Simple Joys

Smile

2011-09-20T22:12:00.001-05:00

People seldom notice old clothes if you wear a big smile.

Lee Mildon

Sheltered in an old teacup planter, surrounded by volunteer petunias, and threatened by wayward bindweed..... this persistent little daisy smiles! And on a day when it's the only sunshine to be found....her smile is all that matters! Simple joy in a chipped china cup in my own backyard... and a lesson in life that grows there!

on becoming a butterfly…

2011-09-13T01:57:00.002-05:00

Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over,

it became a butterfly.

(proverb)

For some moments in life there are no words. ~David Seltzer, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

I find myself deep in the middle of some of those moments. A tragic accident claimed the life of the 18 year old daughter of a co worker this week, and her 20 year old boyfriend. A beautiful young woman I've watched grow up. She had a smile that lit up the room...and touched the lives of all that knew her. One tragic moment on a perfect Friday night changed the lives of so many. Two young children, in love with life, with so much to offer the world.....gone..by no fault of their own. Two special families, reeling with pain, huge gaping holes in their hearts...but still reaching out to all that knew these kids to offer comfort to others. These are moments that defy words. Moments when I need to hear the voices of our sons and daughters....just to tell them how great they are and how lucky we've been to be there for them, with them....how much we love them, before that chance is gone. These have been moments where I've only been able to sit in stunned silence and offer up prayers for peace and comfort for these families ...the mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters...that are aching, crying, hurting, grieving....over the loss of these two young children. There are no words. But I have to believe that like the caterpillar learned....there will be more.

(found this beautiful butterfly in Joe's garden today, dancing in the leftover zinnias....she seemed to agree on the MORE theory!)

a wing, a torch, a promise….

2011-08-28T23:17:00.002-05:00

I will not die an unlived life.

I will not live in fear

of falling or catching fire.

I choose to inhabit my days,

to allow my living to open me,

to make me less afraid,

more accessible;

to loosen my heart

until it becomes a wing,

a torch, a promise.

I choose to risk my significance,

to live so that which came to me as seed

goes to the next as blossom,

and that which came to me as blossom,

goes on as fruit.

by Dawna Markova

Some may look at this photo and see an old man holding a bouquet of dead flowers.......I look at this photo, and see a 13 year old boy, holding the seeds of tomorrow in his hands....a life, very well lived.

a wing, a torch, a promise.

I remember 1965, Joe.

You have kept your promise.

(and with your loving touch, those seeds of tomorrow will bloom again in spring.

Thank you for the beauty you bring to my world !)

fly.....

2011-08-23T23:27:00.001-05:00

How does one become a butterfly? she asked pensively.

You must want to fly so much that you are willing

to give up being a caterpillar.

Trina Paulus

After years of inching along the stems in life, I think I"m ready to fly.

Hope my wings will be orange!

the boys of summer…

2011-08-23T01:00:00.001-05:00

I can see you

your brown skin shining in the sun

you've got your hair combed back and your

sunglasses on....

(don henley)

And meet our boys of summer....baseball playing, ice cream eating, sand castle building, laughing, sweaty boys of summer. They play hard, run fast, smile lots, sleep little......and occasionally stop for a hug for Grandma and Grandpa! Love you all, our growing up boys of summer!

(and all but one went back to school last week!)

what you’ve got to do…

2011-08-20T22:58:00.000-05:00

there are so many people out there

who will tell you that you can’t.

What you’ve got to do is turn around

and say “watch me”.

author unknown

The unplanned moments in life are often the best....and this unplanned photo, taken while wandering around Joe's garden , is all the proof I need. With strength, determination, perseverance, grace and beauty...this chubby little caterpillar inched up that delicate flower stem. It was windy, rain was coming and I was sure he couldn't do it. He did. He didn't have to turn around. He had me watching. Lessons in life...there for the taking, in the peace of Joe's garden. Advice for my grandchildren, worth remembering....turn around, kids....tell the world to watch you!

amazing….

2011-08-09T01:19:00.000-05:00

When I see your face

there's not a thing that I would change

'cause you're amazing

just the way your are.

(lyrics by Bruno Mars)

These are our girls of summer….. our flip flop wearing, gum chewing, giggling gaggle of cheeky lasses. Sweet little girls with bare toes, hair feathers and bows, earrings, "bakeenis" , binkies and bicycles... .....they fill our lives with joy! And we wouldn’t change a thing. They are all amazing! Just the way they are.

making you happy….

2011-08-06T12:04:00.000-05:00

It's a helluva start, being able to recognize what makes you happy. ~Lucille Ball

In an inspirational garden, a peaceful place, a testimony to hard work and commitment....standing in front of a statue with history, a replica of what a man should be...it was easy to recognize what made me happy. Despite the sweat dripping from places it shouldn't be....humidity that felt like a wall of water to breath through...and temperatures at record levels...I stood with my camera in hand, watching Joe water and trim and tuck and weed.....felt the misty spray on my face (and wiped it off my lens)..... and listened to the chirp of the thirsty birds thanking him for their drink. I followed the rainbow that appeared at the end of that hose in the mist and took my seat on the brand new bench to enjoy it. This is what happiness is.....recognizing where you belong, and what you're supposed to be doing at that moment in time. And this was mine....to sit in over 100 degree temps, in a garden carved out of the concrete in a middle of a school....to sit in the shade on a bench made from the hands of my very own carpenter...and watch him as he did what he does best......share his huge and loving heart with everyone...and everything...that crosses his path. Birds, kids, teachers, administrators....he treats them all the same. With a side of humor, a huge helping of common sense....and with patience, kindness and love. What a start I've made in my life, recognizing who...and what makes me happy. And what a lesson we all can learn from watching my Joe at work.

the boys of summer….

2011-08-05T00:09:00.000-05:00

brown skin shining in the sun…..these are our boys of summer. Both celebrating July birthdays, both stretching the long lazy days of summer as much as they can….hard to believe that 14…and 11 …short years ago, we welcomed them both! Happy Birthday, Tyler and Nathan. Wishing you many, many more sweet summer birthdays! (and thanks for choosing such a GREAT place for your birthday dinner!)

touching dragonflies…

2011-07-29T23:10:00.003-05:00

may you touch dragonflies and stars, dance with fairies and talk to the moon.

Today, I danced with a dragonfly. A graceful, elegant, courageous and very beautiful dragonfly. A delicate insect that lives only a fraction of its life able to fly. A miracle that shows us all how to live in the moment….and live it in the fullest! I will never see a dragonfly again, without remembering my friend, Tracy, who died three years ago from breast cancer. She was way too young….and like the dragonflies she loved, was graceful…elegant…and courageous. In her short life, she learned how to live in the moment….how to shine…..and oh, how she shined in ...pink! I felt the whirl of his wings in my hair before I saw him, as I stood on the deck with a broom in my hand….sweating in the thick Nebraska heat. There’s nothing that can stop me in my tracks…send me running for the camera….like a dragonfly. Watching the ballet of their flight makes me smile. The brilliance of their colors as they swoop and dive and dance is astounding. They are fearless…and agile…..and irridescent…and fly with power and poise. Today, he teased me with his dance….lighting briefly beside me, once on my shoulder…and with the blink of an eye was gone again, flying upside down, backwards and sideways…twisting and turning like an aerial artist in a big top…without a net. I stalked him awhile…taking photo after photo of soft blurred spots in the center of my capture, until finally…whether he grew tired of the game, or took pity on an old, determined woman….he landed. In less time than it took to breathe in and out he was gone…..off to dance with the fairies and talk to the moon…..and remind us all how glorious this life is…no matter how long we’re here for.

wise words…

2011-07-28T23:59:00.002-05:00

find the time

the time to read,

to smell the flowers,

to paint your dreams,

to have coffee with a friend,

to learn a new craft,

to write a letter,

to bake a surprise cake,

to go somewhere special,

to REALLY be with the person you love,

or even to do nothing for a while.....

(courtesy of Stylizimo blog)

A lazy, cloudy day in July...filled it with flowers, coffee, friends, the person I love.....and mastered the art of doing nothing while I pinned my away around Pinterest! (Thanks, Kim....for my newest addiction! )

wishes....

2011-07-27T23:09:00.001-05:00

Bloom where you are planted...grow your roots deep...bend to the winds of life...scatter your petals wildly.....dig in.... hang on...and enjoy the ride.....no matter where you've landed! (unless it's Joe's yard....you'll definitely be a weed there!) this one escaped the Weed B Gone!

the secrets to life...

2011-07-27T01:21:00.000-05:00

If there is any secret to this life I live, this is it:

the sound of what cannot be seen sings within everything that can.

& there is nothing more to it than that.

StoryPeople

And what cannot be seen in this life of ours sings out loud in this little crazy dog! In his song lies loyalty, faithfulness, unconditional love, trust and joy......pure, simple joy. Those that know Gus have heard him sing. He loves to sing...loud and way off key...and puts his whole body into it, knowing that a trick biscuit waits for him at the end of the song. He knows the secrets to life. He learned them early. He shares them willingly, should you choose to come visit. Secrets like nothing beats a good truck ride.! (He understands those two words....truck ride....they make him twirl and bark and jump for joy!) Secrets like... take a nap every day...and on the good days, take two! Keep digging until you find what's buried. (even if it does lie under the flower that Joe just planted.) .Drink lots of water and find some shade to rest in.. Play every day. Protect your territory. Never turn down the chance to roll in the snow. And never let 8 pm go by without a greenie. (we swear he can tell time too!) There is nothing more to it than that!

i carry you...

2011-07-26T00:30:00.000-05:00

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life: which grows

higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart ( i carry it in my heart)

e e cummings

"There is no footprint too small that it cannot leave a lasting imprint on our hearts"

I am reminded tonight of all I take for granted. Healthy, happy grandchildren that I get to see often. A place to call home. Flowers that grow in my garden. A job I truly love to do. A family that loves me. My best friend to share life with. Stories to tell, journeys to make...pictures to take....I take it all for granted. It can change in the beat of a heart. And it did, for a young couple I know very well. My heart aches for them. No one should have to bear what they have...but they do it with a smile on their face, and love in their heart. They show me what faith is...what hope means.....what family does. To Tori and Jeremy...I'm so sorry, again. Life isn't fair. I know it's not suppose to be...but I'll never stop wishing it were. Know that those tiny footprints leave an imprint on many hearts tonight. We carry your heart in ours.

Ordinary life...

2011-07-24T13:25:00.000-05:00

Time stands still best in moments that look suspiciously like ordinary life.

StoryPeople

A glimpse of the beauty to be found on a hot, humid and very ordinary Sunday afternoon in July. This standing still moment....in yellow and purple and green and red and white and blue.... was captured to remind me, when the winter winds howl....of the joys to be found in the moments of an ordinary day....in a very ordinary life....in the summer days of Nebraska!

(flowers, again...by Joe. Flag flies proudly to support our sailor,

broiling in the summer sun in Iraq. Be safe, Kevin!)

A better day....

2011-07-21T23:07:00.001-05:00

The trick

is to enjoy life.

don't wish

away your days

waiting

for better ones.

