Even though the play and movie soundtracks predate me by a number of years, they were still popular when I was a youngster. Some of the movie’s most famous song lyrics–“the corn is as high as an elephant’s eye”–keep coming to mind, ironically, when I step into my backyard this summer. That’s because a sunflower seed I tossed into the garden outside our master bedroom window in February has now grown into a plant that is roughly as high as an elephant’s eye.
Oddly enough, I planted the seed in an attempt to bring a bit of Kansas (the Sunflower State) to Arizona. Because of our family’s Kansas roots, most of the Arizona Gilstraps love sunflowers. The cover photo of our travel book, Being Amanda in Europe, even featured Amanda and a bushel of sunflowers.
I just didn’t anticipate this spectacularly beautiful annual would grow so exceptionally well in the Sororan Desert. Our sunflower plant is now roughly eight feet tall. If it keeps thriving, we’ll look for it to provide ongoing photoremedy, and even PhotoArt, opportunities.
PhotoArt by Greg
Note: The photoremedy mission is to encourage those fighting chronic pain and other afflictions to consider using photography as a powerful tool to move their focus away from the pain. In the process, we strive to enhance readers’ ability to see beauty and experience elevated joy in their lives. There are many gifts that can accompany health challenges; one of the greatest offerings is it frequently forces sufferers to set better priorities for their lives and assists them in seeing the world in new and more meaningful ways.
Having our Grandson Emmett all to ourselves for a few hours last week proved to be a great opportunity to check out one of Arizona’s newest attractions – Scottsdale’s Butterfly Wonderland.
Butterfly Wonderland features America’s largest butterfly atrium. Butterflies from farmers–as far away as Costa Rica, Malaysia, Ecuador, Thailand and the Philippines–appear to be living the good life inside the 10,000 square foot facility.
The holometabolous insects are quite friendly. In fact some of them appeared to be quite interested in “dating” Mary, or at least her talking her out of her shirt!
Photo by Mary Gilstrap
A specially-edited 3D version of “Flight of the Butterflies” is a can’t miss part of the experience. I must admit I had a hard time following the narration because the 3D butterflyeffects were so captivating I had to keep turning to Mary and Emmett to say, “That is so cool!”
After the movie, 17-month old Emmett was enthralled the minute we hit the conservatory. It captured his attention for good reason. The butterflies were everywhere!
It didn’t take long for Emmett to decide he was ready to move on. Fortunately, he found other wonders to capture his attention.
That gave me just a bit more time to enjoy some fabulous photoremedy.
All in all, it was a great outing. We hope to be back soon. Perhaps next time we will be able to bring both of the grand kids. I cannot promise it will be twice as much fun, but at least there will be twice as many tiny toes!
The opportunity to shoot a few photos of the picturesque Atlantic Ocean had me incredibly excited as we headed to South Carolina’s Folly Beach during our recent trip to the East Coast. Although it was a bit chilly, it was as beautiful as I imagined.
My sister, Kelley, and my wife, Mary, were brave enough to test the water. Kelley’s husband, Chris, then treated me to some of the most glorious photoremedy I have experienced. Chris showed me that by tossing tiny cheese crackers in the air one could lure shore birds to within arm’s reach.
As Chris threw the crackers to the birds, I snapped away rather joyfully.
Since the birds never seemed to get their fill, Chris soon tired of the activity and handed the crackers off to me. I tossed the crackers directly overhead with one hand and maneuvered my Canon with the other.
It was truly magical. At times, it almost seemed as if I was flying in formation with the birds.
My heart soared with my new found friends. When I ran out of crackers, I joyfully returned to my travel party. That’s when I noticed that while I was smiling, they were all laughing hysterically. My heart plunged back to earth as I realized I must have done something rather stupid. My family, my trusted friends, were clearly laughing at me and not with me. I thought to myself, “That’s odd what the heck did I do this time?” As it turns out, it wasn’t what I did as much as what was done TO me.
Damn birds crapped all over me.
Photo by Kelley Kimery
This only took a little wind out of my sails. When it comes to getting a few good photos and lots of photoremedy, I say it’s worth putting up with other’s crap!
This month, we were blessed with the opportunity to participate in our precious granddaughter’s baptism. The ceremony, of course, provided ample photoremedy. More importantly, it served as a great reminder of why I believe in the importance of giving our children the powerful gifts of faith, hope, joy, and love. These gifts can come in many different packages, and often take different delivery routes. The world, however, is always a better place when they are delivered.
It’s time again for our annual Photoremedy Photo of the Year poll. As with last year, we are ‘focusing’ on making this a lot of fun. This means we will again strictly adhere to our Chicago-style approach to voting; we encourage everyone to ‘vote early and vote often.’ If you love a photo, follow the poll progress results and don’t be afraid to come back to photoremedy.me to register a couple of extra votes for good measure.
2011 Photo of the Year – Verde Canyon RR
To get us to the final dozen pictures, we listened to comments via Facebook and on Photoremedy. We also took in email input, and sought a few “expert’s” opinions. The final list features a little of wine country, quite a bit of Kansas, a lot of Ireland, and even our favorite grandson shot. All of the pics were taken while pursuing photoremedy. If you still don’t know what photoremedy is, click on the ‘Background and Initial Post’ tab above.
So, let’s get to it. Check out the options below, and then select the photograph that you feel is worthy of being crowned ‘Photoremedy Photo of the Year.’ The polling mechanism is offered at the bottom of this post. Here are the finalists, obviously in no particular order.
