Aeroflot counter in particular was not long so we didn’t have to wait more than about 15 minutes to check her one bag. We had plenty of time before her flight and as usual, I looked around for interesting views of Dulles.

Cathy, Dorothy, and Henry

Cathy, Dorothy, and Henry

The signs for the security entrance to the gates said there was only a ten minute wait so we sat and chatted a little while before Dorothy headed off for the first leg of her four leg journey to Turkey. Her first flight was by far the longest, going over the north Atlantic (and directly over Iceland) to Moscow. That’s a new country for Dorothy and she was happy to be able to add it to her list. After sitting with her a little while, we saw her off to the secured area of the airport and were home for a while before she boarded an Airbus 330-300 and her adventure began.

Oh, and FYI, I only took two-thirds of the second of these pictures. Cathy took the picture of me that has been edited into the one I took of Cathy and Dorothy.

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Seth and Iris

Photograph taken on Saturday, June 04, 2016 by Henry
Seth and Iris

Seth and Iris

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to take any pictures during the ceremony. There were plenty of others to do that, including the professional photographer. Video was also shot, so it should be covered well enough. But in spite of having basically the best seat in the house (I was standing, actually), I didn’t have the liberty to stop and take pictures. In any case, I did get a few before and after the wedding, when my official duties were complete. Most of the guests had left for the reception and a few of us were still at the farm loading things into our vans and cars. The photographer was still working with Iris and Seth on a few pictures and I took a moment to join in, taking a couple of them walking together. It was a beautiful, if somewhat hot, afternoon but the rain held off and Iris and Seth got married.

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Planting the Wedding Tree

Photograph taken on Friday, June 03, 2016 by Henry
Seth and Iris Planting the Wedding Tree

Seth and Iris Planting the Wedding Tree

Iris and Seth’s wedding weekend has finally arrived (well, if you count taking Friday off work as part of the weekend, anyway). We drove up to Pennsylvania this morning to get some of the final things done before tomorrow’s wedding. First, Cathy and I made sure the portable toilets were delivered and in the right locations. Then we went to the Round Barn to drop some things off and for me to set up the photo booth. Cathy and Tsai-Hong left to go to the farm and while they were there (and I was still working on the photo booth) it rained. I mean, it really rained. By the time I got to the farm, the rain had stopped but the ground was really wet. The few cars that came up to the cabin tore up the ground a bit and we stopped others from driving that far so it wouldn’t get any worse.

But about this tree. Iris and Seth wanted to plant a tree as part of their wedding but didn’t want to interrupt the ceremony long enough to do the whole thing, so they did most of the work today, a day ahead. Iris’s brother, Steve, dug the hole for them and the two of us carried the tree down from mom’s van. Then Seth and Iris did the actual planting. Tomorrow, during the service, they will put a few final shovels of dirt on it. Later we’ll put a fence around it to keep animals off and I’ll stake it to keep it upright until it has enough roots growing into the undisturbed soil around it.

The tree the picked is a black gum, also known as a tupelo. It is a variety called ‘Red Rage’ and is a lovely tree with shiny green leaves and spectacular fall color and with berries that attract birds. It was also picked as a tree likely to do well in both wet and drought conditions (i.e., “…for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health…”).

Categories: Flowers and Plants, People | 1 Comment

Congratulations, James!

Photograph taken on Saturday, May 21, 2016 by Henry
Amy, Dr. Vanderpoel, James, and Jon

Amy, Dr. Vanderpoel, James, and Jon

We were fortunate enough to be able to share the excitement today with two families whose youngest sons were graduating from Trinity Christian School in Fairfax. This is Amy, James (the graduate) and Jon (the older brother). We’ve known them since Dorothy entered kindergarten and was a classmate of Jon’s through third grade (when we switched schools). We also enjoyed seeing Nate and his family. We see the youngest of his sisters (Karlee) more than the rest but it was great to see Laurie, Stacy, and Amy. Hard to believe it’s been nearly ten years since Amy got married! Anyway, a fun time. Congratulations, James! And Nate!