Marjorie Pay Hinckley

This was a better day. One I didn't have to wait for. A second cup of coffee, linger in the garden, phone calls from family kind of day. A no work, sleep a little later, take a few pictures kind of day. A write in my journal, turn off the tv, play some new music kind of day. This is a hard lesson to learn in life...how to make each day a better one. It's so easy to put it off, wait until the time is right, hope for the perfect weather day....and look back to find that I've missed what it was all about. I'm learning to leave that last load of laundry, ignore the cups in the kitchen sink and grab that Nikon and head outside. To stop for a moment on the way to work in the morning, just to enjoy a sunrise. (even though it's been making me a little late!) And to roll the windows down on the way home and sing along at the top of my lungs to a favorite song! (even when it's still 90 degrees at 8 pm!) To call an old friend, for the sound of her voice (be ready, Donna...I will!) ...and pack a box filled with "home" to send on it's way to my favorite sailor in Iraq. (it's leaving Saturday morning, Kevin!) At the end of this day, it wasn't what I did that I really remember.....its what I didn't do today. And what I didn't do today was spend it wishing for a better day.....I found it! Enjoy yours tomorrow!

(flowers, courtesy of Joe's garden.....driftwood, courtesy of Kevin and Ashley)

In summer....

2011-07-18T23:57:00.002-05:00

"I've always liked the time before dawn

because there's no one around

to remind me who I'm supposed to be,

so it's easier to remember who I am "

storypeople

Filling the days of summer in the shade of the garden, watching the zinnias dance to the rhythm of the sprinkler! Colors sing in Joe's garden this year....greens and pinks and oranges and yellows and purples....a chorus of bloom nodding fairies, inviting me to kick off my shoes and wander down the brick path, to pause under the shade of the oak tree and spend a few minutes watching the butterflies feed and the Momma robins teach their babies to fly. One single sunrise in this garden is reminder indeed that this is where I am supposed to be....and this is who I am.

beautiful....

2011-07-17T08:27:00.000-05:00

She said she usually cried at least once each day

not because she was sad,

but because the world was so beautiful

and life was so short.

( Story People)

Because the world is so beautiful....and life is so short....it's time to change a few things. Combining, condensing, mixing it all up.....this will become the pages of my life.....the me I want to be crazy mixed with the me I am.....so family, friends and followers....you'll find it all here now.....all new, all fun, and maybe more of the time! More family, more photos, more fun, more facts, more quotes and hopes and dreams.........follow me through the days. Attitude really is everything....and life is beautiful!

greedy...

2011-03-27T11:00:00.005-05:00

Nature provides a free lunch, but only if we control our appetites. ~William Ruckelshaus

Not much in life brings me as much joy as the crazy antics of the greedy squirrels in our backyard! A recent addition to our resident squirrel family is this robust little black squirrel...he's a bold little bugger that we often find sitting in the sun on our deck, leftover ear of field corn gripped tight between his tiny paws, chewing away on his breakfast fit for a King. Never one to be able to throw away anything that could have a purpose before it's time, Joe had an idea. Feeding the birds day old bread (discarded when it reached its past the prime status) seemed like such a brilliant idea! What he didn't bargain for was the new squirrel in town....a greedy, determined and very creative soul in a young bushy body! His antics caught my eye as I walked by the picture window..and he soon had me laughing out loud. Joe's day old bread store soon became a black squirrel deli...and by the end of the day, was chewed in half and dropped to ground...and shared by a gang of hungry food stealing squirrels, two squawking blackbirds and one small stray rabbit. Not sure the natives on these two little acres know much about controlling their appetites...but they sure enjoyed a free lunch today, provided by Joe. I'm beginning to think I'm married to my very own squirrel whisperer! I can't remember when I've laughed so hard...or so long. Thanks, Joe....you have a way of making even the gray days brighter!

Soar....

2011-03-25T22:38:00.000-05:00

“There is an eagle in me that wants to soar,

and there is a hippopotamus in me that wants to wallow in the mud”

Carl Sandburg

On a gloomy winter afternoon, we went for a drive. It was a wallowing kind of day....easy to grumble, forget about looking for the simple joys to be found on the most ordinary of days. Coffee almost gone (and so was the gas that costs an arm and a leg now....)...we decided to drive around the tiny pond that's tucked away just a few miles from our home. Windows down, we cruised around the bend in the road, disappointed in the lack of open water and spring birds...and by accident, I spotted the most majestic bird of all, perched and ready for flight, directly above us. He paused, gave us a haughty glare and spread his magnificent wings and swooped away......almost in slow motion. What a lesson, on the wings of an eagle, about remembering to look for the joy.... about choosing to soar...and to quit spending the days of my life rolling in the mud!

circle of life

2011-03-22T00:00:00.001-05:00

Everything in nature is reborn within the circle of life,

and shines with new brightness, hope, and promises.

Flavia

Season follows season, day follows night, month follows month, ....life really is one big circle I take for granted. For the last month, I've made myself take the time to look for the holiness in the little moments of life........and it seems as if I've found it here, in the tiny cups of purple joy growing outside our back door. One solid month.....tiny little shoots poked their bright green heads through the old dirt and leaves on February 14...and now one month later,, with delicate leaves open to welcome the warmth of the sun, still they stand. A fragile little message in bright purple....promising hope and joy and spring.

gifts...

2011-03-12T23:03:00.000-06:00

Each day comes bearing its own gifts. Untie the ribbons.

~Ruth Ann Schabacker

Today's gift came in bright yellow. My favorite color. Tiny golden blooms smiling at me as I stepped out the back door. Sturdy little blooms that fought hard to climb their way through layers of dirt and old mulch and mostly melted snow. Skinny green leaves announcing hope grows here. Ribbons of simple joy soon untied in the warmth of the March sunshine. Messengers of hope and trust and forgiveness. Truth in tiny blossoms and slender little leaves. Oh...what a gift of a day this was.

Wasting time...

2011-02-23T19:44:00.006-06:00

Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted.

John Lennon (or so some say)

Today was a beautiful day. A teaser of a day in mid February. A day filled with blue skies and crazy robins and fat squirrels and shy cardinals and winter berries. A day just made for a camera and a little brown dog and a walk around the yard. A day made for wasting time. Winding my way through a lazy afternoon, cleaning old leaves away from tiny purple crocus and digging my fingers into rich black earth. A gift of a day made for a second pot of coffee and a juicy sweet orange and a nap. Tomorrow, when the winds of winter race across our yard and up the arms of my coat, I"ll smile...and remember the joy I found in wasting this day away.

work....

2011-02-20T19:00:00.002-06:00

All work feeds the soul if it is honest

and done to the best of our abilities and if it brings joy to others.

Matthew Fox

Three 12 hour shifts a week....(including every third weekend and every other holiday).....I shut off the alarm at 5 am and get up...and go to work. I am a labor and delivery nurse. Work that truly feeds my soul. Work I take pride in doing...and fight hard to do well. Work that may bring joy to others....but never as much joy as it brings to me. 38 years worth of work...and the lessons that have come with it. Lessons so very much worth sharing with my children...and my childrens' children. Lessons that have taught me that......

...life is really just two big groups....

those who do the work, and those who take the credit.

Membership to both groups is not an option.

you can try to go that extra mile at work...

but your boss will find you.

And bring you back. Abruptly.

work has a way of getting in the way of life. Daily.

the reward for a job well done...is the chance to do even more. Right away.

people who can laugh together, work well together. And should. Everyday. (thanks, Phil!)

miracles can happen. It pays to believe in them.

(they never fail to humble me)

a warped sense of humor gets you through almost anything.

Even the painful stuff.

people will generally live up ...or down..to your expectations..and that includes

scrub techs and doctors. We're all, after all...human.

nursing really parallels life......

it can be the best of times, it can be the worst of times..

and sometimes, it just plain stinks.

when things get tough, hold hands...and stick together.

 no matter how crazy the day is, it will end.

and you can go home in time

to get up and do it again tomorrow.

at 6:45, sharp. 

Remember the Golden Rules...say your sorry and mean it, treat everyone just like you'd want you..and yours to be treated , clean up your own messes...and don't take things that aren't yours to take.

Wish I could take credit for creating all these lessons I've learned...but I've had some really great teachers in the patients and co workers and doctors I've worked with and listened to. (If you recognize any of your words here, it's a compliment intended! ) Life really is a great ride, kids....you just have to make sure you're going in the right direction..and hold on tight!

a place....

2011-02-17T19:00:00.001-06:00

You can fall in love at first sight with a place as with a person.

Alec Waugh

I found such a place....at dusk, tucked away in a snow covered courtyard. A peaceful place...a sanctuary for weary souls....a place filled with hope and the sounds of young voices. A place encircled in soft sparkling lights and handcrafted in the depths of winter. A place to hide. A place to heal. A place to find faith..and hope..and acceptance...and peace. A place to remember. A place to dream. A place to sit..or kneel...or stand...and give thanks for the gifts in your life. Tended with love by a group of believers...a place that makes you stop...and look around. And appreciate their efforts. And believe. At first soft blue light sight...I fell in love. (and to Joe and Ken and Nathan and Jerry...and the many children that visit each day... I thank you, for creating this magical place. This photo doesn't do it justice. Expect to see more!)

my story...

2011-02-14T19:00:00.002-06:00

"you are the laughter at the end of my story. you are the applause which welcomes my performance. you are the ribbon and wrap on the finest gifts of my life. loving you is the exclamation point on the sentence of my days! "

Mary Ann Radmacher

This life of ours is our story. happy. sad. sometimes lots of sad. but always, you. holding my hand. wiping my tears. fixing my car. walking my dog. rocking my grandbabies. fixing my favorite old rocking chair, 27 times. telling me jokes. making me pancakes at midnight. always you. a story of love. and trust. and joy. a story of family. first. always first. a story that started so many, many years ago. and lasts forever. a story written in the hearts of all eleven grandchildren, scattered from coast to coast. a story of friendship. of respect. a story of growing old together. looking at each other and still seeing two thirteen year old children. (maybe a story of needing new glasses?) but still loving what we're seeing. You are my favorite valentine. my happy ending. my story.

advice...

2011-02-13T20:00:00.003-06:00

“Advice is like snow; the softer it falls,

the longer it dwells upon, and the deeper it sinks into, the mind.”

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Advice....everyone has some to share, and I find it ~~usually~~ pretty much always stinks! Our world is filled with tweets and posts and blogs and profiles offering advice...and opinions on everything. How to raise your child, train your dog, cut your hair, or change your life. You can spend an hour on the internet to learn that Anthropologie must be just one store front from heaven, that older women shouldn't wear long hair (or God forbid, a ponytail) , that the key to deeper relationships ~~can~~ is to be found in pulling the plug on Facebook or Twitter, and that satisfaction lives deep in the apps on an Ipad, an Iphone or a DROID? (I think I have a syndrome that prevents me from using any of those...it's called " I'm a technology ID 10 T !) My Mom had her own opinion about advice and who..or where it came from. She'd tell us that advice from your friends or family was like the weather..some of it good, some of it bad. And all of it should be taken with a grain of salt. This was usually accompanied by a laugh, a hug..and the reminder that Mom's advice could always be trusted! So.. on this snowy day in February, I 'm thinking I've had my fill of both snow... and advice. For today...go ahead, bring it on. Send me that advice you want to share, mass mail your tweets... or your twits... text me from your Iphone or your anDroid... send me a message from your must have app (that you just paid Itunes 3.99 for)....but I won't be there to get it. Not today. Today, I'm going to brush this old long gray hair into the ponytail you advised me not to wear, put on my plain label worn out coat you advised me not to buy ten years ago and hit the snowy trails. Far from the maddening crowd (and the name brands they're shopping for) ....free to write and dream and think on my own and just be...without anyone's advice to guide me. Next month, however...you just might find me at Verizon, in search of that Iphone for dummies I read about on the Facebook page I posted on when I read the tweet about it! (And all this from the old woman who thought tweets were the little birds that shivered on her feeders in winter! :)

frosted

2011-02-11T19:31:00.005-06:00

“All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost."

