St Anthony's Franciscan Monestary

I hope all this stuff from St Anthony's Franciscan Monestary isn't boring you all. I'm nearly done with my visit here. Tomorrow, I'll be posting the last of it.

The first image of the stairs is just inside the building where the Chapel and Confessionals are. There was a sign pointing to the offices; but nothing was mentioned about where these stairs were leading. I'm assuming that they are probably the stairs to the Monks' quarters.

When we were coming out of the walking trail, we spotted this side entrance. We had no idea what was in store for us to see, but we went up the stairs anyway and followed it around the building. We saw some of the most beautiful gardens and well-landscaped grounds with very unusual flowers.

The image of the building that includes the stairs in the foreground is the side entrance to the main building. I have also included a shot of the rear entrance, which is equally as stunning as the side. At one time this was a private residence owned by William A. Rogers, Esq. He was a Buffalo industrialist. He had the building built in 1900 by Green and Wicks, a Buffalo firm.

The estate was sold in 1937 to William N Campbell. who owned other homes in Brookline, MA, Bal Harbor, ME and Miami Beach, FL. In 1947, Campbell sold the estate to the Franciscans.

The last image is of the Chapel, which was designed by Professor Vytautas Jonynas, the same artist who created the World's Fair piece that sits at the entrance to the estate.

Monuments and Statues

As promised in an earlier post, these are some of the statues, monuments and prayer stations on the grounds of St Anthony's Franciscan Monastery.

The first statue is of Blessed Kateri (Catherine) Tekawitha, who is not yet a saint according to the Catholic Church. She is a child of nature and known to the Church as the Patroness of Ecology. It is only fitting that a statue honoring her would be on the walking trail.

The next statue and fountain is of St Francis of Assisi, is the founder of the order of Monks, Franciscans. St Francis is the Patron Saint of animals and the environment. His statue is just at the beginning of the walking trail.

The next photo is a prayer station. It is one of many along the walking trail. This one honors St Vincent de Paul, who was dedicated to serving the poor. There are many St Vincent de Paul Society Chapters in large cities who provide aid to the poor in his honor.


And finally, the last monument is a Crucifix honoring the Lithuanians who lost their lives fighting for freedom.

More to follow in a future post.

Sculpture at St Anthony's Franciscan Monestary

This sculpture by Professor Vytautas Jonynas, of the Militant, Suffering and Triumphant church, was displayed at the Vatican Pavilion at the 1964 World's Fair. It is now displayed on the grounds of St Anthony's Monastery in Kennebunk, Maine.

There were so many great works of art on the grounds of this Monastery, many by the same artist, Professor Vytautas Jonynas, that it almost seemed a tribute to the artist.

The Monastery itself was once owned by William A Rogers, Esq, a Buffalo industrialist. He bought the grounds in 1900 from John Mitchell, a professor of the Christian religion. Rogers commissioned Green and Wicks, a Buffalo firm to build a house in Tudor style. The estate was sold in 1937 to William N Campbell, who then sold it to the Lithuanian Franciscan Monks, who used it for the Monastery.

In later years, the Monks added a Shrine to St Anthony, a Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine, a Chapel of the Stations of the Cross, the main St Anthony's Chapel and several little shrines along the trails. More photos will follow this post.

I'm not a very religious person, but I will tell you that my walk around these grounds and on the trails had some kind of peaceful, calming effect. It's as if my whole body knew that these grounds were sacred.

The Landings - Kennebunkport Shipyard

During our travels in Kennebunkport, we came upon the St Anthony's Monestary. While there, we decided to take a walk on one of the trails on the grounds.

During the walk, we saw many little shrines and some bigger ones that I have yet to post. This shot of "The Landings" the old Kennebunkport Shipyard was an unexpected surprise. Right out there in the middle of the woods, we came to a clearing and I couldn't believe my eyes when I spotted this view of the Kennebunk River looking over to The Landings.

I was so blessed to have such great weather with beautiful clouds all the time we were in Maine. What a wonderful vacation. I'm thrilled that my son and daughter-in-law included me on their vacation, which was my daughter-in-law's present to my son. He is also blessed to have found her. She's a wonderful girl and I couldn't have picked a better person for him to spend his life with if I had picked her myself.

Salt Marshes

I shot this from a moving car, while we were on the way to Beddeford Pool, where my son used to live. The clouds were so right, the blue sky reflecting on the ground and the perfectly placed rocks made this look at least to me like a beautiful painting. One day, I will paint this one.

It was just too beautiful not to share with all of you.

Webhannet Falls

These are the Webhannet Falls in Wells, Maine.

Webhannet Falls is on the site of the first settlement of Wells, Maine, It honors Edmund Littlefield, who erected his saw and grist mill at this site in 1640-1641, thus being the first settler of Wells. This little park and the falls are just off Rt 1.

You might notice that the water is sort of coffee colored. I believe that's because of the iron content in the area. It's too bad that tree has fallen obscuring part of the falls. I tried and tried at different angles to find a better spot but unfortunately this is the only possible angle to shoot this.

