Tagged With: Shady Grove PCA

Shady Grove Ensemble

Photograph taken on Sunday, December 23, 2018 by Henry
Shady Grove Ensemble

Shady Grove Ensemble

The ensemble played at church this morning and we really enjoyed the music. A few instruments are nice but there’s nothing that really compares to the depth and richness of an orchestra. Of course this doesn’t qualify as an orchestra, but it’s as close as a church this size is likely to get. It’s worth it. In addition to the saxiphone, trumpets, flutes, oboe, baritone, euphonium, and viola seen here, there is a trombone on the far right and another sax, a few clarinets, and more flutes on the left. On stage is a piano and drums. All in all, a very nice sound.

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Shady Grove Church Picnic

Photograph taken on Sunday, September 15, 2019 by Henry
Shady Grove Church Picnic

Shady Grove Church Picnic

Our church’s annual fall picnic was today and we couldn’t have asked for much nicer weather. I suppose a few degrees cooler wouldn’t have hurt, but it was very, very nice. We ate a great picnic lunch with burgers, hot dogs, and smoked pork shoulder (thanks, Ben!) as well as a wider variety of side dishes than I’ve seen in a long time. After the meal, we had our “regular” church service. Well, it was a bit different because we were outdoors. But otherwise, it was pretty much what we’re used to. It was great to see an old friend (she’s not all that old, but we’ve known her for a while) and I think a good time was had by all, or certainly most.

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Church Steeple

Photograph taken on Sunday, August 30, 2020 by Henry
Church Steeple

Church Steeple

In mid-March, like most churches, our church began broadcasting its services electronically, through Facebook and with BoxCast. Even when they started having outdoor services in the parking lot, we decided to stay home because we’re a somewhat high-risk household. We continued to watch the services on BoxCast through a Roku device attached through a few adapters into our 1986 console television. Nevertheless, we missed seeing people and of course, the service, especially the music, isn’t really the same when watched on TV.

This week the church leadership decided to celebrate communion and Cathy and I decided we would attend in person. We sat in the shade of a small maple tree along with others scattered around the parking lot, some in the sun, some in shade. It was a gloriously beautiful day and we’re really glad we went. We still couldn’t really great people the way we would have and talking with masks is always a bit annoying, but it was very nice to see people in 3D.

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Shady Grove Steeple

Photograph taken on Sunday, May 02, 2021 by Henry
Shady Grove Steeple

Shady Grove Steeple

We started going to church in person today. We went twice last year, when the services were outdoors and with the weather being so nice, we started again today. We plan on making it a regular thing. Although we’ve become a bit accustomed to our stay-at-home Sunday routine, we felt we needed to get out with people a bit more. It was a lovely day and there were a pair of hawks circling the church for a while. I had my camera with me and after the service, I took a few pictures, mostly of the rhododendrons blooming in the woods to the south of the church. With the flowers in the shade and the steeple in the sun, it was a little tricky to get this picture, but I think it turned out pretty well. On the way home from church we stopped at Lake Needwood and I took more pictures of our native Piedmont or mountain azaleas (Rhododendron canescens) in the woods there.

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Dogwood Portal

Photograph taken on Sunday, April 16, 2023 by Henry
Dogwood Portal

Dogwood Portal

I know I posted a similar picture to this last year, on Sunday, April 24, 2022, titled Dogwood Porthole. I entered this year’s title before looking that up to see what I used and was happy that I came up with something slightly different, even if it’s pretty close to the same. At the front of the church is this circular window and on the hill outside it a flowering dogwood (Cornus florida). This year’s photo is about a week ahead of last year’s and that seems about right for the weather we’ve been having. Everything is slightly earlier, although probably not outside the normal range of dates. Last year we had a fairly hard, killing frost in late April but I think we’re probably in the clear this year. I hope so, anyway.

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Christmas Eve

Photograph taken on Sunday, December 24, 2023 by Henry
Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve

With my beard and wearing a red and white ‘Santa hat’ this morning I was asked if I would stand in for Santa in a picture with some friends’ kids. I was happy to oblige, of course. This evening we returned to church for our Christmas Eve service, which is a real favorite of mine. Sadly, there are more good Christmas hymns than there is time for in a service and some of my favorites are inevitably missed. We do end, as many churches do, with a song sung by candlelight. We sang Silent Night, where our former church ended with Joy to the World. I took pictures and of course without flash, had to set the camera at a high ISO. The pictures are naturally lower quality because of that but it gives them more of the feel of candlelight, anyway.

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Dogwood Blossoms

Photograph taken on Sunday, April 28, 2024 by Henry
Dogwood Blossoms

Dogwood Blossoms

This is the third year I’ve taken basically this same picture. This circular window is in the front of our church and for a week or two each year the dogwoods on the hill outside give us a show. They bloomed earlier last year and my picture was from April 16. In 2022 it was on April 24. So although the blooms this year seem earlier than previous years, the dogwoods, at least, are not. It reminded me that last year (on May 7) we went to the National Arboretum and really enjoyed their dogwood collection. I don’t know if we’ll be able to make it there in the next week or two, but that would be nice.

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