J.R.R.Tolkien

A frosted morning of breathtaking beauty...but these roots run deep..and the frost didn't touch them! Quiet, peaceful golden moments that sparkled in the early morning sunrise, showing us once again that there is snow place like home! (makes you want to grab a spoon, a dish, some vanilla and a little milk...snow ice cream...yummmm!)

Leftovers......

2011-02-10T20:37:00.000-06:00

Leftovers in their less visible form are called memories.

Stored in the refrigerator of the mind and the cupboard of the heart.

Thomas Fuller

On a bright blue February morning, I looked up...and found leftovers! A visible reminder of the refrigerator we've been living in, shaped and sculpted by the winds of winter....low hanging, frozen frosting on the rooftop. Didn't take long, even on a too cold morning...with a little help from the sun....til that rooftop reminder melted into a memory! (and our roof thanks it for fading fast!)

in the cold...

2011-02-09T20:00:00.001-06:00

in the cold you wrap me. in my uncertainty you listen.

in all my joys you celebrate.

at every turn you meet me with competence and grace.

what a fine dance we have together.

Mary Ann Radmacher

Coming home. No sweeter words exist. And what started as a carpool of necessity, has now become 30 minutes of "us". 30 minutes I cherish. 30 minutes to listen...and to celebrate. Holding hands in the warmth of our little black truck... the XM tuned to 60's on 6, these two weary warriors journey home, sharing the goods and the bads, the funny and sads of their day. Sometimes the words spill quickly, laced with laughter....and sometimes the quiet wraps itself around us like an old quilt, soothing the racing heartbeats of another crazy day. Let it snow. Let that wind blow. I know you'll get me where we're going. What a beautiful dance, this life we've made. (And you told me you didn't know how to dance, Joe!)

The Sam Saga...

2011-02-08T19:00:00.012-06:00

The greatest oak was once a little nut who held its ground.

~Author Unknown

And this little nut is holding his ground smartly! (Good thing Joe's eyes aren't what they used to be....guess Sam knows just how safe he really is!) It's become an afternoon ritual. He cases the joint...he tries his mightiest...he falls down. He gets back up and tries again. He spends an hour...then decides to snack on what the little birds have left him. Persistent. Obstinate. Creative. And all ours. Thanks, Sam...for the free entertainment on a cold winter afternoon. You are the mighty oak that lives in our yard in winter.

only in winter...

2011-02-08T00:03:00.000-06:00

There is a privacy about it which no other season gives you.

In spring, summer and fall people sort of have an open season on each other;

only in the winter, in the country, can you have longer, quiet stretches

when you can savor belonging to yourself.

Ruth Stout

In the midst of winter, I am savoring the long quiet stretches at home. I find peace in my second cup of coffee, blanket tucked around my always cold feet, camera perched beside me and a stack of books on the table. I find joy in old movies and late suppers and honest conversations with my best friend. He always gets me. And always listens. I blog. I surf. I read. I knit. I cook. I bake. I laugh. I cry, a little...mostly at old movies! I love. I plan for spring...and summer ...and fall. And I savor winter, and the peace it brings, before it all starts again. And it will. Basketball is in full swing, the cheer girls have been bringing home trophies. Baseball is just around the corner, grandbabies are calling... and so is travel...to Denver, to Washington, and wherever else the road may lead. But for right now.....Life is quiet. Life is comfortable. Life is good. And even the swings are smiling...under all that snow.

Something a little squirrely...

2011-02-06T19:00:00.003-06:00

The difference between perseverance and obstinacy

is that one comes from a strong will,

and the other from a strong won't.

Henry Ward Beecher

Sam, our resident squirrel has struck again. Joe decided this year to feed the birds outside my picture window. He worked hard on finding delicate feeders for tiny birds, with the hopes that I could spend many long winter hours, camera in hand, capturing photos of bright colored birds as they dined on his song bird mix....safe from the wandering cats and determined squirrels. He once again has met his match in Sam. He hung the feeders on lightweight wire about a week ago, with the help of our son, Scott. He'd calculated the distance from each end of the structure, the distance from the ground...and even the weight of Sam the squirrel. He was certain he'd outwitted our bushy little friend. I watched each day, camera ready...for the red headed finches and cardinals and doves to discover this haven he'd created...and finally they did. Hesitant...tentative...but hungry on a snowy day, they ventured closer and closer until they did land...they did eat, and lots of it. I snapped away, anxious to share the sights and sounds of my winter friends. I stopped to brew a fresh pot of coffee....daydreaming of the colors my new feeders would draw..and returned to the sight of Sam....our own little rat in a fancy fur coat...creeping along the wooden supports that held my winter bird paradise. Over the course of the next hour, I watched him...and snapped photo after photo...and laughed. He was determined. He was persistent. He bordered on obstinate. He scurried from end to end. He ran up and down the vertical supports. He stretched his tiny legs as far as they could reach until he shimmied down the thin wire and landed on the smooth plastic top. He peered down the sides. He hung upside down studying the situation. He reached one little paw down to each perch. He fell off three times...landing in a soft, snow covered lump beneath it. And got up and tried again. And one short hour later , he succeeded. He had one little paw stretched in each direction, sharp little nails dug in deep to hold him tight...and he ate. And ate. And ate. And I laughed. And laughed. And laughed. I called Joe at work, laughing so hard I could hardly get the story out. And he swore! Asked me to go to the garage and get the BB gun and scare him away. Asked me to let our little dog out to chase him away. Then stopped.... and listened to himself...and started laughing too! We decided that any squirrel that could put that much effort into life deserved the lunch he was getting to eat...and more! Even Sam. Our persistent, obstinate little lamb in squirrels clothing...always willing to teach us another lesson about life...and how to go about living it! I'm beginning to think Sam may be a lot smarter than we've given him credit for!

The more it snows......

2011-02-05T19:00:00.002-06:00

The more it snows

(Tiddly Pom)

The more it goes

(Tiddly Pom)

The more it goes

(Tiddly Pom)

On snowing.

A.A. Milne

Snowy winter days. Warm your toes, stay inside, drink hot chocolate winter days. Read a good book, baking cookies and burning candles kind of days. Winnie the Pooh in Grandma's lap kind of day. I can still hear my mother's voice as she'd read this little poem to my daughter, in her sing song voice, with a hearty laugh at the end. I'm sure I'd miss winter if I moved away from it. I'd probably find myself longing for these long afternoons with no where to go but home, nothing to do but read or take a nap. I'd probably even go so far as to wish for a little snow to cover the drabness of mid winter...or maybe even long for that little slice of heaven we've come to know here as a snow day. I'd have to give away my coats and pack away my white fuzzy mittens. I'd quickly forget how dangerous it is to drive in the stuff...and save a fortune on ice melt. I'd maybe even get a little tan on this winter white skin of mine. It's tempting. So. Tempting. But then I think about how good it feels to zip up a thick, warm coat...lace up warm leather boots. How toasty those mittens feel on my quick to freeze fingers. How good the hot chocolate tastes when you drink it with little red nosed grand kids that have just come in from making snow angels. I think about how that snow sparkles...it twinkles....in the sunlight at early morning when it's fresh. And how it looks like a thick, white blanket of pink at sunset. I think about how funny it is to watch our little dog roll in it and stick his nose in the deepest of it...what pure joy he finds in even a skiff of snow. I think about how good it feels to fasten my seat belt and turn on the radio and sip a little coffee and set out in Joe's truck for an adventure we call the morning drive to work....just the two of us, talking...laughing...making the most of a snowy morning together. And I know I"m right where I belong. So for at least another month or so..it can go on snowing. (tiddly pom)

At sunset...

2011-02-04T19:00:00.005-06:00

A final burst of light and color. A diminishing glow on the horizon.

Encroaching darkness. Sunset signifies both a beginning and an end.

Carpe diem.

(from the book True Colors)

Winter coat zipped, fingers toasty in mittens, scarf wrapped tight around my neck to keep the arctic temps at bay....I stood and watched the sunset over the white, frozen world we live in. From the warmth of my rocker, quilt tucked around my legs, coffee close at hand and a good book dog eared in my lap , I almost talked myself out of going. And what a sight I would have missed. It's a magical moment indeed, that moment between daylight and night. That moment the switch gets flipped and the color turns off. But stand there I did....in the silence of a winters evening, wispy strands of breath curling around my face with each exhale. . I stood in a moment of silence for what was...and what was to come. Happiness is surely found in learning to just be in that moment.

in search of me....

2011-02-03T22:57:00.000-06:00

Life can be complicated...but happiness is really pretty simple!

(anonymous)

I'm back. It's me. Plain. Simple. Ordinary. Me.

I've spent hours reading blogs. There are some fantastic ones out there. Ali and Becky and Kellie and Lisa and Ree. They are the masters in this big wide world of blogging. These bloggy pioneers...they write words that flow like music. Post photos so perfect they leave me speechless. I've spent hours peering into their lives...around the corners of their organized, spotless homes. Noting where they shop, what they eat, what they wear, who they read, where they travel..... and somewhere along the line, I lost me. Plain, simple, ordinary me. I will never live in a beach house with white walls and a white carpet.....my little brown dog that loves to roll in the mud would make sure of it. I will never keep a scrapbook and printer on my kitchen counter to work on each morning....I'd probably spill a cup of my coffee on it. I will never have a home based photography business.....I give them all away! I will never be able to knit my own sweaters and sell them online.....the sleeves would be of different lengths! And I will never be able to cook a picture perect meal or write my own cookbook....I struggle with following the directions on the hamburger helper box! So today, on a snowy day in February, I'm going to begin again. And this time, I"m doing it for me. Plain, simple, ordinary me. In search of happiness on an ordinary day. Seems as if that little brown dog is WAY ahead of me!

Gratitude....

2010-11-24T23:12:00.000-06:00

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.

