Week 5, Project 365

I have only taken four photos all week. I'm just so frustrated with this cell phone camera! Trying to get a decent picture is so hard and I just threw a little tantrum and didn't go near it all week except to document our little art project on Thursday.

So. Technically I have dropped the ball with Project 365 hosted by Sara at ...Make Music From Your Heart To The Lord.

Then I had a little brainstorm this morning. Since I didn't have any photos to look at from this week, I began browsing through my old photos.

And became quite nostalgic.

I must stop and confess that I am a very weird person. Although I love my family and friends and quite enjoy looking at their pictures...it's the places that move me most. When we moved from Indiana to Florida many years ago I was homesick. But when I started looking through my photo album, it wasn't the people who elicited emotion. It was my house. Now in my defense, it was my first house (actually only house as we've never owned since then) so of course I had feelings for it.

That's when I realized I'm a little different than most people.

Anyway, as I was looking at photos this morning I once again found myself drawn to places. But you know what? I'm also realizing that it's because the PLACES remind me of PEOPLE and the memories associated with them. Now I don't feel so bad. Weird, yes. Bad, no.

And I decided to share a few photos of my favorite places, starting with the parsonage where we lived for ten years. I have a lot of photos of this place, mostly close-ups but I chose this shot to share with you because I loved, loved, loved my trees which can be seen in all their glory here. Obviously, having lived there for ten years we have many, many, MANY memories tied to it! The last years of our kids living at home, sharing the house with the other associate pastor for six of the ten years, hosting countless youth activities and small group meetings and parties and sewing days and... It's simply my favorite house.

Before we lived in the parsonage, we spent nine years as houseparents within easy walking distance of the Hillsdale College Arboretum. In the early years on nice days we'd pack up our schoolbooks and a blanket to sit on and go have school there. It's always been our first choice for picnics. Or just to get away and take walks along the many paths, to one of the old stone pavilions or around the lake. Actually the whole campus was a favorite place. We spent many happy hours in the library and often attended concerts, plays or free lectures by visiting guests. My favorite was Dave Thomas of Wendy's fame. But we also heard Margaret Thatcher, Dan Quayle and many others over the years.

Dear friends who own a cottage in Ludington, Michigan, were always generous with it. The initial use of the cottage actually led to our spending a year in Africa, a story for another time. But I can't begin to tell you what joy this place brings! Just the thought of Epworth makes us smile ☺ Do you have places like that in your life? I hope so! Here's a photo taken from the porch, looking out over the rooftops of other cottages and Lake Michigan during one of its stunning sunsets.

From my blog title you can infer I'm from the south. I was born in Kentucky, in the Blue Ridge Mountains. As the saying goes, You can take the girl out of the mountains but you'll never take the mountains out of the girl. How true! I love my mountains with a passion that cannot be adequately communicated but only felt by fellow southerners. Amen? Amen!

While I love the place of my birth, I also LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to travel! And when I married my hubby I guaranteed a lifetime of travel ☺ We can frequently be found in airports, often looking just as tired as when this photo was taken. (this was at the end of a short-term mission trip and one of the youth grabbed our camera and took this photo -- and I'm glad they did!)

The very first overseas trip I took was to Argentina. Shocking, isn't it? LOL My hubby wanted his wife and kids to see where he'd grown up. We came for a month, from mid-December 1996 through mid-January 1997. We had a blast visiting the different places he lived (his parents were church planters so they moved every few years) but our favorite was the last place. My hubby went to high school in Santa Rosa de Calamuchita which was a little pueblo of around 3,500 then (it's up to around 13,000 now). The family still owns the house, just two hours from where we currently live, so it's still a favorite place to get away to and enjoy a little country. Located 4 km from Santa Rosa, it sits about a city-block-walk from the river, along a dirt road lined with eucalyptus trees. My hubby helped his family build the house and stone fence so of course it's very special to him.

And that brings us to where we live now: Carlos Paz, Argentina. Population: around 80,000. Located at the end of a valley, spreading out beside a lake and up the mountains. Destination for many Argentines on vacation so in the summer a crowded, noisy, busy place with about a million visiters. Much more tranquilo the rest of the year ☺ But summer or winter, it's the place where God has called us. And that's reason enough to love it! Can't possibly get the entire city in a shot because it's so spread out, but here's a little slice of it.
Thank you for indulging my walk down memory lane. I hope I don't get kicked off Project 365 for deviating from the stated purpose! Our camera is supposed to travel from Buenos Aires to the interior week after this so hopefully -- and thankfully -- I will soon be able to post lots and lots of happy photos ☺ Meanwhile I promise to go back to using the cell phone camera this week so next Sunday I won't have to cheat.