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Jules

Photograph taken on Thursday, May 19, 2016 by Henry
Jules

Jules

Few people take the time to comment on the pictures on my blog. Followers who see the pictures on Facebook do a little more frequently but even there it’s probably on fewer than half of my pictures. That’s fine, of course, I don’t want people to comment for the sake of commenting (although I do like knowing that people are actually seeing them).

The reason I bring this up is that I had my first non-spam comment in over 7 months after posting the picture of Cathy two days ago. Even that wouldn’t have rated a mention here except the comment came from Julia’s mom. And here I am, two days later, posting a picture of Julia (or, as I call her, Jules, because she’s a gem). She had finished just finished her junior year in college and was home for the summer. At least she was out of school for the summer. She was only home for a few days before heading off to some flatland in flyover country for an internship. I only make it sound like a wasteland because it meant that Jules couldn’t work for us this summer. We were hoping to get quite a bit of her time to work in both our house and Cathy’s mom’s. But, that’s the way it goes.

Maureen and Bob (Julia’s parents) asked us over for dinner this evening, sharing one of their few evenings before Julia left with us. It was an honor to be invited and we had such a good time with them all. Thanks, guys. We sure love you.

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Cathy

Photograph taken on Tuesday, May 17, 2016 by Henry
Cathy

Cathy

I nearly called it quits tonight. Since the beginning of 2011 (actually starting three days before that, on December 29, 2010, I’ve taken at least one photograph every day. The first year’s worth were posted to Facebook and then starting in 2012 they’ve been posted here. I still linked to them from Facebook and more recently posted them to Instagram, as well.

There have been a few times when I wasn’t sure I’d keep going. For the few of you who actually read this, rather than just enjoy the pictures on Instagram or Facebook, I really appreciate it. You are the main reason I’ve kept going. The next level are those who mention to me that they enjoy the pictures on Facebook. I know a lot more people see them than comment or even click on the “Like” button (because I hear from you in other ways) and that’s quite encouraging, as well.

This evening it was a few minutes before 11:00 p.m. and I hadn’t taken a picture. Cathy had just gotten home form her indoor soccer game and when I told her I was thinking about just not taking a picture today she said, “come on, get off the couch and take a picture of me.” So, I did. And here we are, continuing the streak at 1,967 days.

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Cathy’s New Hanging Baskets

Photograph taken on Friday, May 06, 2016 by Henry
Cathy's New Hanging Baskets

Cathy’s New Hanging Baskets

Generally Cathy likes to buy plants and put together hanging baskets for herself. That gives her the chance to be creative, to use the plants and colors that she particularly likes, and also saves money by starting with smaller plants that will quickly fill the baskets in any case. This year, however, there was an item in the school’s annual silent auction for four hanging baskets from a mostly wholesale nursery. Cathy bid on them and ended up with the high bid. Today she went and picked out the four she wanted. Three of them are going on hooks in the back yard and the fourth (the pink one in the middle of this photo) will go to her mom’s house.

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Wedding Arch

Photograph taken on Saturday, April 30, 2016 by Henry
Wedding Arch Construction Team

Wedding Arch Construction Team

Iris and Seth are getting married in a few short weeks. They chose to get married at ‘the farm’ in Pennsylvania and one thing Iris wanted was an arch or gateway like one she saw on Pinterest. If you search for ‘wedding arch’ there you will see hundreds (thousands?) of different arches made of a very wide variety of materials and decorated in an even wider array of materials. This is the one Iris liked and wanted us to reproduce. The wood was bought last year from a local saw mill and has been outside weathering since then. Today, we erected the gateway. It is not decorated yet, of course, but the heavy lifting (and I mean that literally) is done. From left to right in the picture are yours truly, Dot, Tsai-Hong, Ralph, Seth, Iris (with Bean), and Steve (with D’Argo).

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Oberon – A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Photograph taken on Friday, April 15, 2016 by Henry
Oberon – A Midsummer Night's Dream

Oberon – A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Night two of the three show run of A Midsummer Night’s Dream (or, as we call it, Judah in Tights) at Washington Christian Academy was a success and I was there again, enjoying the show and taking a few pictures, as is my wont. In addition to taking pictures during the show, I took some before, as well, while the actors and actresses were getting into costume and makeup. When they are ready, they hang about, talking and laughing, occasionally singing, and generally having a good time.