Melody Beattie

Tomorrow I'll turn off my 5am alarm, dress in the dark and go to work.....just another 12 hour shift, shared with strangers that have long become friends....in a house of sorts that has also become home...hoping to hold a hand, touch a heart...make someones day a little brighter. There's very little glamor in being a nurse....long hours, few breaks, long days spent trying to make the most out of life when our patients have often been handed the worst. It's a physical job...lifting, pushing, pulling, rubbing, walking....and an emotional roller coaster of a shift. As a nurse, we pack the days before a holiday working hard to leave behind us the "prepared" memories we don't want our family to miss......with specific instructions written in longhand on notebook paper for our husbands or children to muddle through, without us. Like the firemen...or the police....like the men and women of the military....my life is not...nor has ever been a Monday through Friday with holidays off kind of life. And I wouldn't have it any. other. way. But my life is colored with simple joys....and for that I am grateful. My life is lived in blues and purples and golds and reds....and in each day, I am reminded of my blessings, and they are, indeed....enough. In each Monday off and every third weekend and holiday worked...I have been blessed. My life has been filled with friends and family that have accepted me for what I am...what I can give...and for them, I am enough. They have never complained when I wasn't there to share the rolls I baked at 3 am before I left for work....but they'd call and thank me for them...and that was enough. I was only there to watch the Macy's parade with them every other year....but we made our own memories by meeting at the hospital cafeteria to share the Bryan Hospital rolled turkey....and that was MORE than enough...they always left stuffed! So today, in the dark, on the way to work....(with the Christmas music playing loudly on Thanksgiving Day, Joe....only in the car, where you don't have to hear it! :)...I will remind myself just how much I have to be grateful for. For the time our children can find in their busy, busy lives to share a meal with us...for that I am grateful. For the best 11....YES, 11 grandchildren.....Tyler, Keegan, Nathan, Cameron, Kenzie, Masheala, Kaiden, Tayah, Koko, Decklan and Norah....I am so very grateful! For the best co workers I could hope for to spend my holidays with.... Phil, Kathy, Pam, Denise, Shannon, Brenda.....I am grateful. For Joe....who has my coffee ready when I wake, calls me during the day, just to say "I love you" and worries if I"m late....I am grateful. And today... I will remind myself that this life of ours we've made.....is so very much enough!

Happy Thanksgiving.

Rainy days...

2010-10-01T02:41:00.001-05:00

Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet.

Roger Miller

Life is full of rainy days. The real lesson in living is learning to dance through them...and bring your own sunshine with you! There's a little band of weary travelers stranded in the pouring rain along the East coast, looking for the sunshine, hoping for a rainbow....and it will come, kids. Keep your eye on the prize...your arms around each other....look for the joy that hides between those raindrops...(get Bill from that airport in New Jersey) ....and circle those wagons towards home.....your old home, and your soon to be new home on the opposite coast. Drive careful...there's so much love waiting here for you!

(and for you, Kevin....a quote that fits the last few days....)

Sometimes life's Hell. But hey! Whatever gets the marshmallows toasty.

J. Andrew Helt

We're waiting patiently...with a BIG bag of marshmallows!

Late bloomers....

2010-09-26T02:46:00.000-05:00

It is never too late to become what you might have been.

George Eliot

As the days shorten, the temps cool and the shadows lengthen...this late blooming joy grows strong and tall in our backyard....natures way of proving that it is never too late to become all you could have been. Such powerful lessons to be found in the simple joys of fall.

coloring my world...

2010-08-30T13:19:00.000-05:00

Life is a celebration of passionate colors.

Leialoha Cator

Simple joys from Joe's garden....a garden of passionate colors...

that colors my life happy!

at summers end...

2010-08-24T22:44:00.000-05:00

Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.

Confucius

Beauty is indeed in the eyes of the beholder. This was a summer of looking hard to find the beauty in each day. A summer for struggling to walk around this little two acres we live on...accompanied by a sturdy metal walker with a wicker basket Velcro"d in place. A summer for stopping to smell the roses....and make wishes on the wisps of dandelion petals that soon were spread in the wind. This was a summer for settling in....taking stock....looking around...and learning to appreciate the little things in life that bring me simple joy. A summer for learning the value in patience and persistence. A summer for learning just how to discover the beauty that hides there, even on the darkest days. This was my dandelion summer....long, hot days filled with yellow blooms that gave way to even hotter days filled with wispy petals just begging for little girls to pick them and scatter them to the winds. A summer filled with hard work, uphill battles, giggles, home cooking, good books and grandchildren. It would have been easy to quit......to give in....to give up. Instead, with the help of my family and friends....I searched for...and found the beauty in this long, hard journey. I found simple joy...and beauty...where I least expected it to live....right in my own backyard!

Waiting....

2010-08-22T19:07:00.001-05:00

Make a wish....your dreams are waiting.

Flavia

Waiting.....wishing....living....loving.

Impatiently...anxiously...joyfully...hopefully

Today, in the heat of a late summer day, I chased hope around the garden....whispered my wish to his fluttering wings...and set him free. (Safe journey to you little man....may it be swift and easy...may it be soon now ...and may you fill the waiting arms of your parents with love. And....may your little cousin that comes so close behind you do the same!) We are blessed indeed.

A memory book

2010-08-01T10:59:00.000-05:00

Life is a rough biography. Memories smooth out the edges.

Terri Guillemets

Our garden is like a memory book of friends and family. Grandma Grof's roses bloom on a trellis, year after year. Succulent seedum.... dug from a dry, city garden of a friend, then transplanted, grown, and divided..over and over... now fills the yard with it's Autumn joy splendor. Daisies....several leggy blooms carried home in a paper bag, now wave across the garden, whispering 'summer's here...summer's here...." in white and yellow and green. The volunteer Cosmos...surprising us annually, dug with a borrowed shovel on a roadside in Oregon, driven across country in an old paint bucket, watered daily at rest stops along the way....showing up in late July in brilliant oranges and yellows...a rainbow lesson in persistence and surprise! But of all the memories that grow here, I'm a sucker for the white picket fence that shelters the phlox. A heritage plant, faithful each year, it shows it's face in shades of purple and pink and white. It fills the air with a scent that attracts butterflies and hummingbird moths and little children that love to chaise them both! An American dream itself...our vintage white picket arose from the discards at a tree dump...sanded, painted and pounded into place by hands that made this house a home. A tradition established...a sight that celebrates summer...and heralds the arrival of fall. This is a garden with very smooth edges!

Pink joy...

2010-07-30T21:48:00.000-05:00

With a few flowers in my garden, half a dozen pictures and some books,

I live without envy.

Lope de Vega

Pink is happiness and joy. Pink is hope. Pink is lighthearted. Pink is six years old, with blond curly hair and she loves Justin Bieber! Pink is romance and passion. Pink encourages friendliness. Pink discourages aggression and ill-will (wish the rabbits that munch on this pink could read!) I am tickled pink to be back in the pink, and headed back to my pink collar job. Pink is spun sugar cotton candy that melts fast and makes me smile...pink is a sunset...a watermelon...and a teaspoon of pepto-bismal! Pink is floyd music.....and a tall, skinny panther...and a flamingo! Pink is soothing....pink is comforting...and pink waves its ruffled blooms in the hot summer breezes. Pink is a "Moon River" and "Breakfast at Tiffany's" kind of mood... pink is the "French Gardner", read in the morning sunlight with a fresh cup of Starbucks breakfast blend. Pink is a simple joy...and it grows a few short steps outside my own backdoor!

Enchantment....

2010-07-23T00:49:00.001-05:00

There is a garden in every childhood,

an enchanted place where colors are brighter,

the air softer, and the morning more fragrant than ever again.

Elizabeth Lawrence

Somewhere in the first few moments of morning....when the coffee tastes the strongest, the air smells the sweetest, the fog curls along the edges of the bean fields in wisps, and the sun begins its journey to the top....there lies a garden that I used to walk in. When I"m quiet...before the neighbors dog begins his morning hellos..before the robins start their bickering...I can hear the laughter of that young girl and her three brothers, ...feel the rich, black earth on my bare feet, and smell the cherries, ripe for picking...hanging low and full of juice. This was an enchanted garden indeed....a lush, green paradise filled with cherries and peaches and blueberries and strawberries and gooseberries. A garden full of corn and squash and potatoes and melons.......and a Grandfather that believed all his grandchildren should learn to grow what they ate. We spent many hot summer mornings in that garden....two city lots, tilled and plowed and planted by hand. A short walk to Grandpa's house, then a six block drive in his old Desoto with the coolest running boards. We'd wear wide brimmed straw hats, and laugh as Grandma slipped on her homemade coolots (it was years yet before women wore anything but dresses!). We learned to plant and weed, to hoe and dig and pick and husk. We played "king of the mountain" on a huge compost pile....and shared ice cold water from an old tin cup. Four sets of fruit stained fingers , that sometimes ate more than they harvested....but always filled the soft, summer mornings with laughter...and lessons...and love. Each year, as we dig and plant our garden, I wander back to the gardens of my youth...and am reminded that every child needs the simple joys found in their own enchanted garden.

In summer...

2010-07-21T02:34:00.000-05:00

In summer, the song sings itself.

On late summer evenings, there is a symphony that plays in our garden. It begins with the sad, soulful song of the doves as they settle in, and builds with a whisper of wind as it sighs through the thick, green leaves of the poplar tree. A noisy cicada chorus drums the rhythm for the night, and the fireflies dance in perfect time to it. Even the flowers seem to move to the notes of this nightsong...nodding their fragrant heads at the cluster of butterflies and bees and moths that skip from bloom to bloom in the twilight. A simple symphony of joy in the backyard...all it takes is a chair and the time to enjoy it!

Silence

2010-07-03T00:00:00.000-05:00

When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs.

When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.

Ansel Adams

Deep in the silence of a sticky summer sunset, joy waved its purple flowers at me as I focused the lens. A snapshot of time, heaped with memories I'd almost forgotten. The rusty old wheel was a treasure from a well spent 4th of July flea market.....proving that one mans' trash is often anothers treasure! A day filled with roasted almonds, patriotic music, snow cones, hot summer sun and singing along to the oldies on the way home. Sturdy green vines, growing year after year, transplanted from a friends home and carried to ours in a paper bag, dug in, watered ...then given up for lost after a bitter cold winter. Two summers later, up it roared...and hasn't quit since. Proof that roots can be transplanted, that it isn't the house that makes the home...and that even Nebraska winters can't kill some things! Delicate lavender, waving it's fragrant purple blooms in the sunset...a sight and scent that defies words...and images. Purchased at an end of season plant stand, she was a leggy, scrawny, single, dry pitiful thing with brown tips on her leaves...and three seasons later has multiplied..and threatens to consume the rooted vine that supports her. Behind the wheel grows a volunteer...a glimmer of red that makes me smile, as I know I haven't planted anything there for many growing seasons. A gypsy that dances in the evening breezes and makes no promises about returning next summer. Simple joys that I found in the silence of a summer sunset...and captured in a photograph.

2010-06-23T02:29:00.000-05:00

The details make life holy.

If you want a little happiness in life don’t forget to look at the little things.