1. Bunratty Living History The famous Bunratty Castle is a beloved Limerick-area attraction. The historic site also features a first-class living history museum. This picture was taken while enjoying a sunset tour of the property, prior to participating in a most enjoyable dinner at the castle.
2. Dingle Harbor Ireland’s breathtaking Dingle Peninsula was reportedly once cited by National Geographic as being “the most beautiful place on earth” and has been voted among the top 100 destinations in the world by Trip Advisor. The Dingle Harbor is a must see stop on the peninsula.
3. Dingle Town Our tour of the peninsula also allowed for us to spend a bit of time sampling Dingle Town. Okay, our motor coach tour stopped here, and Mary and I had a couple of beers. But, first, I was able to take several memorable photographs. To me, it looked like the bird in this photo was the only one trying to get somewhere in a hurry.
4. Fields of Kerry Our tours of both the Dingle Peninsula and the famous Ring of Kerry departed from Killarney. If you plan a similar journey, make sure you allow time to take in the countryside. Rural County Kerry is both peaceful and breathtaking.
5. Journey Home Mary and I spent a lot of time back in our home state of Kansas this year. Mary’s beloved mother passed away in January; so, we had a funeral trip and, later, a trip for the estate sale. Fortunately, I was able to get in a bit of photoremedy during both visits. This photograph, from the Catholic cemetery in tiny St. Joseph, helped put things in perspective for me. God is the Alpha and the Omega. When we are born, we come from our Creator. And, when we pass, we pray that the road will lead us back.
6. Lance’s Cross One of my dearest friends lost his brother this past year at the tender age of 40. Because of their Scottish and Irish heritage, the Celtic Cross means a lot to the family. I took this photo (near Lisdoonvarna, Ireland) for them as a reminder that, no matter our age, the hope is that we will leave our broken down bodies and go to the light.
7. Passing the Baton In track and field’s four-person relay races, a common strategy is to have each runner pass the baton to an even faster runner. In a four-person relay race, the fastest runner is the one who receives the baton last (or most recently). When it comes to the best parents, I believe each one hopes that happiness and/or success will come much more quickly for their children than it did for them. I felt like this picture of my oldest son, and my first grandchild, illustrated the “passing the baton” life parenting concept far more eloquently than my mere words could express.
8. Past Meets Present During an early January morning photoremedy drive, I came across this wonderful illustration of how our nation’s past and present are exploding into one on the plains of Kansas.
9. Country Store The past and the present may be coming together, but I’m always thankful for those times when I come across simple treasures that leave me slowly shaking my head and saying aloud, “That is so cool! I’m so glad that hasn’t gone away.”
10. Nothing Could be Finer The good news is wine is timeless. It has been a part of my past, I am committed to making it a part of my future! One of my favorite destinations for wine-related touring and photoremedy is Temecula, California. The red wines produced here are often excellent, and, as this photo suggests, the curb appeal often far exceeds that of much better known areas.
11. Torc Waterfall When Mary and I decided to visit Ireland this year, I knew I had to include a trip to see the famous Torc Waterfall. Why? It is, perhaps, the best known attraction in Killarney National Park. And, as detailed in our Being Amanda in Europe book, it is where our daughter Amanda displayed typical Gilstrap coordination by slipping and falling into the water up to her chest. LOL!
12. Anthem Veterans Memorial The community park where we live in Anthem, Arizona is always filled with photoremedy opportunities. On a warm 2012 summer’s evening, I could see we were in for a special for a special sunset as storm clouds were rolling in from the high country just to the north of us. I grabbed my camera, and this was the first shot I captured that evening. I like to think perpetual light and eternal peace are in store for those brave Americans who have given their all – for all of us.
Veterans Memorial – Anthem, Arizona
Please take advantage of the opportunity–in the poll below–to rank our Best of 2012. This was a lot of fun last year, as votes kept coming in right up to the deadline. Please invite others to join in on this clearly un-scientific poll. We hope you had a great 2012, and pray that you are looking forward to an even better 2013. Our poll will be open until noon on December 31, 2012. I hope to post results by New Year’s Day. Of course, that depends on how much Temecula wine I sample on New Year’s Eve.
– Greg
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William and Andrew Gilstrap at Lo-Lo’s Chicken and Waffles
November 16, 2012
Our oldest son, Andrew, celebrates his 28th birthday today. We had a great family kick-off to his ‘birthday week’ last weekend at the sinfully delicious Lo-Lo’s Chicken and Waffles in Scottsdale.
It would have been a perfect day had Andrew’s lovely wife Katie been able to make it, but she’s a nurse and duty called. The rest of our gang was there–Mary, Will, Amanda & Stephen, Andrew and Emmett–so it took a while to get a booth big enough for all of us. It was worth the wait. I found Larry ‘Lo-Lo’ White’s soul food combinations unique, yet familiar. That is probably because, in my case, “You can take the boy away from his butter and chicken grease upbringing, but you can’t take the butter and fried chicken away from the boy!
As good as the food was, the company was even better. Mary and I later remarked how lucky we are to have great kids (although all are now adults). And, just as importantly, we feel so blessed to experience great kids having great kids.
Andrew is in his last semester of graduate school at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. As has been the case with Mary and all of our children, Andrew has been incredibly helpful as I have struggled to regain my health. He is a frequent contributor and editor for this blog; and continues to encourage me to seek healing through photography. Happy birthday, Andrew! Here’s our prayer for you on this special day.
Hammerstein hit song Oh What a Beautiful Morning, a tune later made famous by actor/singer Gordon MacRae when the play was adapted into a 1955 Academy Award winning movie.
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