This little "park" is so small, all of it would fit in my backyard. Officially though, it's a dedicated park, so who am I to question it?

Rocky Shoreline in Ogunquit, Maine

While in Maine, I want to show you all that I didn't only take photos of the lighthouses even though they're one of my favorite subjects.

The shoreline in Maine is very rocky. It's strange that even though this is the same ocean, and the same coast how it changes as so radically as you get further and further south. Here in Florida, we have no rock and our water is more of an emerald green.

All my life I've lived on the coast. I've lived in Maine, Connecticut, New York and Florida. The coasts and water color varies so much. What a wonderful continent we live on. I never get tired of living by the sea and can only wonder how people who have lived their whole lives inland who have never seen the sea don't know what they're missing. This is soooo beautiful. There's nothing like the smell of sea air.

Marginal Way Lighthouse

This is one of the smallest lighthouses you'll ever find. It's called the Marginal Way Lighthouse and it sits on the Marginal Way Trail in Ogunquit, Maine.

It is not operational and if you noticed the slot on the door, it's there for donations to keep the lighthouse and the trail maintained. This trail is so easy to walk it's often called "the walk for old ladies". It is also the most walked trail in all of Maine because of its scenic beauty along the coast.

The path is just a little bit over a mile long, and there are many benches to rest along the way. It starts at Ogunquit Beach and goes all the way to Perkins Cove, which is another picturesque place to visit.

The Nubble Light

One of the first stops in Maine, even before we checked into the hotel, we went to see the Nubble Light. The Nubble Light is in Cape Neddick near the entrance to the York River. The nearest town is York, Maine. We got there fairly early in the morning, so the clouds didn't have a chance to build.

The Nubble Light was built in 1879, but not automated until 1987. It sits on top of the shoals and there is a little bucket that runs on a wire to get groceries for the keeper. Sometimes, during low tide, one can walk across the channel to get to the mainland. The grounds are not open to the public.

This photo was shot from Sohier Park, which was donated by William Davies Sohier. One interesting fact is that the house was built in such a way that each point on the house points to North, South, East and West.

Petunia

While in CT, I stayed at my son and daughter-in-law's house. I just love it there. Their yard is like a park. Donna loves flowers and her home and yard show it.

This is only one of the many varieties of Petunias she has planted. I love the delicate petals and the soft color of this variety.

Donna is smart enough to plan her gardens to get the most of every one of them. She plants early Spring bloomers, Summer bloomers and Fall bloomers so she can enjoy them through the 3 seasons. During the Winter, she has fine art flower paintings in every room. It makes for a cheery atmosphere. No wonder I like it there so much.

Phillip

During my vacation in CT, I had the pleasure of attending one of my brother, Phillip's, Karate classes at his Dojo.

Phillip has been studying Karate as long as I've been a photographer, since the late '70's. He's a Black Belt and in this class he's teaching some of his students. In this shot, he's explaining a new Kata they'll be working on. His Dojo is not air-conditioned, and it was really hot; very hot for this time of year in CT.

I stayed for this class, then Phillip's advanced class which was taught by his long-time instructor, Tom. They were working on they're own Kata with the Bow (I'm not sure how it is spelled). They were getting ready for a demonstration for the next day.

The last time I photographed Phillip in one of his Karate classes or demonstrations was in the '80's.

New Pine Cones Macro

You've all probably wondered where I've been in the last few weeks. I've been traveling a lot, visiting my kids and grandkids. Last week, I went to Connecticut to celebrate my son's 50th birthday.

My son didn't want to have a birthday party, but he wanted to get all the siblings together and have a huge reunion. My sisters and brothers, Joe's wife, Donna's, sister and brothers, and Joe's sisters and brother were all invited. It was a great party, and it was awesome to have all my siblings in one place at the same time. My youngest brother was born after I was married, so unless there was a funeral, we were never together. All my siblings still live in Connecticut, where we grew up except for me. My daughter-in-law took a photo of the five of us. It's the first time we've ever had a photo of all of us taken. My brother didn't really want to take the photo, but I insisted stating that at our ages, (40's, 50's & 60's) anything could happen. He finally relented and I'm thrilled to have this photo.

While I was walking around in Joe and Donna's yard, which is more like a botanical gardens, with all their little garden areas and it's perfect grooming, I came across this low branch on a pine tree where the little pine cones are just starting to grow. I couldn't resist a macro shot of it. Being so short (5'0"), I rarely get to see something like this.

Mottled Duck Family

This little family is not the same family as the one I posted previously. I never did see them again. These ducklings are almost ready to fledge. Every afternoon, they come up to my patio doors and knock on it while peeking in. I think they're peeping toms.

The first time they did it, I was home alone. The blinds on the patio door were closed and I kept hearing this knocking sound. When I went over to check to see what was going on, I saw these cute little ducklings knocking on the door. Since then, they've been doing it every day.

I have no idea what they're looking for, but I do know they come in the yard every time I'm sitting out there. They're just so cute! I'm going to hate to see them fledge.

"Winter"

"Winter", the injured Dolphin at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium in Clearwater. She was trapped in a Lobster trap and a fisherman found her and called the aquarium. Due to injuries received, she lost her tail and had to learn to swim again.