Noah Ben Shea

This is the summer I've learned more than I wanted to know about patience and perseverance. This is the summer I've learned that happiness really is found in the little details in life.... little details like heliotrope blooms and the sad, soulful song of doves....the smell of fresh lavender crumbled between your finger tips, and the sound of rain coming across the bean field. Jenny wren music and baby robins that almost come to eat from your hand...the rise and the fall of fields of daisies, followed by brilliant Indian blankets and now cheerful daylillies. This is the summer I've been forced to take the time to notice them. It's not always been easy. It's certainly not often been fun. But the lessons I'm learning are important ones.....lessons I should have taken the time to learn years ago. Time does heal all wounds....and taking the time to let that happen requires learning to be patient...to let go of the what ifs, the shoulds and the coulds. Being patient is starting each morning with a fresh cup of coffee, a reformatted memory stick, a multitude of quad-sets and leg lifts and heel-toe stepping....and a smile. Being patient is swallowing my pride and accepting help...and rides...and lunches..and phone calls from a family with deep, wide hearts and warm hugs. Being patient is one more lap around the short two acres of land with the security of a walker, camera strap around my neck and cell phone in my pocket in case of falls! Being patient is walking around my little Honda...opening and closing the door, longing for the day when I can climb behind the wheel and take off on my own for a drive. This is the summer I've learned that being patient helps me climb the tallest mountain...one baby step at a time. This is the summer I've learned that perseverance is getting up the next morning...and doing it all over again! Here's to filling your summer days with patience...and perseverance...and mountains of tiny details!

Old things...

2010-06-16T21:21:00.001-05:00

I love everything that is old: old friends, old times, old manners,

old books, old wines.

Oliver Goldsmith

Outside our backdoor sits an old red wagon filled with memories. Our own little welcome wagon, once filled with giggles and chubby bottoms...now filled with feathered ferns and soft pink blossoms. A gentle reminder of old times....old days....old ways....of where we've been...and how we got there. Simple joy in rusty red and faded white, a treasured old friend indeed.

Growing colors...

2010-06-10T10:54:00.001-05:00

Your attitude is like a box of crayons that color your world. Constantly color your picture gray, and your picture will always be bleak. Try adding some bright colors to the picture by including humor, and your picture begins to lighten up.

Allen Klein

At least twice a day, camera tucked in the wicker basket strapped to my walker, I make my way around the almost two acres of land that Joe fills with color. And twice a day, I come back with my world lightened up! I can't imagine this long and tedious rehab without the color he gardens...or the humor he provides. I am so blessed with a family and friends that bring me new crayons each and every day......simple little joys in color to keep my attitude positive and my progress on going. To Joe...to my children...and grandchildren...to my friends that continue to remember me......thank you for lightening my picture, coloring my attitude.

Steps...

2010-06-07T01:00:00.000-05:00

What saves a man is to take a step.

Then another step. It is always the same step, but you have to take it.

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

One step at a time....and then another, I'm learning how to walk. I fill the steps with rhyme and rhythm...whatever it takes to circle the path around this short two acres...and one day closer to independence. Thinking...and focusing on each little aspect of an activity I'd come to take for granted can become very tedious...and frustrating to say the least. I've learned that I have to look for beauty....for the simple joys that grow and bloom along my path. And like a toddler learning to walk all over again, I need to remember to find the joy in the process...to stumble and lurch and giggle on my journey! And so you'll find me, basket strapped to my walker with a camera perched in it, taking one slow step after another in the pursuit of freedom that comes with learning to walk all over again...heel, toe, bend the knee...heel, toe, bend the knee! But don't be surprised when I stop to smell all the roses Joe grows here (and snap a pic or two)...and there are quite a few!

Blessings...

2010-06-05T13:22:00.000-05:00

We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.

Thornton Wilder

Sometimes, it takes the joy to be found in life's simple pleasures to remind you how lucky you really are. The last month has blown by in a blur....a blur of ace wraps, walkers, physical therapy visits and pain pills. And like most of life's challenges, it's easy to take your eyes off the prize.....easy to forget to celebrate the little victories to be found in each and every day. On this glorious day in early June, I was challenged to get out and get on...so with my camera safely tucked in the make shift basket on my walker, I marched out of my fog of self pity...and into the sunshine in my own backyard! And what beauty I found waiting! Poppies have long been my favorite....they're a fleeting beauty in the windy plains of the Midwest, their delicate oranges petals glowing in the late spring sun, soon to be scattered across the yard from the hot southern winds...but what fierce beauty they bring to the day....even if it's only for a short week in late May and early June. Simple joys indeed...a much needed reminder of what waits patiently for me at the top of the hill I'm climbing! (and with this brand new knee, the downhill trip should be a breeze!)

Happiness...

2010-04-24T02:54:00.000-05:00

The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance;

the wise grows it under his feet.

James Openheim

It's hard to walk out my back door and not smile. Everywhere I look, happiness grows...and simple joy waves in the wind. March crocus and daffodils have given way to over 500 tulips....and a rainbow of colors that wave their brilliant heads in the winds of spring. We planted many of them on a cold November day...working together, arthritic knees aching at the end of a long day of digging and crawling...but it's amazing how that pain is soon lost in the beauty of these April mornings! I've been blessed to travel to many beautiful places in my life...but none hold a candle to the beauty growing under my feet in April!

Bloom.....

2010-04-20T23:58:00.000-05:00

We must bloom where we are planted.

Today, you get another chance to get it as right as you can make it.
What more could you desire?

Sarah Ban Breathnach

Though we often travel long distances....we return home to find what it is we need. After a too long journey....I've found what it is I need. I need joy blooming in astonishing colors, outside my backdoor. I need a good cup of coffee in the morning as I listen to the songbirds singing...and a camera in my hand as I wander through the days. I need a hot shower to wake me up...and a bubble bath to wind me down. I need much less Facebook...and many more real books. I need the laughter of grandkids to feed my soul....and the silence of a spring night to bring it peace. I need another chance to get this right...change my path...tell my story....find the simple joys that make my days worth remembering. Mostly....I need a new knee....and I'm getting that in two short weeks! That should give me another chance at getting it right....or at least some time off work to recover, and fill the pages of this blog with photos! Happy Spring....it's blooming in technicolor in my own backyard!

Worth mentioning......

2010-03-09T13:27:00.001-06:00

Now that it's all over, what did you really do yesterday that's worth mentioning?

Coleman Cox

Yesterday, we took the road less traveled...in the rain, on a mud road, unmapped, unplanned. We sat in the rain..and fog...with the radio off...and listened to the most beautiful music I've ever heard. The mystery of this migration is overwhelming...thousands and thousands of cranes, millions of ducks and geese..all headed home, knowing instinctivly where that is, seeking the shelter of it without a roadmap or Travelocity or Priceline.com! Yesterday, simple joy danced in the rain...and it was worth mentioning!

Layers...

2010-02-23T00:18:00.000-06:00

Life is like an onion: You peel it off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep.

Carl Sandburg

Truth, beauty and joy....in words and photo.

May your onion be a sweet one...and your tears be few!

Simplicity

2010-02-19T21:24:00.000-06:00

Simplicity is making the journey with just baggage enough.

A cold winter day. An old Ford truck. A good friend. A cup of hot coffee. My Nikon. Just enough baggage to capture this simple moment. Majestic, indeed.

(and another checkmark on that bucket list!)

some days...

2010-02-19T03:43:00.000-06:00

Some days the road is lit and the way is easy,

other days the path is dark and the going rough.

Fear no darkness, be the lighthouse.

Steve Coffing

Spending a bit of Sunday together in the mountain air with the sun on our faces, we rounded a corner to a welcoming sight. A sort of natural Inuksuk, it stood proud and strong on the mountain, a stone lighthouse.....telling us we were on the right road..that someone had walked it before us. On another journey into Canada, these stone figures had fascinated us....we spent hours seeking...and finding them, learning about their history..about the messages they delivered, the light they shed on the past...the messages they sent to the future. It was an unexpected bit of joy we found in the sunshine on this February day....captured in a photograph....a reminder in stone to be the lighthouse ...to mark the path....to light the way...to spend our days days living, not just working to make a living. Mountain trips never disappoint me!

Joy rolls over!

2010-02-09T01:19:00.000-06:00

I think we are drawn to dogs because they are the uninhibited creatures

we might be if we weren't certain we knew better.

George Bird Evans

Simple joy rolled in the snow in our backyard today....and jumped over snow piles...and licked soft white snowflakes as they hit his tongue! Joy raced down the driveway, slid to a stop...then turned on a dime and raced back....barking and jumping and drooling...and happy. We spent the better part of an hour there....both of us wrapped in our warm winter coats, with a huge happy grins on our faces.......watching joy chase the snowflakes as they fell from the sky, wishing just a little that the world wouldn't think we were crazy if we tried to do the same!

Beautiful...

2010-02-05T01:14:00.000-06:00

Anything one does every day is important and imposing

and anywhere one lives is interesting and beautiful.

Gertrude Stein

A frosted gray February day that I expected to be ordinary....proved to be anything but! A group of friends...a band of well wishers...cheering a friend on the rest of her journey...celebrating a job well done! A good celebration....a great farewell! May the rest of your days be filled with adventure and love and joy, Donna.....know that your efforts have been noticed...and that you have made a difference. You will be remembered.

A little jealous and more than a little sad....I returned to what seemed like a slow, dreary afternoon. I'm blessed to have found work that is much more than a job, but sometimes colored with the usual workplace politics. It took a miracle to open my eyes...to remind me just how lucky I am. By chance...or by choice....I was reminded by a father with tears in his eyes, holding the 9# 10oz dream that he'd chased for years. Reminded by a father...allowing me to play a tiny little part in a miracle that some days I take for granted. Reminded by a father that laughed and cried and hugged and laughed and cried again. Reminded with some beautiful words from him, telling me how he could tell this was "much more than a job for me and it showed". If only he knew how much I needed to be reminded of that.....to be reminded of the beauty that fills my life....work and home. What an extraordinary afternoon this was.....what an extraordinary man that was...and what good advice he gave me without even knowing it. Let me savor the moments of my life...even the crazy, busy ones....enjoy them, be "in" them....live them. And Let me have many, many more days to do just that.

Buried treasure...

2010-01-24T01:05:00.000-06:00

Watch for the beauty in all things and your life will be filled with treasures.

Gail Marie

Who would have thought that beauty lurked under a mound of dirty snow outside our backdoor? A very determined Sheltie spent a few moments on a pleasant January morning moving old snow....and leaves...and a little bit of mud...to discover buried treasure! Tiny green seeds of hope that prove that hope lies within, indeed. Hope grows. Hope will be again. (and he found it without a map! Little does he know his reward will come in bubbles....hope he likes his bath!)

Winter peace...

2010-01-23T02:33:00.002-06:00

They are beautiful in their peace, they are wise in their silence.

They will stand after we are dust. They teach us, and we tend them.

Galeain ip Altiem MacDunelmor

In our backyard stands a picture of strength and patience. In graceful elegance, she stands strong...day after day...a silent reminder of the just how fragile and fleeting life is. As I stood in the chill of this winter morning, I could hear the echoes of laughter from our grandchildren that climb this old friend in summer....see the gold of the Monarchs that flutter amongst the fall colored leaves....see the pink of the blossoms that burst from her gnarled branches in spring...and the smiles on the faces of the families and couples I've photographed wrapped in the leaves from her arms. She shades us from the bake of late summer sunshine....and shelters us from the winter winds and snow. Long after I'm gone, she'll still stand there.....holding within her branches the memories that have filled our lives with joy.

Simple joys on a peaceful morning with a silent friend in my own backyard.

branches of the same tree....

2010-01-22T00:50:00.000-06:00

If what I say resonates with you, it's merely

because we are both branches of the same tree.

