Hummingbirds!

 "Happiness is neither without us or within us.  It is in God both without us and within us."  --Blaise Pascal

After missing out on capturing the hummingbirds I wrote about in Staying on Focus, I kept a close eye out for another chance to photograph them.  On Thursday the 4th I was able to get one tolerably good shot.  A week later I went out to work in the garden and noticed two hummingbirds enjoying my cannas.  I ran inside and grabbed my camera.

The little birds were fun to watch as they fluttered from flower to flower, drinking the nectar, and stopping to rest occasionally on branches.  A couple times they flew right over me, and I could hear the buzzing of their wings.

Johnson County Historical Museum

After touring the antique car museum, we walked into the other part of the building, the Johnson County Historical Museum.  

One wall was decorated with old maps of Iowa counties, and there were informational boards with stories of life in Johnson county.  The photo on the left shows the last graduating class from an old two-story schoolhouse (1899).

Antique Car Museum of Iowa: Part 2

What is a car museum without music?  Toward the back of the building we found a *working* jukebox!  The curator told us it runs on nickels, so I looked through my change until I found one. There were several songs to choose from, and someone pointed out what I thought was the Andrews Sisters' 1940s hit Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy and then Auld Lang Syne. 

The Boogie Woogie (it turned out to be Tommy Dorsey's Boogie Woogie; you can listen to Myron Floren's excellent rendition here) sounded like it would be by far more exciting, so we listened to it as we browsed the rest of the museum.   

  

These convertibles were real beauties!

Antique Car Museum of Iowa: Part 1

The Antique Car Museum was only a short walk from the location of the Iowa Open.  After the first game of the day Sunday we had a few hours for our lunch break, so we strolled over to the museum for a tour.

The admission fee was only $5 per person and covered both the car museum and the adjourning Johnson County Historical Museum. A couple cars, including the Ford Model A above, were on display in the front room, which also contained a gift shop.

I See You, Jesus

Many a man's wish may be
To sing in a grand hall,

To fill a cathedral or mall,

To serenade the rich

With the power of every pitch.

But I see you, Jesus, Lord,

Alone on Calvary,

Not in glamor this world affords,

Dying to set me free

That I, your glory may see.

I see you, Jesus,

Caring for the dying and poor.

I see you, Jesus,

With your sweet Spirit,

Knocking at their heart's living door.

I see you, Jesus,

Giving life to souls without hope.

I see you, Jesus,

Saving those vexed sore

Saying, "Follow me to Bright Shore."

© 2010 Bethany Carson

Niland's Cafe and Reed's Gas Station

In the little town of Colo, Iowa at the intersection of the Lincoln and Jefferson Highways, is the Reed/Niland Corner.  Here stands Niland's Cafe, originally opened in 1923, and the Colo Motel--both open for business--and Reed's Gas Station, not in operation.

On our way to deliver the concrete pads for propane tanks to a co-op, we stopped here to take a look and eat lunch.  The price of gas at the restored station was 13.8 cents plus 4 cents tax for a total of 17.8 cents per gallon!  Too bad it isn't open; if we had a time machine we could certainly put it to good use!

Staying in Focus

I spotted her, a delicate moth resting on a marigold in my garden.  I crept closer, camera in hand, and tried to focus, but she was not to be captured by my shutter.  She flitted off the flower, dancing to the next and then the next with speed and grace and finally--after flirting with my lenses, too slow in my clumsily amatuer hands to capture her--flying away like a fluttering dream.