To see through a glass darkly suggests we see things obscurely or imperfectly, a distorted reality if you will. Drinking this lovely glass of dark red wine may distort your reality a bit.

glass red wine
A glass of red wine

“Glass half empty, glass half full. Well, either way you won’t be going thirsty, count your blessings not your flaws.” ~ Lauren Aquilina

Or perhaps you photographed something through a dirty glass windshield trying to capture the last of Autumn? And I made sure to watermark the image in case someone wanted to steal it.

Autumn on the road
Autumn through a glass dirtily

In any case, this week’s theme is glass, so have at it!

If not through a glass darkly, then through the looking glass, where everything may appear in reverse as in looking in a mirror.

Out driving for the last leaf-peeping in my neighborhood, I caught this in my rear-view mirror. Yes, I stopped first. Not much color.

thrugh rear view mirrow
Autumn in the rearview mirror

Reflections on a still lake, if all conditions are perfect, can sometimes be described as glass. This is what fall looked like in 2021.

October Day in Nine Mile Fall, WA
October color, Lake Spokane 2021

“You use a glass mirror to see your face; you use works of art to see your soul.” ~George Bernard Shaw

hummingbird ready to feed
Hummingbird at Glass Feeder
The green bits in the terrazzo floor are crushed beer bottles.
Do you see the green recycled glass? Those are repurposed Heineken Beer bottles.

Maybe not very artistic, but shopping for a new outdoor lamp for our front porch was exciting. We bought the innocuous one as noted by the red arrow.

Wall of lanterns
Wall of lanterns on display

Looking at Glass at Fort Vancouver and the Oregon Coast

In late September while visiting Portland, Oregon with my buddy, Marsha Ingrao, we made the short drive to Vancouver, Washington across the Columbia River to visit Fort Vancouver. Our visit included meeting up with fellow photographer and blogger, Kirstin Troyer who lives nearby.

Fort Vancouver is a National Historical Monument site. The Visitor Center is the gateway to historical exhibits within the park itself. We enjoyed finding photo ops for our upcoming blog themes. In fact, I hadn’t picked all my Sunday Stills’ themes for October and as I toured the grounds, and captured the images below, this week’s theme “glass” was born!

Glass collection
Glass collection Ft Vancouver, WA
Apothecary items under glass
Apothecary items under glass

The historical sections of Ft. Vancouver were fun to explore. We went inside the living quarters and discovered large rooms filled with dishes, glass, lanterns, and even an apothecary.

Ft Vancouver Kitchen Pantry
Ft Vancouver Kitchen Pantry
Blue Willow
Antique Blue Willow

Ft Vancouver’s Kitchen Pantry

I was impressed with the huge collection of antique Blue Willow glassware in the kitchen pantry.

Trying out a new gallery pattern…

On that same trip to Portland, we drove to the Oregon Coast into the Tillamook area. Our first stop was at Cape Meares State Scenic Viewpoint, famous for its coastal views, and the Cape Meares Lighthouse.

“Cape Meares Lighthouse may be the shortest on the Oregon coast, but it features an impressive, kerosene-powered lens.” Oregon State Parks

Cape Meares Lighthouse
Cape Meares Lighthouse

Inspiring Photo Challenges This Week

Each week I am inspired by my fellow bloggers’ photo challenges. I find it fun to incorporate these into my Sunday Stills weekly themes.

Sunday Stills Photo Challenge Reminders

Sunday Stills weekly photo challenge is easy to join. You have all week to share and link your post.

  • Remember to title your blog post a little differently than mine.
  • Please create a new post for the theme or link a recent one.
  • Entries for this theme can be posted all week.
  • Tag your post “Sunday Stills.”
  • Don’t forget to create a pingback to this post so that other participants can read your post.
  • I also recommend adding your post’s URL to the comments.

This Week’s Featured Bloggers

Sunday Stills is a wonderful community of bloggers and photographers who desire to connect with one another. Below are this week’s links from bloggers who shared photos. I add these all week as new links are posted.

“We see everything in a glass, darkly. Sometimes we can peer through the glass and catch a glimpse of what is on the other side. If we were to polish the glass clean, we’d see much more. But then we would no longer see ourselves.” — Jostein Gaarder

To see more of my images and other news, consider following Terri on Social Media by clicking the icons:

Join me this Friday as I share my review of Jacqui Murray’s latest book, Natural Selection and Virtual Book Blast for her blog tour.