William Butler Yeats

We awoke to a world coated in thin ice and the first rays of sunshine we had seen in the last few weeks! And as we all know...if you're skating around on thin ice....you might as well dance! So off we danced in the warmed up truck, camera in hand and Gus in the truck bed...to try and capture a little of the joy that sparkled in the iced over world around us! Two old branches from the same tree....one cup of coffee, shared....Neil Young and This Old Guitar playing on the IPOD......warm banana pancakes with cold syrup to top it off......a perfect winter morning well spent!

Company

2010-01-15T23:04:00.000-06:00

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter.

Izaak Walton

When winter seems long and joy seems hidden, there's still an abundance to make me smile! What lessons in joy there were in the sounds of this little parade I stopped to watch on a dreary winter morning....they honked and they squawked and they ambled and they marched...and nothing made them hurry across the roadway they blocked. In the prescence of good company, winter was the last thing on their minds! Though my list for the day was long...it lay discarded on the seat beside me as I dialed my phone and made unexpected plans for a lunch date with my best friend! We lingered over that unplanned journey together, enjoyed some great company and some awesome food....and laughed at my pictures....all courtesy of a little goose parade that reminded me to slow down and enjoy the little moments of my life!

Wordless beauty

2010-01-13T00:51:00.000-06:00

Underneath the winter, a seed filled with beauty begins its journey

up through the earth to become another miracle.

Flavia

Some photos speak volumes, without saying a word. This mornings was one of those.

Breathless....wordless...beauty.

Enjoy.

Winter color...

2010-01-12T02:14:00.000-06:00

Winter Hues

by Douglas Florian

Winter has to pick and choose.

The clothes she wears

Are few in hues:

A raw sienna,

A dark burnt umber,

Some yellow ochres

Scant in number,

Steel gray day,

Navy night,

And winter white

And winter white.

It's a winter white world outside my back door! Pine cones covered in soft white snowy quilts , nestled on thick green branches....icicles sparkling from the rooftops....winter brown grasses waving their plumes above thigh high drifts. There's joy to be found in the colors of winter.....the browns and the greens ...the whites and the grays. In the splashes of red birds and the blue of the jays. May your winter days be filled with color also!

Laughter...

2010-01-10T00:31:00.002-06:00

Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.

(author unknown)

Joy hangs on the side of our garage and waits to greet me each morning! He never fails

to bring a smile to my face....especially in winter. Such beautiful memories I see in his

face...of wine tasting along a strip between Santa Fe and Taos....of hand made tacos in an

off-the-beaten path restaurant in Taos, filled with locals. Memories of snow falling softly... huge, fluffy flakes on ancient church gates and stucco walls....and bright blue doorways and red tile rooftops. Memories of talking and walking and taking pictures...and laughing. A beautiful trip, designed to be the sunshine that drove the winter from our lives that year! And a beautiful treasure that continues to do the same,

year after year.

Winter Stories

2010-01-08T23:12:00.001-06:00

...winter...when you feel the bone structure of the landscape..

the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter.

Something waits beneath it,

the whole story doesn't show.

(Andrew Wyeth)

There's a part of me that loves winter days.....chilly days just made for
reading books , sipping coffee, burning candles and listening to a favorite old
song on the radio. Days designed for thick wool socks and down filled jackets
and white fuzzy mittens. Long winter days filled with splashes of color
and tiny bits of joy to be found.....frost on the windowpanes,
redbirds at the feeder, a neighbor plowing your driveway open
( without being asked!).., a snowman that stands in your yard..
the crunch of the snow under your boots as you walk....
and a pile of seed catalogs in your mailbox!
There is a story in each winter day.....waiting within!

Sun dogs....

2010-01-08T00:51:00.001-06:00

Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.

Anthony J. D'Angelo

Sun dogs...right outside the window! Some say they bring good luck at the end of a journey (and making it to the end of this storm has been quite a journey!)

Some say they herald more snow ( local rumor is another big one is yet to come!)

What I know for sure is that today, the sun brought a friend...

and it was a sight to see!

Frosted

2010-01-05T23:35:00.000-06:00

Winter is the king of showmen

Turning tree stumps into snow men

And houses into birthday cakes

And spreading sugar over lakes

Smooth and clean and frosty white

The world looks good enough to bite

That's the season to be young

Catching snowflakes on your tongue

Ogden Nash

January finds our world frosted! Early winter mornings sparkle...the air is

filled with tiny diamonds the camera can't seem to pick up. Simple joys are

plenty...muffled silence broken only by the call of the resident blue jays

reminding us we need to fill the feeder....and bright flashes of red as the Northern

Cardinals leave the warmth of the ancient blue spruce and circle the feeders,

also in search of breakfast. Perfect winter mornings for quick trips down

the drive with a camera, followed by just as quick a trip back to the

warmth of my rocking chair and coffee cup!

May your winter days also be frosted with joy!

Evergreen

2010-01-04T23:10:00.001-06:00

Ageless...and evergreen.

(Barbra Streisand)

Soft scented evergreen boughs, weaved into a never ending circle,

hanging brightly in the snow..keeping Christmas in our hearts...

for just a little longer!

(This years boughs courtesy of Nathan and his baseball team)

Joy...in One Little Word!

2010-01-04T00:25:00.000-06:00

“Real joy comes not from ease or riches or from the praise of men,

but from doing something worthwhile.”

Wilfred T. Grenfell

One little word....choosing one little word to define your year...make a difference in your life. I've read about the concept on Ali Edward's blog...and watched while some of my friends have started the new year with their own one little word. This year, I'd gone as far as to narrow it down to three little words....but unable to decide, figured this project would go the same direction as my blog has been going in the last few months. However... this morning, on a subzero gray day with yet more snowflakes falling, my best friend put on his boots, spent a few moments outside with a snow shovel...and showed me just how easy it is to choose joy....even on an ordinary day! As we shivered in the snow, laughing at the craziness of his little stage....I saw how even the tiniest sparks of joy can make a day worthwhile. So joy it will be...my one little word for 2010. I choose joy. I choose to fill my days...even the gray ones...with joy! ...with laughter and silliness...with taking the time to make life worthwhile....making it fun...making it memorable. And to my best friend, Joe...I say...after a long, cold morning of scooping, thanks for showing me how to relax...responsibly!

Got Snow?

2009-12-24T00:29:00.000-06:00

Life is like a blanket of snow.

Be careful how you step on it,

every step will show.

(author unknown)

At Christmas....

2009-12-13T13:13:00.002-06:00

There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort.

~Jane Austen

Wishing you peace in your lives...and joy in your hearts.

Gratitude....

2009-11-22T00:50:00.000-06:00

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more.

It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.

Gratitude makes sens of our past, brings peace for today,

and creates a vision for tomorrow.

Melody Beattie

Thanksgiving is the season of simple joys.....days just made for recognizing the treasures in the ordinary. It seems I need some occasional reminding about remembering just that. About looking around me and counting the many blessings that fill my days. About remembering just how full this life is...and how grateful I am to be living it. About remembering to look at the vibrant colors that decorate my world (planted on hands and knees together, one short year ago) instead of moaning about the snow that will soon fly. I need some reminding about how good my old worn sweater feels in the cool of the evenings that start so much sooner...and how great it feels to stay just a few more minutes in the dark, frosty mornings, under the warmth of a quilt hand stitched by a grandmother long ago, listening to the soft, soothing snore of my best friend beside me.....instead of complaing about short days and winter coming. I need to read a few more books and spend a few minutes less on Facebook....light another candle and turn off an extra light....simmer another pot of soup and stop for fast food one less time.....write a friend a letter by hand and put down the Blackberry...meet a friend for coffee and get myself out in the world.....and find my way back to taking a picture..each and every day...of a simple joy that fills my life. Gratitude is an attitude...and it seems as if mine needs a big adjustment!

Golden moments...

2009-10-02T00:45:00.000-05:00

Some people weave burlap into the fabric of our lives, and some weave gold thread. Both contribute to make the whole picture beautiful and unique.

(author unknown)

Fall is here...a beautiful tapestry of color that takes your breath away! On a Sunday morning in September, we set out on a day trip in search of fall.....and found it in the mountains of Colorado! Fall in Colorado wears very different colors than we see in Nebraska....colors that shimmer in the sunlight and quiver in the wind. Windows down, camera in hand and coffee steaming in our cups, we nosed our little truck upwards, rounded a bend in the road and found ourselves speechless......

...on this ordinary burlap kind of day, just around that bend in that road we found gold! ... and green and orange and brown and purple and blue....and a hundred shades between them! All of which contributed to make this one of the most beautiful...and unique days of my life. I'll long remember the crispness of the air and the whisper of the aspen leaves in the wind. I'll remember shivering on the short walk to the Java Moose and sipping a rich Ghirardelli hot chocolate, turning the heater on in the truck and watching the snow starting to fall....in September! Joy...pure, simple joy....on a lazy Sunday road trip!

Sunflowers

2009-09-07T00:16:00.003-05:00

"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow.
It's what sunflowers do."
Helen Keller

Sunflower power! Plant a sunflower in your heart! Look on the sunny side of life! Sometimes having a big head is good...ask any sunflower! Worshipped by the Aztecs, this glorious simple joy that grows in my backyard has been around for a long, long time! European folklore holds that this beauty makes wishes come true.....pick a flower at sunset, make a wish...and by the time the sun comes around again, your wish will come true! Some say that a sunflower planted in your yard will bring you luck! Some say that if you want to know the truth about a situation, sleep with a sunflower under your bed! Sunflower seeds have been used for medicinal purposes since the 16th century.....for bronchitis, coughs, colds...as a diuretic...and in some cultures as a supplement to help a woman conceive! (I'm not planning on trying sunflower seeds for ANY of those reasons!) As for me...sunflowers are the yellow in the mosaic I call fall. They herald the changing seasons.....they bloom along the roadside and spread like nomads throughout the bean fields....heads bobbing and sunny faces turned to the sun. The poets call them sunlit, the farmers call them weeds....but no matter what you call them, it's hard to pass a field...or vase of sunflowers without stopping to take a look...and smile. They radiant happiness in bright yellow....a simple joy growing in my own backyard!

Hands....

2009-08-31T22:29:00.004-05:00

Dare to reach out your hand into the darkness,
to pull another hand into the light.

Norman B. Rice

Joy is a bright yellow zinnia... speckled with Sooner red...and growing wild in our garden. Joy is a tiny yellow butterfly that struggles from bloom to bloom, blown and battered in the winds that sweep across this prairie land. Joy is the light in evening, playing across the garden in streaks and shadows....peeking and hiding in the lush green leaves that wave there. But the joy that touches my heart the most is found in the hands that shelter this bloom for my camera! Hands lined with wisdom and smelling like rich, black earth. Hands that lift me up when life lets me down...and ease the pain from a long, busy day with a tender, deep touch. Hands that lift a tiny little girl and swing her in the air.....hands that hold my own so proudly as we walk....anywhere! Hands that have reached out at my darkest moments...and pulled me back into the light, indeed. Pure, sweet joy in these tanned, wrinkled fingers......waiting patiently at the end of each day. How lucky I am!

Ordinary moments....

