Perseverance

I watched him make this. First the idea came, a perfectly splendid idea! He started with a few cards using his newest deck. It wasn't long before he realized that he'd need to use the oldest, most seasoned deck of cards that our house had to offer. I'm sure there's a perfectly good spiritual analogy in there somewhere - ferret it out. As he got down to the nuts and bolts of building this tower, he got some wise counsel from one who had gone before and done this kind of thing in his youth. Next came the season of learning by failure, a difficult season indeed. I will not tell you how many times he kicked the whole thing and sent cards flying through the air in a glorious passion of frustration when the top cards kept toppling (is that a pun?). "Arrrgghhhh!" When the passion was spent, however, he picked them up and started again. The completed edifice is a monument to perseverance. Try it. (Perseverance, not the card tower; however you may choose to learn it the same way he did).

As to the two photos, I wanted to show the contrast between using the flash and trying to go without it. I'm torn. I don't like the artificial light of the flash, yet the photo seems too yellowish without it. I have a lot to learn about lighting. I can't help but think that a faster lens would help (an F stop of 2.8 would be nice). In the meantime, I bump up the ISO and put the F stop as low as I can and hope for the best. Persevere!