Let your imagination run wild and show us images of glass, glassware, or something through a glass or a mirror—have fun and explore!

Autumn signature

© 2022-2031 Copyright — secondwindleisure.com — All Rights Reserved

Published by Terri Webster Schrandt

Now retired, I am former university adjunct faculty, self-published author, and retired recreation and parks practitioner living in Eastern Washington State near the Idaho border. Second Wind Leisure Perspectives is my blog about living a leisure lifestyle that includes fitness, photography, and fun.

129 thoughts on “Sunday Stills: Through a #Glass Darkly?”

  2. Pingback: Through glass – Geriatri'x' Fotogallery
  4. Pingback: #SundayStills ~ All Things #Glass (or Glassy…) #Photography

  5. Wow! The lake reflections are gorgeous! I see we had the same idea with alcohol 😀 I love the idea fo taking a photo in the wing mirror too. Must try that sometime. Lots of lovely images, Terri.

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  7. Pingback: Sunday Stills: Through a #Glass Darkly? – Stine Writing
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  14. I love looking through old glass windows, where the glass I wavy and uneven. There are some houses like that in the region, and I’m very fascinated by them. Great and fun theme 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

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  17. glass is such a fun theme, Terri – and I like the many ideas your post offered.
    the distortions through our lens, the reflections, and the glass art –
    also, like that George Bernard Shaw quote so much – fit the post completely

    “You use a glass mirror to see your face; you use works of art to see your soul.” ~George Bernard Shaw“You use a glass mirror to see your face; you use works of art to see your soul.”

    Liked by 1 person

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  18. Pingback: Sunday Stills: A Glass of Holiday Cheer – Robert's Snap Spot

  20. A fun post, Terri, and I loved that lakeside reflection from last year. Glad you watermarked your windshield photo. Lol. I was just about steal that one. 🙂 And I haven’t been to Fort Vancouver. Now, I’d like to get there, especially since it isn’t far. Happy Sunday!

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Thank you, Diana! I’m hoping it’s not too late to check out the lake again this week. The colors popped over the weekend. I hope you can visit Ft Vancouver–I ended up buying my lifetime NP pass there that day–forgot I was 62 then saw their sign–hooray!

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  22. Pingback: Sunday Stills: Through a #Glass  | A Day In The Life

  25. These were great examples of glass Terri, the lighthouse really appealed to me. My husband had suggested the barometer as an example due to the term glass. I see we’ve both done the mirror shots 🙂 I’m not familiar with the term to ‘see through a glass darkly’ so thanks for that!

    Just as an aside what program/app do you use for your watermark?

    I’ve shared some of my sunroom photos in case some readers haven’t seen them before. Thanks for stopping by and linking with our posts for #SundayStills, it’s always greatly appreciated.

    People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones #SundayStills

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thank you, Debbie! It turned out to be a fun challenge looking for glass in different forms. Your sunroom really is a magical place!

      Most of my watermark logos are from Photologo–I pay to get them but once I’ve done so they are mine. I still use PicMonkey for editing my photos and can easily drop the watermark logo in as a graphic layer over the image.

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      1. Thanks for the watermark info Terri, I’ve used one before but have got out of the habit in recent years. Yes glass has been a fun prompt, those green Heineken bottle in your post are a great example of recycling! My sunroom is sooo good, especially when the house is dark during winter, it’s always so much lighter out there and I have power so I can run a heater or charge my computer as needed. I am very fortunate indeed to have this space. Sometimes I feel like a hot-house flower 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  26. Pingback: People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones #SundayStills – Deb's World

  28. Well Terri, I fear our subjects have nothing to do with each other this week but that said I totally enjoyed your post! Loved the dirty windshield LOL and it looks like you had tons of fun at Fort Vancouver. It’s really special to have developed such a great friendship with Marsha – for both of you! Wishing you a great week

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Thank you Tina, I tried to find glass in the mountains, LOL! I’ve been volunteering for the last day of the neighborhood harvest festival and need to head to your post! Marsha and I have so much in common, it’s really amazing!

