A Beautiful Sanctus

This recording of John Sheppard's Sanctus from his Missa 'Cantate' is one of my favorites. I was first introduced to it over ten years ago when a friend sent me this album. I tear up almost every time, not only because of the high treble voices, but I love the tenors and the bells at the consecration as well.

This is also an interesting recording in other respects. It's a recreation of a Sarum Use Mass for Christmas day. The Sarum Use is one of the pre-Tridentine forms of the Roman Rite, in use in parts of England before the Reformation. The oddest part about the recording is its attempt at recreating how Latin would have been pronounced in England at the time of John Sheppard (i.e. more like English and less like Italian). It takes some getting used to.

I'll pass some information on the my friend shared with me at the time, to explain the bells. This piece is only the first half of the Sanctus, and it would have been sung while the priest was praying the Eucharistic prayer up until the consecration (it excludes the Benedictus, which would be sung after the consecration). In the Sarum Use at Salisbury Cathedral, on high feast days such as Christmas, Mass would have been celebrated simultaneously on more than one altar. That's why you hear multiple sets of bells ringing at the consecration. Each altar has its own set of bells for the consecration, which are rung at each consecration.

(I've probably shared this before, but it's always worth a re-share).

Ektachrome

For Christmas, my dad gave me a photo scanner. I asked if I could scan some of his old slides to test it out. He gave me a tray and I got scanning. They were pictures from 1981, when my dad was about the same age I am now. Strange to think about.

I love the look of color positive film. It's almost like stained glass. My dad used Kodak Ektachrome, which, if you're interested in trying, is going to be rereleased by Kodak this coming year. I think I'm going to try it.

Well, it's out of focus, but there aren't many photos of my dad smiling so I like it.

My dad working. He designed and built this huge gazebo in our back yard, which can still be seen behind our old house in Opelika.

Life lately

It has been a while since I've blogged in earnest. A lot has been going on lately.

I was sick for over a week. It was weird because my nose wasn't even stuffed up. I had one of the worst headaches ever and I was sore all over and got this awful fever. It all came on so fast, too. I felt fine at breakfast but by dinner I was delirious. I thought it was the flu. My mom took me to a doctor and it turned out to be bronchitis. I've never had bronchitis. I felt sick for over a week but I feel fine now.

I haven't read much over the past six months other than a photography book, but in the past week I devoured three books. The first was The Dictator Pope, a book about all the scandals and issues associated with Pope Francis. Honestly, I wouldn't recommend it, unless you want a recap of many of the concerning stories that have come out over the past few years. I guess what I found most interesting was some of the backstory on Pope Francis, the conclaves before his election, and some of the figures he has clashed with. It was fascinating in parts, but perhaps indulged too much in unsavory curiosity. The author's purpose, though, he said, was to convince Cardinals to be more careful about choosing an unknown figure at the next conclave. He argues that Pope Francis is one of the most capricious, divisive, and authoritarian popes since the middle ages, and that Bergoglio from his youth was formed along the lines of Argentine dictator Juan Peron, hence the title of the book.

The next was a book on the history and general concepts of nonviolence, The Nonviolence Handbook: A Guide for Practical Action by Michael Nagler. It traces nonviolence from Gandhi through MLK and beyond and explains the concepts involved in applying nonviolence to life. I really enjoyed it.

On Thursday I saw the new Star Wars. Which, by the way, I really liked, although I got home and read all the devastating critiques and began to question whether I should have liked it. I guess I would say I liked it as a stand alone movie but I don't like what it means for the overall Star Wars universe.

Anyway, while I was waiting for my friend to get to the theater, I was looking at movie posters. One stood out, which was Love, Simon. When I went home I watched the trailer on YouTube and was even more drawn in. Then I saw it was based on a book called Simon vs. The Homo sapiens Agenda, a young adult romance novel. The reviews were all about how good it was, mostly by women. So, stepping out of my comfort zone a little, I got it on my Kindle (I've never read a young adult book, or a romance novel, much less a gay romance novel). It's true, though, I loved it. I think it's about 300 pages and I read it in two days. I started Thursday night and finished it after lunch today. I could not put it down, and I had to force myself not to skim through it since I wanted to see what would happen next so eagerly.

I think I needed something light. No intricate plot, no obscure vocabulary, no heavy subjects. Just a simple love story. I had the hardest time with the pop culture references, but this was mitigated by all the references to places in Atlanta that I'm familiar with. The book took me back to the first time I fell in love. It took me back to my old friendships and late nights hanging out with my sister in high school. I think it would have been good for me to read in high school, but things were so different even back then.

I don't know, Simon seemed so real I feel sad now that the book is done. I just want him to be okay and be happy.

A song mentioned in the book that I liked:

In other news, my sister learned yesterday that she'll be having a boy in June!

'Wintersun'

As I mentioned previously, the first daffodils of the season came on November 29 for me. The cultivar was 'Wintersun', a paperwhite-like narcissus. I had them in the ground last year, but I dug them in spring and kept the bulbs in a basement over summer. When I potted them up in October they bloomed within weeks. I gave the same treatment to another paperwhite, 'Nir', and they haven't bloomed yet. They might bloom in January.

