Author: kristen (Page 3 of 13)

A French Lullaby

July 26, 2020 / kristen / 0 Comments

A month of comet chasing and star watching has us all in need of some lullabies, so Wren performed Schubert’s Berceuse for you tonight.

Berceuse by Schubert
Amos thought that the lullaby was perfect!

Our last night to look for Neowise was Friday night. On our way to our stargazing spot, we saw some beautiful shorebirds. I’m pretty sure that there were both lesser yellowlegs and greater yellowlegs! Of course, there were also some killdeer (they are a very common plover!)

The sunset was amazing as usual and the moon was beautiful as well!

We had some trouble finding the comet. We definitely saw it, but it was pretty dim for some reason (it was a clear night, but according to Rick’s app, the transparency wasn’t good… I’m not sure I really understand what that means, but it sounds like a good reason for our struggle). We did enjoy some amazing meteors and we could see a little bit of the Milky Way. The moon was setting before we even left, so the sky was almost as dark as it could be for where we are in the world. Some friends (masked, don’t worry) joined us and we had a wonderful time! Here are some photos.

Neowise (glow in right corner is light pollution from Rockford)

Milky Way (the glow on the left side is light pollution from Chicago)

If you’re tired of my comet photos, good news! The comet is heading back out into space and won’t be around again for about 6800 years. I’m glad we had some adventures this summer thanks to this traveling chunk of ice and rock!

Surprising Audience

July 23, 2020 / kristen / 1 Comment

We love to see what will come to the yard to listen to the cello. Usually it’s robins and a family of cardinals (2 babies!), and sometimes we get some house finches (always house sparrows). Today we had some new special guests! Chickadees, a blue-gray gnatcatcher, and a ruby-throated hummingbird!

This week is Wren’s second cello camp of the summer. She was planning on staying with friends in Omaha while I taught in Yellowstone. That didn’t work out, but we’ve had a lot of fun this week together! The Omaha camp didn’t fully cancel, but they allowed Wren to attend only the online portion of the camp (the kids living in Omaha are rehearsing for chamber in person). Wren is taking lessons and technique. She’s also enjoyed zoom lunches with her friends, and some evening seminars on conducting and composers. This camp has a composition competition, and Wren was very excited to submit some of her compositions to this! We recorded for this today, so we don’t have a new recording to share tonight…but after we find out the results of the competition next week, we will post some things here!

Here is an older video for you! This is a recital from the fall of 2017. Wren was playing Chanson Triste.

Buzzing Around

July 21, 2020 / kristen / 1 Comment

I love this time of year when I can take photos of all of the different kinds of pollinators! So much variation! Here’s what’s blooming and buzzing around our garden.

We always have music “blooming” around here too. Wren recorded a hymn from my childhood for you tonight. I remember when I was little, my friend Sally and I always tried to get Mr. Landrum (the music director) to pick Share His Love on Sunday night hymn sings! Enjoy!

Twinkle, Twinkle…

July 19, 2020 / kristen / 1 Comment

We’ve been out watching the comet again! I’ve also been working on my night photography skills, and I’m excited to share! First, some music to set the mood!

Comet Neowise was discovered in March of this year, and will not be back for 6,800 years! We enjoyed seeing the comet so much last weekend, that we decided to try again this weekend! We went out on Friday night and it was so amazing! This time, we could actually see the comet without my camera lens! The stars were really out, and we could even see some of the milky way! We had some friends who met us out in our favorite soybean field, and they brought a spotting scope (don’t worry, we all wore masks!). With the scope, we could even see 4 moons of Jupiter! I don’t have a photo, but trust me…it was beautiful! Here are some of my favorite shots!

First glimpse! The clouds covered the comet briefly, but we had wonderful views after a slow start.

I used my wide-angle lens, but hopefully you can see the details…so many stars! The comet is under the Big Dipper.

Another Week…

July 17, 2020 / kristen / 0 Comments

Time is just moving along. Some days I have to remind myself just how long it’s been since we’ve been anywhere. Then I look at the photos I take of my child…and I see how she’s grown!

She learned a new hymn for you tonight! It’s Bless the Christ of God.

We are off on another family adventure that will include fireflies, comets, and possibly ice cream! More about that soon…

Little Hike on the Prairie

July 15, 2020 / kristen / 1 Comment

I really enjoy my walks through the prairie. I especially enjoy seeing how it has changed since the previous walk. At some point, I’ll post a series of photos showing how it’s changed, but for this post I’ll just show you my favorite things from my past hike! First, here is a little tune that Wren wrote for you!

Leadplant! I love the bright orange stamens!!

Tiger Lily (not native, but naturalized and very pretty!)

Comet Watching!

July 13, 2020 / kristen / 1 Comment

In my last post you saw the first installment of our weekend adventure! We were determined to see comet Neowise. This comet was discovered in March by scientists using NASA’s Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer Telescope, and is supposed to be visible in Northern latitudes with the naked eye – or at least binoculars. Last summer, Wren and I fell in love with star-watching and I started trying to learn star (night sky) photography. So we headed out again last night with high hopes! When we started driving West, there were quite a few clouds.

Thankfully, the clouds were gone in time for sunset and the comet’s rise. We watched the fireflies while we waited.

Thank goodness we had some technological help! Rick has the Starwalk app, and we were able to get a reasonable idea where to watch!

Finally, it was dark enough and we were able to see this!

It was the most beautiful thing! We are so glad that we were able to see this amazing event! We were out pretty late, so no recording from Wren today (sorry!), but we will have some new installments of the hymns of comfort this week!

Sunsets and Fireflies

July 11, 2020 / kristen / 1 Comment

We went out to try to see the NEOWISE comet last night. We didn’t see it (yet), but we were treated to an amazing sunset!

Then the fireflies came out!!!

We didn’t get a hymn recorded tonight, but we made this video for our Church’s virtual VBS! It definitely fits the theme of sunsets and fireflies. Thanks again goes to Nonnie for the arrangement and accompaniment!

I’m hoping that we will see the comet some evening soon! Stay Tuned!!!

Marvelous Grace

July 9, 2020 / kristen / 1 Comment

Another collaboration between Wren and Nonnie! This is one of my favorite arrangements yet, and one of my favorite hymns (we hear it’s Uncle Nigel’s favorite…so this one is for you!)