      Like

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  36. I chuckled at your wine glass comment. 😉 I would’ve been so fascinated with the glass at Ft. Vancouver. Your fall photos by the water from 2021 – WOW! As always, I enjoyed your post and your prompt. I’ll be back next week – thanks for hosting the Sunday Stills!

    Liked by 1 person

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  37. Hi Terri. So excited to hear that you met up with Diana, Miriam, and other bloggers. Fantastic! Your fall photos are beautiful. Here in NE I don’t even have to be a good photographer to get some incredible photos of nature’s red/oranges/yellows. It’s been a spectacular fall. Looking forward to your review of Jacqui’s newest book!

    Liked by 1 person

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  38. Lake reflections, apothecary items, and lanterns are my favorite types of glass, but I also really like your opening paragraph where you linked a glass of wine with seeing through a glass darkly! I didn’t know this expression before and I’m glad I got to learn it today. The lighthouse lens looks really big. Definitely an eye-catching lighthouse.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Thank you, Gift! Glass turned out to be a fun challenge and bloggers have really gotten into it especially sharing their glasses of wine 🙂 I had to lookup the saying as well, although I knew most of what it meant. It has a spiritual origin in the Bible as well.

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  39. Pingback: #SundayStills: Photographing through Window #Glass – This is Another Story
  42. Pingback: Gallery: through a glass darkly - Travel with me

  43. Nice idea for a theme 🙂 I had to smile at ‘through a glass dirtily’ – I think we all have more than a few of those shots! Fort Vancouver looks interesting and I can see how those displays would inspire you with this idea.

    I’ve pulled together some archive shots, in a bit of a rush as I’m off on holiday today! https://www.toonsarah-travels.blog/gallery-through-a-glass-darkly/ Probably won’t be joining in for the next few weeks but I’ll pop in from time to time to see how things are with everyone 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

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  44. I love how glass can be recycled into works of art or simply into tiles and make objects look so different.

    Your ‘glass darkly’ idea is great for the Halloween season, Terri, as is looking at reverse images in a mirror. And I’d have chosen the same porch light from what was on offer.

    Did you get to go inside the lighthouse? They are fascinating inside, although I wouldn’t like to be stuck in one during a storm.

    I’ll be joining in via my Wordless Wednesday post.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Thanks, Hugh, I’m glad you like the theme, and I look forward to your post tomorrow! Our home came with these three cheesy-looking porch lights, so we intend to replace them one by one. When Marsha and I saw the light house, it was still closed for the day. It is very short but so high on the cliffside, its light shine for miles from the huge lamp. I captured more pics from around the area for the “mysterious” theme next Sunday!

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  45. Pingback: Calm water almost looks like glass | Kamerapromenader

  47. Terri,
    Great theme idea, and I love the fall colors. Hope you found some saguaro. Helen collects Vaseline glass, and here is a picture from a trip to International Falls, MN. She found a piece in an antique shop. Have a great week! Joe

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thank you, Joe. Great shot of Helen surrounded by all that glass. My daughters each have a great collection of Depression glass that their grandmother started for them. No saguaros for me since I live in Washington 😉

      Like

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  48. Pingback: #Glass – Sunday Stills Challenge – Cee's Photo Challenges

  50. I love the verse, ‘now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face.’ Beautiful images and quotes to go with this week’s theme! And I couldn’t help but notice an update on your bio! “Part-time reporter/photographer” How cool is that? Congratulations! 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

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  69. Such a disparity with last year’s leaf colors and this year’s – sigh. We have had a good season for leaf peeping and when I got out Saturday afternoon (not my usual walking time as I prefer morning walks, but we had very heavy fog, like we do this morning), I was amazed that there were still colorful leaves hanging on for dear life and with the afternoon sun, those yellow leaves and sunlight made a glow which had golden hues.

    I like your outside light Terri. I have a Robin who insists on making a nest in my front outside light. It is a coach light and the U-bend is perfect for making a nest, packing up the mud and “cementing” it into that bend and in record time I might add. I have to put a cardboard box in the bend to dissuade nest-making activity from April through late Fall and that looks terrible. I already converted the side light to a flat light with a sloped surface as the light was underneath an awning – perfect for staying warm and dry.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Thank you, Linda! We have the same fog situation but now there is snow in the forecast late next week. Fall will fall most definitely then. We are well past our peak this year but I shouldn’t complain. Thanks for the heads up about the birds nest 🙂

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