Solitary Sculler

During one of our walks around South Haven in June of 2007, I caught this sight of a person rowing a scull up the Black River, no doubt staying in shape for some future competition.

Golden Gate Bridge

While I was exhibiting at a medical convention in San Francisco, Mary Ann enjoyed checking out the various sights of the city. On one of these excursions, while on her way to Sausalito, she shot this view of the often-photographed Golden Gate Bridge.

Snoqualmie Pass

This is a shot taken from Snoqualmie Pass in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, showing Snoqualmie and Big Snow Mountains in the background.

Hard Frost

I photographed this scene on an early December morn in 2007. During the previous night, a light ice shower had made the lawns and trees around Lake Aspen appear crystalline.

Snyder Hall at White House Retreat

This is Snyder Hall, the dormitory where I room during my annual three-day weekend retreats at the White House Retreat Center in Oakville, Missouri. It is one of four gray stone buildings, including the Chapel and Monaghan Hall, which houses the dining room and library, and another dormitory hall. All four buildings sit on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River and the expansive plains of southern Illinois.

Tortola View of Nearby Smaller Islands

I shot this view of a number of smaller islands from the top of a mount on Tortola, British Virgin Islands, a port of call on our February, 2004 cruise to the Eastern Caribbean. Cane Bay is on the left, with Jost Van Dyke Island beyond it on the horizon. (For an enlarged view, click once on the image.)

First January Snow

Innsbrook’s first snow of January, 2010, seen through the limbs of the dormant Japanese maple tree just off our deck.

Jill, Alias Dorothy

This is our granddaughter Jill, proudly displaying her Dorothy ensemble two Christmases ago. She wore it to school and when she went trick or treating with her sister and cousins on the following Halloween. Coincidentally, her teacher wore the very same outfit that Halloween.

Road to Plymouth Plantation

Back in 1970, Mary Ann and I traveled to Cape Cod to spend some time with friends at their summer place on the Cape. On our way there, we visited Plymouth (or Plimouth) Plantation, a re-creation of the 1627 English village built by the first settlers to establish an English colony in America. There I snapped this picture of the approach to the village and Massachusetts Bay beyond it. The whole scene had the quality of a painting.

California Palisades

Here’s a closer shot of those distant cliffs further on up the coast on our drive from San Diego to La Jolla and Carlsbad, seen originally in my earlier Blue Water, White Foam and Rugged Cliffs post.

Raging Rapids of Lake Aspen Spillway

I took this photo of the Lake Aspen spillway shortly after a heavy spring rain. Out of curiosity, I checked out the Warren County topographical and the Warren County Street Guide maps to discover where all this water was going. It appears that this spillway is the headwaters of Charrette Creek, which meanders southeastward past Engemann Spring until, after traveling under the Katy Trail and south of Marthasville, it merges with the confluence of two smaller forks of Charrette Creek before emptying into the Missouri River just west of the Highway 47 bridge that crosses into Washington, Missouri. It makes me wonder if, during the spring and fall rainy seasons, it would be navigable by canoe or kayak from here to there.

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

I took this photograph while on a ride into the hills above Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, in the U.S. Virgin Islands. It was the first port of call on our Eastern Caribbean cruise in February, 2004. (Click once on the photo to see an enlarged image.)

American Niagara Falls, Canadian View

I never cease to be amazed by the grandeur of this natural wonder. I took this photo after Mary Ann and I had passed through customs on the Canadian side, taking a supposed shortcut through Ontario, Canada, to South Haven, Michigan, after visiting Meg and Jeremy in Rochester to celebrate his graduation from the Simon School of Business Administration at Rochester University.

Sunny Slope and Leaning Tree

Here’s an awesome October golden sunset reflected on Fireworks Point, opposite Lionshead Beach, enhanced by the darkening sky and offset by the curiously tilting cedar on our side of the lake.

Snoqualmie Falls

I snapped this photo during our trip from Portland, Oregon, to Seattle, Washington. Since the area had been dry for the summer and early fall months, and since most of the river water is diverted into the hydroelectric power plant just above the falls, they were at low ebb before the beginning of the rainy season in November. The waterfall drops 268 feet into the pool below. The building to the upper left of the falls is the luxurious Salish Lodge and Spa.