2009-08-25T23:30:00.003-05:00

The longer I live

the more my mind dwells

upon the beauty

and wonder of the world…

John Burroughs

It's in the ordinary moments of the day that simple joys find me. Those ordinary moments of life I often take for granted. Those moments when I stand barefoot in the garden, toes dancing through rich black earth and tickled by zinnia leaves! Moments spent humming along to a Kenny Chesney -Dave Mathews song ("I'm Alive" ) while I water the thirsty petunias and asparagus ferns that wave from the hanging baskets! Moments spent watching the flowers in pinks and oranges and yellows and purples that sway to the rhythm of the summer breeze! Moments filled with chasing elusive butterflies in the back yard and feeling the joy that bubbles out as laughter when I"m lucky enough to snap a picture of one! Ordinary moments when I listen to the chatter of feuding robins as they splash in the bird bath! Early morning moments enjoying the smell of fresh ground coffee beans and the smooth taste of that first cup! And that ordinary moment when peace settles around me as I walk up the steps of home, so happy to be there at the end of another long work day! Moments in the shadows of evening, when I can feel the strength in those arms that reach out to hold me.....and the love I hear in the words "I'm glad you're home"! Ordinary moments indeed, that fill this extraordinary life I live!

Beauty and the beast...

2009-08-16T01:20:00.006-05:00

Tale as old as time

Song as old as rhyme

Beauty and the Beast

Walt Disney Music Company

There are moments in the day when simple joy finds me, even when I'm not looking! Such peace can be found in the sounds of water dripping from thirsty baskets of petunias......and on this sticky August evening, I was in desperate search of just that. I stood lost in thought, soaking plant after plant, bare toes kissed by the spray of my homemade waterfall. I wound up the hose, poured a well earned glass of wine and settled in our ancient porch swing, humming along with a favorite old Moody blues song on the radio. Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw a clump of mud...that moved! Looking closer....I found a simple joy that made me laugh out loud! I had watered the plants so well, I had chased this little beast from his home in the hostas....and knocked a bloom off the phlox that landed right beside him. One of my favorite stories from childhood immediately came to mind....Beauty and the Beast....filled with lessons in life indeed....and here it sat, right in my own backyard! There were so many lessons to be remembered from this simple joy that made me laugh...lessons of not judging a book by its cover... of what real love is... and what real beauty looks like....and the reminder that you may have to kiss a lot of toads in life before you find the right one! My own little beast soon hopped away and a breeze took the pink phlox bloom along with him...but not before I snapped this photo of the simple joy that came to find me today!

Joy in the little things....

2009-08-06T21:27:00.002-05:00

If you want a little happiness in life don’t forget to look at the little things

Noah Ben Shea

Joy lies in the little things I've come to take for granted. Little things that fill my days with joy. The smell of coffee brewing in the morning....a phone call at work to say "I love you"...sliding your foot into a well worn pair of Birks on the way out the door....the scent of minty soap in a steaming hot shower....juicy summer corn on the cob, with butter dripping down your chin....icy cold melon and spitting seeds at your little brother.....the hum of ceiling fans in late afternoon.....dozing in a porch swing in the heat of the day...sticky little fingers and dripping Popsicles....butterflies floating from brown eyed susans to brilliant shades of phlox....sleeping in...and staying up late....fireflies....and grasshoppers. The world is full of so many little things that color my life with simple joy!

Butterfly moments....

2009-08-01T10:33:00.005-05:00

butterflies lead you to the sunny side of life.
and everyone deserves a little sunshine.
Jeffrey Glassberg

There's a winding brick path in Joe's garden, lined with sunshine. And on this perfect Saturday afternoon, it's also filled with butterflies. Monarchs and painted ladies and swallow tails and tiny little lacy whites, they float from flower to flower...wings whispering in the wind...dancing from bloom to bloom to a rhythm heard only by them. This man fills my life with so many simple joys...but none of them greater than his garden.... my own sunny side of life....planted in the dark, weeded by hand....day after day....watered so faithfully...and filled with blooms and butterflies, for no other reason than he loves me....(and he knows I love to take yet another picture!) Everyone does deserve a little sunshine in their lives....and mine lies down the brick path in Joe's garden. I am truly blessed.

Leftovers....

2009-07-26T22:22:00.008-05:00

Leftovers in their less visible form are called memories. Stored in the refrigerator of the mind and the cupboard of the heart.

~Thomas Fuller

Evening rays of sunshine lay a dappled pattern on a leftover in my garden. A simple joy in reds and green.....a teapot full of memories waits patiently to greet me....with a song to sing that heads straight for the cupboard of this heart! Sheltered in the shade of a rosebud tree, she stands there....a sturdy stubborn tribute to days gone by. Lined in vintage copper and coated in years of lime, she waits patiently each spring to be dug from the potting shed, stripped of her wayward family of spiders and filled with tender plants and soil. She rests against a wagon wheel from another generation....and graces a boulder dug from the earth from an old family farm. She sits patiently there...welcoming young and old to the garden with a wave from her tiny little spout. She stands strong and proud through the long days of summer ...filled with beautiful, flowering joy. In her belly etched in rust, I can see the wrinkles that lined my Grandmothers hands....strong and slender. In the wood of her handle, I can smell the tea...brewed strong and laced with cream....and sipped in a crackled china cup with a handle too small for fingers. Truly a leftover from days gone by....but a tiny little pleasure I turn to again..and again...filled with memories from home.

2009-07-23T18:31:00.003-05:00

Flowers grow out of dark moments.

Corita Kent

Summer mornings are filled with simple joys! On this cool summer morning, I found myself surrounded by them. As I sipped my morning coffee , I listened to a pair of blue jays...their voices just as dramatic as their brilliant color. Much like little school boys , they shouted and whistled good morning, excited to begin another day. I smiled at the pair of red birds with their clear, strong whistles, greeting the morning with a melody clearly singing...."what cheer, what cheer". Back lit by the rays of the rising sun stands the most perfect rosebud....nicknamed the "MacKenzie" rose by a proud Grandpa for his adoring baby girl....it strains towards the sun, held gently in the arms of a handmade trellis. I listened as the breeze.... waking slowly with the sunrise ....rustles the tassels of the ten foot tall corn that reaches like tiny fingers for the brilliant blue sky. In the last moments of sunrise....just before the sun burns away the haze of night...with dew damp blades of grass tickling my bare feet and wetting the hem of my favorite old nightgown....I stand in silence.....thankful for the simple joys in my life.

Hope....rekindled!

2009-07-21T22:06:00.002-05:00

Expect to have hope rekindled.

Expect your prayers to be answered in wondrous ways.

The dry seasons in life do not last.

The rains will come again.
Sarah Ban Breathnach

And rain it has, for the last three days. Beautiful summer rain.......rain just made for turning brown grass green, forcing one last bloom from a sun burnt gasping daisy, showering away the country road dust from my little Honda... leaving behind the lovliest of rainbows.....and a world that just sparkles! Could there be a greater simple joy than walking barefoot through a summer rain puddle.....or a bloom more beautiful than one found sparkling with raindrops? In the middle of a week when hope bubbles slowly, patience wears thin, and prayers are raised up......rain, beautiful summer rain has come. Let it be our sign.

Summer joy.....

2009-07-19T00:18:00.003-05:00

"Live in each season as it passes:

breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit."

Henry David Thoreau

Summer is a tapestry of simple joys. Dirty hands and muddy shoes.... thick air, filled with the scent of roses and marigolds and phlox......slamming screen doors.....flip flops and bare feet......the laughter of skinny little boys in swim trunks chasing tiny little girls with pigtails through an oscillating sprinkler....barking dogs....buzzing bees.....the lonely call of the mourning dove ......the gentle roll of thunder as a summer storm approaches....the sounds of rain sweeping across a cornfield (a sound like no other!)...the lullaby of cicadas in late July....the crack of a wood bat as it connects with a baseball.....fresh corn on the cob, basted with butter and resting in antique plastic corn cobs....sweet Kansas melons, bought from the back of a farm truck and dripping with juice...long, lazy days filled with family and friends and picnics and grillin.....James Arthur Vineyards Two Brothers wine, chilled to perfection and savored slowly at the end of a perfect day. Who could ask for anything more?

Time to shine....

2009-07-16T23:25:00.004-05:00

Live purely.

Be quiet.

Do your work with mastery.

Like the moon, come out from behind the clouds!

Shine.

Buddha

Joy is often greater when it comes unexpectedly. Deep in the middle of a month of just existing....a simple joy found me. An unexpected angel, weathered and faded.......a jump for joyful reminder that life is meant to be juicy and messy....and lived. A whispered reminder that it is time indeed to step out from behind the clouds of life....and shine. And shine, I intend to do.

The colors of spring...

2009-05-16T23:29:00.004-05:00

Sometimes it's important to work for that pot of gold. But other times it's essential to take time off and to make sure that your most important decision in the day simply consists of choosing which color to slide down on the rainbow. ~Douglas Pagels

Today, I found joy in a few simple words from my best friend...a gentle reminder that sometimes we get so busy making a living, that we forget what it is to live. In this crazy 14 baby a day world, my twelve hour shifts have drifted to fifteen or sixteen hours....our on call shifts have become regular work shifts..and I've filled my free time with what football and baseball and dance events for grandchildren that I can squeeze in. And on this cool, sunny Saturday evening, driving home from yet another long, busy baby filled workday...I looked around and discovered what I almost missed....joy in the colors of spring. So tonight...with camera in hand, I took the time to wander around this yard...and capture for you what almost passed by me while I raced through the days of my life. So tonight, I'm filling the tub with bubbles, lighting a candle and giving wings to the stress in this crazy life...letting it fly away. There's nothing in this world that a long soak in a hot bath can't cure! And tonight, I'm reminding myself that there's much more to life than racing through it. Tonight, I'm remembering how beautiful it is to take a break from the world and do nothing...and do it well. Tonight, I'm remembering how short life is...and how it's the simple joys in life that are the greatest reward. (Thanks to those who missed me... and enjoy the sights of spring in Nebraska that I posted on Flickr!)

Spring rain

2009-04-29T00:00:00.002-05:00

Spring rain, originally uploaded by pattybilline.

Anyone who says sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain. ~Author Unknown

Outside my back door, simple joy dances in the rain. In shades of pink and green it blooms in brilliant colors...kissed by the sun and watered by the many rains of April. Here in the midwest, seasons come and go, marked by changes I've come to take for granted. Changes like the dancing lady blooms of a bleeding heart in spring and the day lillies of summer and the mums of fall. On this rainy Sunday afternoon, filled with a good book and a long nap, I wandered out the back door to see if the dreary clouds still hung there...and though the rain continued...I stood for awhile and watched the blooms of my bleeding heart dance in the rain. There I found a simple...but gentle reminder that without rainy days in my life, there'd be no color...no flowers....no seasons. In those dancing blooms, I found an invitation to grab the camera, lift my face to the rain and go see just what this afternoon had to offer. Standing there in the rain, I turned my face to skies and let it soak me good...and was reminded of a message I'd heard years ago... about life being much like the weather...full of good days and full of bad days..and the best we could hope for was to grab an umbrella and live it! Here's wishing you a rainy day to dance in the rain...and some neighbors who won't think you're nuts for trying!

Happy Anniversary!

2009-04-14T23:48:00.002-05:00

Anniversary tulips, originally uploaded by pattybilline.