I took some photos this year on film:

Narcissus 'Wintersun' (Kodak Ektar 100 film)

Narcissus 'Wintersun' (Kodak Ektar 100 film)

Narcissus 'Wintersun' (Kodak Portra 160 film)

At first I'd say the film looks lovely but didn't capture the colors very faithfully. The closest color match is the middle one with the blue background. However, this may be due to the color correction the film lab applied when scanning the photo. I'll have to wait and see what the negatives look like when I get them back. For comparison, this is a photo I took of 'Wintersun' last year that gives an accurate portrayal of the colors:

Narcissus 'Wintersun' (Canon 5D MkII)

Iron Bowl 2017

When I got my Hasselblad camera I read some sites that said never to use the camera without a tripod. For the Iron Bowl this year I decided to ignore this and try shooting the camera handheld. I'm glad I did. I took the camera out during the game and the morning after and took spontaneous photos as I was walking around. Not only were they all sharp, I think I like how they look more than many of my tripod-composed photos.

When I got to this spot to take a photo, there was no one around, but when I took out my camera a lot of people started gathering behind me and taking photos also.

I walked up the municipal parking deck to see what the view was from there.

From the parking deck

Tailgaters during the game by the student center

Outside the stadium

The stadium during the fourth quarter

Tailgaters behind the baseball stadium

About 6:45am the next morning. I'm glad I got there early. I heard later in the day people couldn't find parking downtown it was so crowded.

It was like snow

Another handheld shot from a different roll and a longer lens. Yep, I think I'll do more handheld shots in medium format.

One of my uncle's horses

Cindy (and recent photos)

I recently took some photos of my mom's dog Cindy with my Hasselblad camera. Cindy is 11 years old and lost an eye last year due to cancer in sinuses. The vet actually gave her only four months to live, but it has been almost a year now and she's livelier (and more spoiled) than ever.

"Can I please stand now?"

"Are you still playing with that camera thing?"

 I used Kodak Portra 400 film.

Some big changes ahead in my family. I have another niece or nephew on the way. Both of my parents are also engaged to be married.

My niece with the Hasselblad. Not sure if she's blinking or looking down.

Enjoying her Saturday at Granny's house

Star trails at the lake house captured with Portra 400 with a 6 hour exposure.

My grandfather's Brownie Hawkeye (that I took to Tallassee in the last post) as seen by my Hasselblad. 

Oh, and daffodil season has already begun. 'Wintersun' first opened on November 29. Photos to follow.

A day in Tallassee with Brownie Hawkeye

Recently I went to Tallassee with friends and we walked around the dam and the Civil War armory. I was kind of scared to enter the armory, as it was surrounded by fences and barbed wire, but my roommate just shoved aside a loose part of the chain link fence and walked in. Cars were going by and nobody seemed to care that we were there. I had my grandfather's Brownie Hawkeye camera and a roll of Portra 160 film.

Tallapoosa River just downstream of Thurlow Dam 

Armory ruins

Part of the armory complex

Mon ombre

Another part of the armory

This looked like some kind of meeting hall.

St. Vincent de Paul Parish, frequently photographed on the outside on this blog. This is the interior.

Wauxamaka Creek

So, the little creek that runs by my uncle's pastures has a name: Wauxamaka Creek. I assume this is a Muskogee name, given that the Creek Indians had a settlement here.

A bend in Wauxamaka Creek
Fuji Neopan Acros 100 film
Zero2000 pinhole camera
Green filter

Ego Sum Resurrectio Et Vita

A photo from my trip to Indiana last month. It's the cemetery at Ss. Philomena & Cecilia Oratory.

It's from my first roll of slide film. Shot on Fuji Provia 100F.

Going Lensless

With all the hundreds or thousands of dollars I've spent on camera equipment over the years, it amazes me what kinds of photos can be taken by a wooden box with a little hole in the front.

Comer Hall at Auburn, pinhole camera / Ektar 100 film

Now, granted, there is a loss of sharpness, but the images (especially the color ones I've done so far) are quite striking to me.

Mexican tarragon

One plant I liked seeing around this year was an herb I've never paid much attention to before. Mexican tarragon, Tagetes lucida. Being in the genus Tagetes, it is closely related to the ornamental marigolds. Another name for it is Mexican marigold. I'd like to try to grow more plants from this genus in the future.

Mexican tarragon growing in the garden at Kiesel Park

More photos I took while at Kiesel Park

Garden shed

Nunn-Winston House

Zinnias and hay bales

I took these with my new Hasselblad camera and Kodak Portra 400 film.

I also took a photo of the house with my pinhole camera and Ektar 100 film.

Garden update

The leaves are changing fast here in Alabama. We've had a few cold mornings but no frost. Two weeks ago I received the daffodils I ordered from Old House Gardens. I planted them all in pots. With the cool weather and rain, the daffodils are sending up leaves already, especially the Tazetta and Jonquilla cultivars. 

