Easter in Ordinary

The West Side is dotted with beautiful churches-- not just at St. Adalbert and St. Casimir, but all over. The immigrants who came to the West Side did not have much, apart from a dream and their faith. They lived in smaller homes, but they built beautiful churches! These shared spaces of beauty have always been places of pride in our community. Sometimes, when I drive over the railroad tracks at Ford Street, near Walnut, if I look down the way, I can see St. Hedwig's. I can't tell you how many times we've had cloudy days but a ray of light shines down and illuminates that church. Here is a photo of the bell tower at St. Casimir, taken yesterday (January 30, 2010). It reaches up to heaven in a blue sky. I also love the wispy clouds!

There is an old story about how a person decided to change the doorknob on the front door. This homeowner purchased a lovely doorknob. Once the new one was in place, the homeowner no longer liked how the door looked with the doorknob, so a new door was purchased. Well, the new door and doorknob looked lovely, but, honestly, the house now needed re-painting. You can imagine where this is heading. Well, I purchased a new camera, an Olympus E-620. A couple of professional photographers have crossed my path. They have been very encouraging as I began to use the camera's new features. Pretty soon, I am shooting in a RAW format. Well, Olympus makes good cameras, but they do not make great software. So, I bought Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 after some investigation. Then, I needed some classes. Then. . . You get the picture. And I am trying to take some pictures. Recently, my neighborhood was described as "blighted." Well, it is not beautiful everywhere...