Love is the thing that enables a woman to sing while she mops up the floor after her husband has walked across it in his barn boots. ~Hoosier Farmer

Love is a vase of tulips on the dresser..and a chocolate bar on the pillow. Love is taking the time to pull over on the busy interstate for yet another bird picture. Love is a gift not found in a box. Love is real and true, here and now, forever and a day. Love builds bridges and hand rails and swingsets and makes memories. All you need is love. Love is saying "I'm sorry" and meaning it. Love is laughing at the little things and forgetting what doesn't matter. Love is a beautiful dance ...without music. Love is putting in more than you take out. Love is our family language spoken silently and spread over several states. Love is a promise to share all the moments in life...the good and the bad...the happy and the sad. Love is a journey in the same direction...holding hands. And what a beautiful eight year journey it's been!

Things we take for granted...

2009-04-06T22:55:00.005-05:00

sunset, originally uploaded by pattybilline.

Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop to look around once in a while you could miss it. ~From the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Life is fast....and full of things we take for granted....everyday moments and little things that fill our lives with joy! And just like Ferris Bueller...and Jesse... told me this week, if I don't stop to look around once in a while, I'm going to miss them all! It's sad that it often takes death to remind us of how short life is...and teaches us painfully about what really matters. So from now on....you'll find me ....enjoying a wordless sunset.....carrying my well worn bucket list in my pocket and crossing more off it....loving deeper......laughing more......complaining less....spending time with my family....letting people know how much they mean to me......taking a few less photos and jumping in the picture more......and looking around at this crazy, beautiful world I call life. Seems like the older I get..my regrets are more for what I didn't do than for what I have done.......so it's time to get to doing! And to Jesse...thanks...from the depths of this painful week, you've taught us all a lesson.

Spring voices....

2009-03-20T21:41:00.003-05:00

The cranes are the greatest of the flying birds. They represent harmony, good fortune, longevity and fidelity. They have a voice like no other..and it is truly the voice of spring in Nebraska. They stand 3 feet high...they weigh 10 - 12 pounds....their wing span is 6 - 7 feet wide. They fly 25 - 30 mph...and can travel up to 500 miles in one day. They mate for life...and travel in families....and return again and again and again...often to the very same spot in the very same field they've been feeding from for the last 20 years. They dance to mate...and dance for fun....and dance for joy...and today, they danced for us! We spent a chilly March afternoon cruising down the dirt roads that line the Platte River...windows down, heater on, speaking in whispers, and often stopping in awe! This isn't the first year we've traveled down I-80 in search of returning spring joy. It's become an annual tradition. A favorite breakfast stop, fresh coffee to go, the XM tuned to the oldies, camera battery charged.....and the nose of our little red Honda turned westward. And each year we find it.....joy in the ancient flight of the worlds oldest birds. Joy in the sight of their crazy dancing...their gleeful sounds....their elegant strut... and their dazzling colors. Each year, we leave with a memory card full of photos, convinced that this year was the best...it could get no better. And each year, we find.....we were wrong! It got better! Joy surrounded us...it filled the air, stood in the water, ambled across the roads and danced in the fields. It made us laugh...and made us stop....and took our breath away. I'm not sure if it's the mystery and wonder of this trip that keeps us coming back. Or maybe its the comfort we find in rituals....taking the same trip down the same roads with our own mate ...much like the life of these majestic birds. But what I do know is that as long as I'm able, sometime each year in March, you can find me cruising slowly down a dirt road along the Platte, windows down...heater on...in search of the joy I find there.

To Chad and Susan....

2009-03-15T21:05:00.003-05:00

Joy can spring like a flower even from the cliffs of despair.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh

On an in between day, in the month of March, joy springs up outside our back door. It pushes it's way through the snow and pokes its tiny head through the leftover leaves of fall. It follows the warmth of the sun....and blooms in yellows and whites and purples and greens. It dances in the daylight to a symphony of robins and sings a song of hope. It reminds us that hope...like joy.....is planted deep and survives. A reminder in color that hope...and joy...can be handed from person to person....and passed from heart to heart. We love you.

About yellow....

2009-03-12T20:31:00.004-05:00

If you've never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower in spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in bloom.

Audra Foveo

Yellow is joy...and happiness. Yellow is wisdom. Yellow is the easiest color to see. Yellow is a bouquet of daffodils on your kitchen table. Yellow is a crisp, lined note pad...waiting for the words to flow. Yellow is unrequited love. Yellow eases burnout....lightens stress....and boosts you from the depths of despair on a rainy, grey day. Yellow is a Sunday afternoon. Yellow is amber and lemon and topaz and gold. Yellow is sunshine and energy. Yellow is hope. Yellow is a spring crocus, shivering in the 20 degree temperature of a March day. Yellow is a simple joy that stands outside my back door...and never fails to thrill me.

a perfect day .....

2009-03-09T22:54:00.002-05:00

In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out.

It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being.

We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.

Albert Schweitzer

This was a perfect day. A simple, joy filled day for spirit lifting. A late winter day just made for a long peaceful truck ride. A day for kicking off my shoes, cranking up the heater, rolling down the window and turning up the volume on the Moody Blues! A day filled with looking back and looking up........a perfect cup of coffee...and a picture perfect snapshot of soul mates in action. A day for remembering that a true friend sits with you in silence..steps out to test the waters for you...and adds color to your day. This was a perfect day that left me thankful....for the encounter with these rugged soul mates that touched my heart...and for my very own soul mate that works so hard to keep my spirit lifted!

Courage

2009-02-28T22:43:00.002-06:00

Courage is not the towering oak that sees storms come and go...

it is the fragile blossom that opens in the snow.

Alice M. Swaim

Courage is green and white and purple. Courage is strong...and yet fragile. Courage roars in the sunshine...and whispers in snowfall. Courage shivers bravely outside our back door. Coaxed from the ground by the warmth of a 60 degree day in February, then blanketed in four inches of fluffy white snow... a feast of color for the eye and a message for the soul....of finding the strength to persist... and the courage to endure. A lesson well worth remembering.

blue skies...

2009-02-25T22:26:00.004-06:00

If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy,

if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you,

if the simple things of nature have a message that you understand,

rejoice, for your soul is alive…
Eleonora Duse, Italian Actress

On a sunny Sunday afternoon, yet another drive around a local lake filled us with joy....and made us laugh out loud! Blue skies, tiny blades of spring green mixed in the browns of winter...and a curious chubby squirrel convinced us our souls are indeed alive! This was a deceptively dreamy day....window down weather, with the scent of spring in the air. A day for walking and listening...and taking the time to kneel in the dirt and search among the old leaves for the crocus blades that grow there. A day filled with the sounds of returning snow geese and pesky gulls....and the musical sounds of water...yes, thawed water..lapping the rocks on the banks of the lake. A day for fooling ourselves...and the local squirrels...into thinking spring has arrived. A day for chasing away blues...and filling your life with laughter....and joy. A simple joy of a day that brings hope to your heart...and reminds you what waits....just below the brown of winter.

Filling your heart...

2009-02-09T21:32:00.002-06:00

The happy heart runs with the river, floats on the air,

lifts to the music, soars with the eagle,

hopes with the prayer.

Maya Angelou

This was a February day filled with joy. A day just filled with guilty pleasures! Sleeping in....still warm bagels and hazelnut coffee with just a splash of real cream...... cell phones off....a full tank of gas....and the promise of a winter drive to fill my head...and my memory card....with photo opportunities! Seems like life has this way of filling the spaces...and spontaneous days soon get to be few and far between. But this day...this over 60 degree day in February...we let ourselves float...and soar...and run with where it took us....and what magic we found! This was a day for stopping along the way....skipping rocks....rolling the windows down and singing along with a favorite song (usually loud and a little off key!). This was a day for telling stories and sharing dreams....for looking at the sky and laughing at the squirrels. This was a day graced by eagles.....and colored in sunshine. A day that filled our hearts with happiness.....and hope. This was a day for doing nothing...and six hours and 200 miles and over 100 pictures later, we found we had done that....very well!

To my daughter....

2009-02-05T20:44:00.009-06:00

Once in a lifetime one should be allowed

to have as much sweetness as one can possibly want and hold.

Judith Obrey

Today, my daughter made a statement that left me laughing. She was reading this blog at her desk, comforting her under the weather seven year old on her lap and answering questions peppered at her from her always inquisitive five year old .

"Mom"...she said...."I love your pictures, but do you ever find joy in anything but trees?" Speechless for a few seconds (highly unusual for those of you that know me), I laughed and shrugged. She continued on, reading the last few entries, but was soon interrupted by requests for hair braiding and Wii instructions. As I sipped the fresh cup of coffee she'd had ready, I watched her gently pat the back of the sick one and comb the long blonde hair of her princess....my past, my present and my future before me. I decided that this post...this entry...would be about the simple joy that found me today on this 50 degree day in February. So, for Kim.....yes....I find joy in so many things other than trees!

I find joy.......

..in a cup of Cold Stone ice cream on a cold day, heater blowing in a black truck, radio playing oldies!

..in the giggle of your little princess as she cartwheels across your floor!

..in the mother you've become...even on the bad days!

..in a curly haired boy with strep throat that screeched when I licked his ear!

..in a skinny nine year old boy that still sits on Grandma's lap!

..in a red headed young man that's almost taller than Grandma, but always gives her a hug!

..and in a busy young boy that I have to chase to get that hug!

..in Moms & Dads that still put on roller skates and do the "hokey pokey"!

..in knowing that you read what I write, and even bookmark it!

..in having all our kids accept me as their friend on Facebook!

..in stories of a granddaughter we've yet to meet...and the sweet pictures we still can't share with anyone!

..in waterfights....and snow angels....and snowcones...and yes, even in hundreds of ball games!

..in poptarts and rootbeer for breakfast on sleepovers!

Oh yes...I find joy in so many places other than trees! ( You can find them on our family blog!) But I find peace....and comfort....and satisfaction in trying to capture some of the beauty in this world. From the movie we both share as one of our favorites, P.S. I Love YOU....comes this quote that sums it up best:

"All I know is, if you don't figure out this something, you'll just stay ordinary, and it doesn't matter if its a work of art or a taco, or a pair of socks! Just create something... new, and there it is, and its you, out in the world, out side of you and you can look at it, or hear it, or read it, or feel it... and you know a little more about... you!"

So someday, when you're old enough to appreciate the beauty of a bare winter tree, silhouetted in the setting sun....I hope you...and those that walk behind me...will remember my photos...my writing...and find that you got to know a little more about me! You...my family...are my joy!

Solitude

2009-02-03T23:31:00.001-06:00

I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself,
than be crowded on a velvet cushion.
Henry David Thoreau

In the silence of a winter day, there is joy to be found. It's been a lesson years in the making. In this glaring world, learning to stand alone in silence is a lesson in patience.....and peace. In a few stolen moments, wrapped in the memories of a hand-me down coat, with the wind playing in my hair...I find joy in the music of solitude. I find inspiration in the colors of winter...the grays and whites and coppers and silvers. As I stand in the crisp evening air, I take the time to celebrate my mistakes and remember that I am enough. I spend time with my past...my present...and my future. I have come to treasure these silent "me" moments....moments that bathe me in joy and send me shivering..but smiling..back to the business of life.