Judah, who plays Oberon, the King of the Fairies, was up on the boxes that make up most of the stage set. During the performance he’s up there a fair amount and at one point jumps off, his cape filling with air as he descends. During the show I’m not using flash, of course, so the 1/80 or 1/100 second exposure isn’t fast enough to stop the action and although I got the picture, it’s fairly blurred. So, before the show this evening I asked him to do it for me and was ready with my flash. This is the result. It still isn’t as sharp as I’d like, but motion is like that.

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Ethan and Abbie

Photograph taken on Saturday, April 09, 2016 by Henry
Ethan and Abbie

Ethan and Abbie

Cathy and I spent the afternoon and evening with Ben and Erin’s younger kids today and had a really nice time. We’ve gotten to know them reasonably well overt the last year and a bit, except Ethan, of course, because he only officially joined the family recently. We really enjoyed being with them and getting to know Ethan a bit better, in particular. Abbie came home for a little while before leaving again for a babysitting gig and although she’s not a fan of having her picture taken, she did let me take a few of her and her youngest brother. I think this one turned out pretty well.

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Oberon, King Of The Fairies

Photograph taken on Tuesday, April 05, 2016 by Henry
Oberon (a.k.a. Judah), King of the Fairies

Oberon (a.k.a. Judah), King of the Fairies

The Washington Christian Academy high school theater production this year is to be A Midsummer Night’s Dream (by Bill Shakespeare). I spent a few hours today taking portraits of all the students involved (with the exception of one who was out sick). They didn’t have their costumes yet, but some had makeup put on for the first time today. As you can see, Judah is one such actor. He plays the part of Oberon, feuding with Titania over the fate of a changeling boy.

Why should Titania cross her Oberon?
I do but beg a little changeling boy,
To be my henchman.

As you probably know, he concocts a potion made from the flower ‘Love-in-idleness’ (the wild pansy, Viola tricolor) to make her fall in love with the first creature she sees upon waking. As is usual in such a play, particularly when the Bard of Avon is involved, things get complicated. If you want to know how it all ends, you’ll have to come next week. Show times are Thursday and Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday at noon. Contact WCA for information on tickets.

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Kadie and Stephen

Photograph taken on Sunday, April 03, 2016 by Henry
Kadie and Stephen

Kadie and Stephen

We were fortunate enough to be able to help Kadie and Stephen celebrate their nuptials this afternoon and evening. Their wedding was beautiful, fun, and somewhat funny and we wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else. Planning an outdoor wedding for the first week of April is a risk but aside from being a little cool it was a gloriously beautiful day. This is the happy couple leaving the reception, being saluted by their friends and family with light sabers and glow wands.

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Ethan Arrives!

Photograph taken on Saturday, March 19, 2016 by Henry
Ben, Will, Gracy, Hope, Ethan, Lilly, and Erin

Ben, Will, Gracy, Hope, Ethan, Lilly, and Erin

It was an exciting day today for some very good friends of ours. Ben and Erin and their family have been working to adopt Ethan for about two years and all that work and effort finally payed off. Ben and Lilly (daughter number three) left last Saturday and returned late this morning. Cathy and I were privileged to be allowed to come so I could take pictures. If you are connected to the family on facebook you have probably already seen some of them, posted by Erin and Abbie, but I wanted to put this up here. It’s by far my favorite of the pictures I got. We are all so excited to get to know Ethan and to welcome him into our community.

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Adera and Alshadye

Photograph taken on Sunday, March 13, 2016 by Henry
Adera and Alshadye

Adera and Alshadye

We had a bit of an unusual church service this week. Our pastor was out of town. He knew he would be leaving sometime but didn’t know when, for sure. This is all due to an adoption process that is very time consuming (not to mention costly) and fraught with all sorts of hurdles and hoops over and through which the adoptive parents must leap.

Instead of a regular sermon, we heard from six people from the church, four individuals and one couple. One of them was Alshadye, the young woman in this photograph. As we were preparing before the service, we were looking for pictures of the various speakers to put up on the screens. I had at least one of each of the others (and we also found some on Facebook) but I didn’t have any that were any good of Alshadye.