Sunset and Lamplight

During one of our stays in South Haven, I captured this magnificent scene of a solar lamp starting to beam as the golden sun neared slipping beneath the Lake Michigan horizon. The lamplight increased as the sunlight decreased.

Autumn Crimson Laced with Gold

In November, 2005, I took this third photo of a late autumn sunset reflection on Fireworks Point opposite Lionshead Beach. The flaming red sunset gave the trees a crimson cast, laced with gold trim, reflected nicely in the rippling waters of Lake Aspen.

Santa Comes to Eureka Springs

Part of our 2009 Thanksgiving Day weekend festivities included a trip into Eureka Springs to view Santa Claus’ arrival in the town. After alighting from his trolley bus, Santa quickly took his place on the park bench beneath the town’s nativity scene. At the moment I snapped this, Santa was taking a brief respite before the onslaught of eager children.

Blue Water, White Foam and Rugged Cliffs

This is one of a series of photos I snapped along our drive northward from San Diego to La Jolla and Carlsbad. The deep blue water contrasted against the white foam of the waves and the rugged cliffs of the shoreline really caught my attention.

Mendocino Sunset

This was the view from our table at an inn on the Shoreline Highway south of the town of Mendocino, California. Mary Ann and I were celebrating our thirty-third wedding anniversary in the Napa-Sonoma-Mendocino region during the weekend of October 21, 2000. We picked the anniversary day to visit Mendocino. While we were touring the area, I slipped into the inn overlooking the Pacific Ocean, and made a reservation for an anniversary dinner later that evening. The staff was kind enough to seat us at the table in front of the picture window looking out on this scene.

Aspen Falls in Winter's Cold Grip

After photographing Aspen Falls following the heavy rains of spring and fall, I was saddened to see the effect of this winter on it. No more raging and roaring; just the stillness and stone cold contrasts of the white and dark in January’s near-zero degrees temperatures.

Aspen Falls Rain Gauge

A good indicator of how much rain we receive in Innsbrook during Spring and Fall is the volume of water flowing down Lake Aspen’s spillway and over the Aspen Falls. The gushing torrent in this photo was taken in April; even stronger torrents came in September.

Cousin Roger and Mr. Snirdley

Mary Ann snapped this picture of her cousin Roger Popovac, who, with his sidekick, Mr. Snirdley, the rake of Eureka Springs, Arkansas, hilariously entertained his guests on Thanksgiving Day.

South Haven Sentinels

This is a scene that Mary Ann and I have enjoyed repeatedly during our walks around South Haven, Michigan. These colorful sentinels mark for boaters the entrance to the channel into South Haven’s harbor. They are among the most photographed objects on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan.

Sunset and Moon

To my delight on the evening of December 28, 2009, this photo op presented itself. The orange glow of the slope and trees on Fireworks Point, looked down on by the half-moon in the upper right corner, belied the freezing temperatures that were settling in.

Chihuly at the Missouri Botanical Garden

Of all the Chihuly exhibits at the Missouri Botanical Garden in October, 2006, my favorite, by far, was this one, shot at dusk, viewing the pond from in front of the Climatron looking toward the Spink Pavilion.

Bridge Framing Falls

On our trip from Portland, Oregon, to Seattle, Washington, in November, 2001, Mary Ann and I came across this beautiful sight of a stone bridge framing a lower falls in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.

Morning Fog Dissipating

I caught this morning fog on Lake Aspen in mid-May, 2007, just as it was beginning to dissipate in the warmth of the sun.

Smoke and Fire

Another of my favorite things each year is the annual fireworks display over Lake Aspen on the Fourth of July weekend. It is all the better because we – and a few hundred of our close friends - have a front row seat right in our own backyard.

The Sidelong Glance

It was Easter morning, 2007. Jill and Jamee were showing off some of their favorite things from the Easter Bunny. What made this picture – besides the rabbit ears - is Jill’s sidelong glance at her big sister, Jamee.

Sunrise Across the Mississippi River

This is the sight that greeted me on the first morning of my September, 2008 annual spiritual retreat at the Jesuit retreat center at Oakville, Missouri, a cluster of four gray stone buildings on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River to the expansive plains of southern Illinois. I snapped it with my Canon Sure Shot point-and-shoot.