Shine

Photo shoot with Claire :)

Autumn, the year’s last, loveliest smile.

*Note: I snapped the rainbows accidentally using ISO 800 from the night before, so the shots are somewhat grainy. Therefore, I'm only posting the pictures as a record.

The trip my family and I took to Ajloun Forest Reserve about an hour away from Amman, over Eid Al Adha 2010. The rocks in the pictures are likely to be ancient fossilized coral, which means that the region was underwater millions of years ago. The building is Ajloun Castle, a fortress built from stone that still held cannonballs in a storeroom. The vendor selling hot tea with fresh mint and coffee with cardamom was kind enough to let me take pictures of him; to thank him, I bought a cup of tea.
We set out on "'The Soap Makers'" dirt trail in midafternoon. It was an easy and enjoyable stroll down the hill and then back up. I captured the refulgent sunset on the return journey. That night, lying in bed in our wood cabin, we heard the pitter-patter of rain against the windowpane. We woke up to the sight of two mesmerizingly beautiful rainbows against the waterlogged morning sky. I'd never seen a double rainbow before and it seemed like the perfect start to the day--a reminder of God's eternal promise to us in darker times. Somewhere among the treetops, a bird soared high on wings of hope.

Golden

These photos were taken in King Hussein Park in Amman, Jordan.