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Posts from the ‘Photography’ Category

Apr 17

13 Comments

Summer Promise

“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” – Confucius

It’s been one of those weeks where everything feels complicated and hard, the running through wet cement hip deep kind. As I wandered through photos and quotes, it hit me. There’s nothing that symbolizes simplicity more than summer. And the promise of summer lifted the weight, shifted my perspective. So ponder your own summer memories and those you will soon create.

"In summer, the song sings itself." - William Carlos Williams

"In summer, the song sings itself." - William Carlos Williams

"There shall be eternal summer in the grateful heart." - Celia Thaxter

"There shall be eternal summer in the grateful heart." - Celia Thaxter

"Summer afternoon - summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language." - Henry James

"Summer afternoon - summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language." - Henry James

Apr 15

4 Comments

Buds

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” – Anais Nin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many of our thoughts, ideas and dreams remain as buds until risk that first step to open them up to the possibilities. We can also cast light on others so their thoughts, ideas and dreams can blossom as well. Imagine the fragrance of life if we nurtured more buds into blossoms.

Apr 11

11 Comments

53 Years

“In a time when nothing is more certain than change, the commitment of two people to one another has become difficult and rare.  Yet, by its scarcity, the beauty and value of this exchange have only been enhanced.” – Robert Sexton


53 years ago today, my parents were married. They are a model of love and commitment through 12 years of night school while working full time to get a college degree, raising three (pretty awesome) kids, three (pretty awesome) grandchildren, two knee replacements, a broken hip, cancer, and daily challenges of life.

Some of the many lessons that I’ve learned from them include:

Faith will get you through everytime;
The value of hard work;
Don’t take the gifts you’ve been given for granted;
The importance of laughter;
Discipline produces results;
The satisfaction from giving your all, regardless of the results;
Ask for forgiveness and mean it;
There’s nothing better than a good polka;
Respect others and yourself;
Pay your bills on time and don’t get over your head in debt;
Life isn’t fair, so what, do what you can with what you have without complaint;
You can be both family and friends;
Give without counting;
Quiet perseverance;
Character is more important than personality;
Life is short, so appreciate each day.

They’ve taught these lessons not in words but in living them everyday.  Thanks Mom and Dad for the many gifts, blessings and lessons. Happy Anniversary.

Apr 9

2 Comments

Easter Fulfilled

“Easter says you can put truth in a grave, but it won’t stay there.”
– Clarence W. Hall

"He takes men out of time and makes them feel eternity." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

"He takes men out of time and makes them feel eternity." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Mar 31

Easter Anticipation

“See the land, her Easter keeping, Rises as her Maker rose. Seeds, so long in darkness sleeping, Burst at last from winter snows. Earth with heaven above rejoices…”  – Charles Kingsley

“The beautiful spring came; and when Nature resumes her loveliness, the human soul is apt to revive also.” —Harriet Ann Jacobs

“The beautiful spring came; and when Nature resumes her loveliness, the human soul is apt to revive also.” —Harriet Ann Jacobs

Mar 27

5 Comments

“Regular” Spontaneity

There’s comfort in routine. While it can add stability and ground us, routine can also stall and numb our senses. Be spontaneous regularly – I can’t say when or where because that wouldn’t be spontaneous now would it. Try something new – in small, medium and large ways.

A simple shift now and then to keep your days fresh and you feeling refreshed. Be curious, dance without music (alone might be a good idea), try a different restaurant, skip through the office, play hopscotch in the parking lot, take a last minute trip (Vegas a few weeks ago with my parents and brother), start a new hobby (friends started winemaking) or fly a kite (saw that on our run today). Lily highly recommends putting your head out the window to feel the exhilaration of the wind in your face. And while you can be spontaneous by yourself, it’s fun to bring someone along for the ride, break out of the routine and to see the world in a new light.

Lily enjoying a little breeze in her face outside the car window.

Lily enjoying a little breeze in her face outside the car window.

Mar 23

5 Comments

Be Color-Full

“The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts.” – Marcus Aurelius

Show your brightest colors today and make the same decision tomorrow, and the next day and the next and …

Mar 17

2 Comments

Now This IS March Madness

“Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature.” – Gerard de Nerval

Hello Spring, Happy St. Patrick’s Day, 73 degrees in Minnesota. Oh – and enjoy college basketball March Madness too. Now, here’s some real March Madness…

Mar 12

4 Comments

The Poetry of Nature

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”

 “I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so studily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to it’s lowest terms…”

“The indescribable innocence and beneficence of nature – of sun and wind and rain, of summer and winter – such health, such cheer, they afford forever!”

Henry David Thoreau, Walden

 

Mar 5

6 Comments

What Keeps You Up at Night?

“Softly the evening came.”  – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Coming off of a very intense three weeks, someone asked me “what keeps you up at night?” Years ago, my mind would have lept immediately to work – the drama, the politics, the what happens if someone does this or says that. This time it didn’t.

What keeps me up at night? My parents health, my nieces’ and nephew’s future, friends struggling with challenges. Am I enjoying each day surrounded by people who make my life more complete? These are the thoughts and questions that keep me up at night. And once a in a while, work jumps in there.

Perhaps the more important question is, “What keeps you moving through your day?” I don’t need anymore sleepless nights – I’ve already contributed many through the years. I need days where I am very awake to what is right in front of me with gratitude. And as the evening comes softly to rest easy, content with my contribution to the day.

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