Skywatch Friday Thoughts and More

500th Post!

In honor of the occasion of my 500th post, I am posting what is perhaps the best sky photo I have EVER taken.  This was taken in June of 2008 at Epcot.  My office gave me a trip for my 20th anniversary, so we took the grand kids to Disney World.  What fun!

500 posts!  Where has the time gone.  This madness all started on April 14, 2007 when I created a blog called Brain Freeze.  After a couple of years I ran out of storage space on that blog.  No one told me to compress my photos, so I had 3, 4 and 5 megapixel photos posted over there.  My only option was to create a new blog.  At first I was not really happy about having to start a new adventure.  What was I going to call this new space in cyberspace.  Well, I grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  Their minor league baseball team is called the Tulsa Drillers.  So, this new blog became Driller's Place.  Now, I think I like this place better than my first blog.

One thing that has changed is that this blog has become more photo oriented.  Early on, I probably shared my own thoughts more and my photos less.  That all changed when I bought a digital SLR and really began playing with Adobe PhotoShop Elements.  Fridays are now the posts that usually have more of my thoughts and adventures while Ruby Tuesday and Wordless Wednesday are strictly photo oriented.  The other thing that has changed is the fact that I now limit my posts mostly to three meme's, Ruby Tuesday, Wordless Wednesday and Skywatch Friday.  In my previous blog life I was much more random in my posting and, possibly a little more prolific.  I have noticed that no matter what I do, I attract very few new visitors.  Oh well, that's life.  I did look at the statistics and noticed that I have had visitors from Russia, Japan, the Philippines, Canada, and Sweden.  It really is a small world and you can reach out at touch all of it from the comfort of your own home.  That just amazes me.

My very first post indicated that I would spend some time posting about the grandcrew.  Lord knows, I've done that.  But, they are one of the things that makes life worth living. See.

It's hard to believe, but I was blogging for over two years before anyone in the family knew about it.  It was kind of a creative outlet for me and I really didn't think to tell anyone.  Now, my wife checks it from time to time and my daughter reads it occasionally.
It took me three and a half years to get to 500 posts.  I have no idea how long it will take to reach 1000, but at an average of 2.75 posts per week, you can do the math.  Like most bloggers, I have taken a couple of breaks and I've had some weeks with four or five posts.  I've come across some very interesting blogs and there are a couple of bloggers that I would really like to meet in person.  You know who you are.
One feature that I started this year is posting an inspirational song each Friday.  I use the blog to share my faith and let the world know that God does love them and truly wants to have a personal relationship with each of us.  Music is one of the best ways of expressing God's Love.  I like the hymns, Contemporary Christian Music, and Southern Gospel.  Since this post is running long and is a celebration of the 500th edition I just may share something from each of these genres.  First the hymns.  I love the hymns and I love them done traditionally as well as updated arrangements.  Here is an updated version of one of my all time favorite hymns, Victory in Jesus, by Bart Millard.  For those of you familiar with Christian music, Bart is the lead vocalist for Mercy Me. Enjoy.

Next up is one of my favorite contemporary Christian artists, Chris Tomlin.  Chris is probably the most prolific praise and worship songwriter today.  There are so many choices when it comes to picking a video it is difficult to choose just one.  My only hope is that you like this choice and will investigate his music further.  He has some incredible music available. Among my favorite Chris Tomlin songs are, Sing,Sing, Sing, I Will Rise, Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone), and  Indescribable.  Just go over to YouTube and lose yourself in his work.



Finally we visit Southern Gospel. Those of you who read this blog on a regular basis know what's coming next. It either going to be the Gaither Vocal Band or Signature Sound Quartet. Today it will be the newest version of the Gaither Vocal Band singing an incredible version of Alpha and Omega.  It says it all.



I guess that just about does it for my 500th post.  I'll see you next week for Ruby Tuesday. Sooo, in the words of Porky Pig, "Th-th-that's All Folks."
Have a wonderful week-end.