So, after the service I got out my camera (as I often do) and took some pictures, including this one of her with her son, Adera.

Not having a picture was pretty irrelevant, of course. What she shared with us was much more important and I’m so thankful to have her worshiping with us and involved in our community.

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Will and Ben

Photograph taken on Wednesday, March 02, 2016 by Henry
Will and Ben

Will and Ben

It was a pretty eventful day, but more about that in a minute. We want to Ben and Erin’s house for our bi-weekly prayer meeting and Bible study. It was a good time, both for the actual prayer and Bible study and simple as a time with friends. As usual, I brought my camera. I don’t always get it out, but I typically have it with me anywhere I go. This is Will and Ben (or more precisely Ben and Ben, but the younger Ben goes by his middle name, which is William.

Self-portrait, by Will

Self-portrait, by Will

Will took a bunch of pictures with my camera, as well, and I thought I’d share one of them with you. So, this is a self portrait that he took, not really realizing that the flash would totally overwhelm the rest of the picture. But I kind of like it. It’s a somewhat surreal self portrait and suited to his personality. He also took a really good picture of me making a weird face at the camera. I won’t be sharing that one.

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Dinner With Friends and Family

Photograph taken on Monday, February 29, 2016 by Henry
Dinner Gathering

Dinner Gathering

I didn’t get out much today. I went to work and was in my office pretty much straight through. Rather than come home and find something to photograph today, however, Cathy call to say that her mom had asked us to come for dinner. She had some folks staying with her, Tim and Karen, who are in the middle of this photograph. She also had five others over, plus us, making 10. We had a very nice time chatting, visiting with folks we already know and meeting a few that we don’t.

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WCA History Night

Photograph taken on Thursday, February 25, 2016 by Henry
Collyn, Queen of Egypt

Collyn, Queen of Egypt

There are many things I love about Washington Christian Academy. Among my favorite things they do it History Night. Every year the elementary school puts on a show. Each class represents a culture and period in history in story and song. We haven’t been every year but this has been a part of our lives for many years and it always brings me back to Dorothy’s elementary school days. This is Collyn, first grade teacher and sometime Egyptian queen, in her classroom, which has been transformed into the inside of a pyramid, decorated with the life sized self-portraits of her students. We still have Dorothy’s from first grade.

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A Bit of Snow

Photograph taken on Saturday, January 23, 2016 by Henry
Cathy, Waist Deep In Snow

Cathy, Waist Deep In Snow

When I got up this morning there was just about 20 inches of snow on the ground, give or take an inch depending on where I measured. The wind was blowing it around a fair amount and while there weren’t many drifts in the yard, there were around any large object (car, house, tree, that sort of thing). I shoveled about half way down the drive but of course much of that work will need to be repeated tomorrow, once it stops snowing.

In the early afternoon we went for a short walk out to Norbeck Road. Our street hasn’t been plowed although something had driving down it and there were two large tire tracks we could walk in. The main road through the neighborhood had been plowed once but still had quite a bit of snow on it. We managed to get out to Norbeck, which was quite passable, if you could get to it (which I don’t think we could, even in our four-wheel-drive vehicle.

But it was nice to get out. Of course, after an hour or so in the snow, particularly on the way back when the wind was in our faces, it was even nicer to get indoors again. We did stop to enjoy watching our neighbor kids sledding on a hill their dad had made with a picnic table and piled snow. It wasn’t Vail or Stowe but for little kids, it was just about perfect.

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Family Dinner

Photograph taken on Thursday, January 21, 2016 by Henry
Tsai-Hong, Ralph, Steve, Dot, Brady, Seth, Iris, Cathy, and Maya

Tsai-Hong, Ralph, Steve, Dot, Brady, Seth, Iris, Cathy, and Maya

Since last summer we have been trying to have a somewhat regular family dinner. Those who can get together on a Thursday evening at a local restaurant. We can’t all come every week but when we can, we do. It’s been a very good thing and I only wish we had started it years earlier. Over the Christmas and New Year season our weeks get quite busy with other things so it’s been a while since we were all together. Tonight we had a nice meal at El Mariachi. The meal was secondary, though, it’s always the people. So thankful for this funny old family of ours. It isn’t a great picture but at least you can see everyone.

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