I have them growing in my modification of the 5-1-1 mix: five parts Reptibark (fir bark sold for reptile tanks), one part sifted perlite, one part peat-based potting soil. I like this mix because water penetrates it quickly and thoroughly, even when dry, and yet it holds enough water not to need to water every day. Plus, it lasts a long time. When I repotted the daffodils I planted in this mix last year, the mix looked brand new still. A downside of this mix is that it requires more frequent watering and dilute fertilizing at (optimally) every watering. I use a teaspoon of Miracle Gro per gallon and apply it with a sprayer tank.

My rose, 'Mutabilis' is looking fantastic. It's an antique China rose with single, five-petaled flowers. They change in color as they age, from pink to salmon to rose to peach to yellow to almost white. Thus the shrub looks multicolored. The leaves are dark green with tinges of purple or burgundy. I love this rose.

Salvia 'Van Houttei' is also blooming. It's the same species (S. splendens) as the red bedding salvias often seen at malls and shopping centers, but 'Van Houttei' grows 5 feet tall and has purple or burgundy flowers in fall. The flowers are lovely, but the plants look yellow and leggy. I would perhaps cut them back to be more bushy in the future, and provide richer soil so the leaves look more lush.

The Sternbergia lutea sent up leaves, but so far no flowers. I may have to wait until next year for flowers.

My citrus trees are looking great. This year I should have Buddha's hand citrons, Chinotto oranges, and golden bean kumquats. I recently bought a small Australian finger lime tree. It's the oddest citrus I've grown yet. The limes are elongated and green or reddish when ripe. When cut open, the inside contains little translucent spheres that look like caviar. Some chefs sprinkle them on salads. The flavor is like lime, sour and aromatic. I haven't had a fruit on my tree yet, but I tried one when I went to Birmingham a few weeks ago. I also repotted my tree in the 5-1-1 mix.

The daffodil seeds I planted in the spring are germinating now. They look like little grass leaves!

Absolve Domine

Driving down from Indianapolis to Brookville this Sunday morning, the expanses of straw-colored corn and soy fields and the little two-story white farm houses gave way to steep declines, rocky streams, winding roads, and flame-leaved maples. On a narrow road that jetted out of downtown Brookville and crossed a river, I drove along the valley, finally mounting a hill with an old German church and a spruce-walled graveyard. It was Ss. Philomena and Cecilia Oratory. In an outbuilding the choir was practicing. Two boys stood at the front, opening the doors for parishioners. A tall slim priest sat in the rear confessional, curtain pulled to the side. A few old ladies with their mantilla'd daughters sat quietly with their rosaries. An altar boy scurried from one side of the high altar to the other, lighting two candles as carefully as possible while keeping a reverent distance from the oriental rug at the altar's base.

I came to this place years ago, to see a new place, happy with friends whom I can no longer see, and I came again because I believed I wanted to see that old place where only memories remain. But what I saw was not an old place, but a place that is always new. And I prayed Mass by my friend's little girl, with her cheerful deep brown eyes and her rose-laced veil, whom he was never able to see in this life. Those whispered Latin orations were falling on fresh ears, and my ears freshly, ever old and ever new, as they say. Who would have known back in 2009 that I would be here again seeing these things and feeling what I was now feeling. What a strange and wonderful world this is.

My iPad had only a few songs on it, which I browsed when I ran out of podcasts. One was the tract from the traditional requiem Mass, which I listened to over and over as I drove down those windy roads. And I got the gift of tears.

Absolve, O Lord,

the souls of all the faithful departed

from every bond of sin.

And by the help of Thy grace

may they be enabled to escape the avenging judgment.

And enjoy the bliss of everlasting light.

I don't know why I'm posting this

I thought it was funny and well made and I connected with it a lot. (Some mild adult language)

I have to admit I've been confused these days, like I've been torn between two worlds and I belong to neither; and within the Church, where I feel torn between two sides, and belong to neither. I guess it's better to be bothered by something, than just to stop caring. Sometimes I'm exhausted and just want to stop caring, but I can't.

If God can make us all into saints, He has to be able to start with any canvas. But none of us are merely "any canvas"; our very existence shows us that we are canvases specifically made by Him for this purpose.

First medium format photos

I got my first rolls of film back yesterday. First are ones I took on my grandfather's Brownie Hawkeye camera with Kodak Portra 400 film.

Double exposure, woods along my uncle's pasture.

I took this scene with my digital camera a few weeks ago, trying to imitate medium format. Here is real medium format for comparison (though this one is at f/16).

Afternoon hike in Chewacla

Some rocks in Chewacla

My niece and her cat Bailey

Some photos from my pinhole camera. This was before I knew about reciprocity failure so they turned out really dark. Shot with Kodak T-Max 400.

My dad's bulldozer

The big creek (Same creek as Chewacla Creek, only 20-40 miles downstream)

Nunn-Winston House at Kiesel Park 

Nunn-Winston House

Finally, some of the photos from old film found inside the Brownie camera, from the mid-60s. These were the most shocking of all. I never thought they would have turned out. Shot on Kodak Kodacolor.

My great grandmother at her house. She loved to garden. I like her daylilies.

My grandfather with my mom (left) and aunt. He died one or two years after this.

Granny with Aunt Dot, my grandmother's sister. She was always a lot of fun to be around. I like Granny's lilies. This must have been early summer.