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Friday, November 24, 2006

Grotto in the Mist - A Mystical Morning

After wanting to kick myself for not taking my camera with me to to Assumption Grotto on Thanksgiving morning, I decided to take it today, hoping for some beautiful outdoor, fall shots.

I left the house at 6:45am for Assumption Grotto for Lauds, then 7:30am Mass. As I drove south I looked off to the east. I was pleasantly greeted with hues of purples and oranges as the sun, still unseen, painted the morning sky. I knew I was blessed with a wonderful photogenic morning on my day off.

Just 2 short miles before I reached Assumption Grotto a dense fog moved in rapidly. Gone was the painted sky and I could only see a few car lengths in front of me. I slowed as I headed down the last mile of Gratiot, unable to see street lights or signals until almost on top of them. I was barely able to make out the two lights shining on the "Assumption Grotto" sign.

As I turned in, I noticed the beauty in the statue of Our Lady as the lights cut through the thick fog. I parked, grabbed my camera and ran out to get a few shots before Lauds. Then, I returned outdoors about 8:30 to get a few more shots in the cemetery, and one last closeup of the Blessed Mother statue which greets us each time we arrive.

This first photo is from behind, walking up that long sidewalk between the fir trees. The picture does not do it justice. They appear grainy, but that is the fog.





A photo looking at the Grotto, now hidden by fog, from just inside of the cemetery entrance.
The Statue of St. Bernadette




This last one is a statue in of St. Margaret of Alacoque - a nun of the Visitation Order who really ignited the Devotion to the Sacred Heart.