Winter now swims like a Shark with a side-to-side motion. This swimming technique is causing a curvature to her spine. So the vet and the developer created a prosthesis to replace her tail. Since there was nothing to attach the prosthesis to, they had to figure a way for her to keep it on while swimming, jumping, etc. It is held on by suction. She's pretty remarkable.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron

At my regular Monday Night Meetup in Safety Harbor, I decided instead of sitting around shooting the breeze with my friends, I'd shoot a few things with my camera instead of my mouth for a change.

The crowd has been dwindling over the last few months. I think it's partially because there are so many other Meetups going on that we're spread too thin. So, in order to try to get some of our regular members as well as some of our new members to participate a little more, I'm adding a theme or challenge for shooting on Monday nights. I've done it for two weeks now, and it seems to be working so far. Time will tell if it's going to work out on the long haul.

The theme for this week was macro photography, so I brought my macro gear, and some of the members who have macro gear did likewise. Those who didn't have gear brought things to photograph. It worked out pretty well. We even experimented with macro photography using a magnifying glass and I had some DIY macro lights set up, so everyone was able to try something different.

I shot a Gardenia with and without lights and it made a beautiful difference. I still haven't seen some of the other posts, so I'm pretty anxious to see what they came up with. Here is a shot of my Gardenia using the DIY light setup. It was a lot of fun experimenting.

We were also joined (sort of) by a Yellow-Crowned Night Heron. He stayed out there on the water's edge for the longest time and had no problem with some of us that were shooting him. I swear he was posing for us most of the time.

More From NY

Since my foot isn't really getting any better, the doctor now has a soft cast on it along with the Cam Boot. This is really limiting my ability to get out there and shoot. So, until I'm able to get around better, I'm going to have to post some of my older stuff.

While I was in NY, I got up early one morning before the kids got up so I could have some time to shoot alone. I walked up and down the road looking for whatever caught my attention and lo and behold, I came upon this cute little scene in my son-in-law's neighbor's side yard.

For whatever reason, it reminds me of olden days on a farm. I'm sure the bench is just decorative; at least it doesn't look like it would hold much weight--and I love the old milk can with the Daffodils in back of it.

So, what are your impressions of this little scene?

Who's Having More Fun?

Last night was our regular Monday Night Meetup in Safety Harbor, FL. We had a couple models come in for a model shoot, which everyone enjoyed.

Since I'm not really into shooting models after having my fill in the late '70s, I sat around at the picnic tables and talked with my friends. All of a sudden, Jean pointed out a photo opp right up my alley. She spotted this dad giving his toddler a ride on her kiddie car. I thought it was hilarious; especially with Daddy wearing a helmet.

Just as I was ready to shoot, the father got off the kiddie bike. I asked him to get back on it and ride so I could get a photo of it since he looked like he was having so much fun. He graciously obliged and this is the result. He only sat there for about a minute and this one was my choice of the 5 I shot because of his expression.

I want to know, though, who's having more fun--Daddy or his little girl?

...and he makes the catch!

...and he makes the catch!

During Little League AAA's practice, Noah makes the catch even with the sun in his eyes. Great job, Noah!

The continuing saga of my vacation in NY a couple weeks ago. While the triplets were playing baseball, I had the task of watching the twins on the playground. I was forced to shoot from too far away if I wanted any baseball photos at all.

This one was shot with my 55-250mm lens from a distance that I'm not good at judging. All I can say is there was two baseball fields and one basketball court between where I was at the playground, and where this practice session was taking place. It was also freezing, well, for me it was at 52 deg F. Noah was playing left field if I can remember correctly when he caught this ball.

Letters in Nature Project

First of all, I want all my readers to know that these are not my photos.

These were taken by my grandchildren, ages 7 (the twins) and 9 (the triplets). We took a walk into the woods on their property for a photo project that I sometimes have my students do as an assignment in learning to "see".

They all took turns using my point-n-shoot camera and I told them they have to find letters of the alphabet in nature. One of the rules were that nothing could be changed. They couldn't add, move or remove anything. These are a few of the photos they took in less than an hour.

We covered most of the alphabet. When one of them spotted a letter, they got to take the shot. This is a great exercise to improve your own eye. It's actually easier than it looks, and hey, if 7 and 9-yr. olds can do it, so can you!

Other than slight cropping to make the letter more obvious, these are straight out of the camera. These kids did a great job; don't you think?

Blue Mist Flower

This Blue Mist Flower, found in Sawgrass Lake Park, took some research to figure out what it was. It took four books until I finally found it. I didn't expect to find it in a Gardening book, since I assumed it was just a wildflower.

It's scientific name is Caryopteris clandonensis. It is in the Verbenaceae family. According to the "Southern Living Garden Book", it is an Asian native and is valued for their contribution of cool blue color to flower borders from mid-summer to frost.

I was attracted to its delicateness and the blue color. As many times as I've been in Sawgrass Lake Park, I don't remember ever seeing it before. It must've been planted by the birds.