Hope

"Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul." - Emily Dickinson

I don't photograph very many birds, except maybe sea gulls at the beach. This little guy was perched along the path near Old Faithful geyser in Yellowstone National Park. It was a cool day as you can see by the dark clouds behind him and his feathers were ruffling in the wind. I expected him to fly away the second the I stopped, but he let me take one picture of him. Maybe he was "frozen" in his spot and didn't have the energy to fly away. Anyway, I was rather surprised when I downloaded my pictures after that trip to find this photo, I like it. Even though it's dark and brooding, this bird speaks of perseverance in spite of the dreary weather. He speaks of "hope." I think this is a bluebird. Is he the "bluebird of happiness"?

I came home today in a foul mood, very little had gone right today, it seemed. As I was lamenting to hubby, I was glancing at a catalog and found the verse by Emily Dickinson. When I read it and I felt that there has to be hope somewhere in my job, in my day. I thought of this picture. Maybe, hope comes in a once-in-my-lifetime picture. Maybe, hope just perches nearby and allows us to ponder the beauty of it's feathers as they ruffle in the winds. Winds of change, winds of chaos. Maybe, even winds of contentment, if we allow it.

Yes, today I came home blowing like the wind. Blowing out words of discontentment and frustration. Once I "blew" myself out, I finally could sit and enjoy the evening and allow this little bluebird of happiness to "brighten" my day.

Fall Fotos!

Fall in South Texas means that the birds and butterflies are on their way back to our area. Some friends mentioned that there were lots of butterflies at the Birding Center in Edinburg, so hubby & I went up there and then went to Santa Ana National Wildlife park today. The above picture was a complete surprise as butterflies seem to fly away the second I get my camera close enough to get them in my site. This one lighted right on my finger and then transferred to hubby's finger so that I could get something other than a one-handed camera shot.

The next photo is colorful, therefore a favorite of mine. Now we get to photos of the weird!

Look at the designs on this spider web! It's the most unique spider web I have ever seen!

As we driving along I made hubby stop the car as I saw a mass on butterflies on the side of the road. They were oblivious to me as they had their lunch of javelina sh_t!

Finally for the benefit of my reptile-hating sisters, I have included this adorable little critter. Look at his colorful throat, he knows it's fall. He's showing off his colors! Happy Fall!

Red or Green? Red or Blue?

Red or green? That's the question (perhaps even the motto) of New Mexico when you are eating in restaurant there. They are referring to your desire for red or green pepper salsa with your meals. Choices! I took this picture of peppers, not in New Mexico, but in rural Wisconsin. The baskets were sitting on a vegetable stand on the farm of an Amish family. Just couldn't resist the colorful picture, taken last fall.

We're listening to the presidential debate tonight so I thought it's appropriate to also title today's blog "Red or Blue?" Choices! You get to make a choice, a very important choice. Like most Americans, we have our preferences, some prefer "blue," others prefer "red." They both have their positives and not-so-positive aspects. Choices!

The farm where I took this picture, that family also have a choice between presidential candidates. However, I think it's ironic that they will not be watching the candidates debate as they have no electricity. They will be reading about the candidates, not hearing or watching them. Their vote will count the same as mine. Choices! Don't forget to make your choice known by voting in November! God bless America and our freedoms.

Clouds

Today in South Texas, it's cloudy and rainy. I enjoy taking pictures of clouds, like these over eastern New Mexico. They say a cloudy day is often the best day to take photos, as the harsh light from sunshine is not as prevalent. If there were no clouds, this picture would not be the same. Cloudy days sometimes are the best days to stay inside and read a good book or magazine. I think that's just what I'm going to to!

Thick-Skinned

Tonight hubby told me that there's notice up on our community bulletin board that a nominating committee has been formed for our annual elections. If you have followed my blog, you know that there has been some dissension within our community. So this upcoming election ought to be interesting. I asked hubby, "What characteristics does a good board member need?"

His first reply was thick-skinned. Therefore, the picture of the buffalo. The buffalo certainly have a mass of fur that collects all kinds of matter and earthy material as the buffalo walks, lays and wallows in his territory. I think they are thick-skinned as the Indians used their hides to build their tee pees and it kept them warm and cool.

Hubby's second answer was, "They have to be able to listen to stupid requests." I think buffalo listen to that all the time. Here's an example. Buffalo are walking down the middle of the road (in Yellowstone Park) and you come upon them with your car. Buffaloes are big animals and take up most of the road, so it's difficult to drive around them as most of the park roads don't have much, if any shoulder. So at first the buffalo listen to our requests, "I want a picture." We humans take pictures, smile and cheer about our "good luck" in seeing a buffalo so close. The buffalo continues to slowly walk or he may even stop so that you can a great picture of his matted, grungy behind. Typical humans that we are, we grow weary very quickly with looking at a buffaloes behind or even his head, so we start inching our car forward. We think that will tell the buffalo to move along or even better, move over to the side of the road.

No such luck! Now, it's been 10 minutes and cars are piling up behind us. Someone way back in the line can't see the buffalo and starts honking their horn. Before you know it, there's no choice but to blow your horn too. To the buffalo that stupid noise is getting annoying. He approaches the car and before you can do anything, like back into the car behind you, the buffalo has put his horns into the car's grill and is proceeding to move his head up and down. Breaking pieces of the grill while he shakes his head, "Yes, I sure did hear your stupid request to move off of my road. Thanks for visiting."

That brings us to the third characteristic that hubby said the candidate has to have, "ability to be persuasive." After the buffalo gets off your car and turns around, he dumps his breakfast on the hood of your car. If that's not enough to persuade you to "get out of Dodge," I don't know what is?

On top of all these characteristics, Mr. Buffalo is kind of cute, isn't he? I think I'll let the nominating committee know that I nominate Mr. Buffalo for our board, what do you think?

Community, Come Unity

This morning during church we were listening to a video of a speaker from another country. He was using a word that I have often heard, but his pronunciation of it was slightly different. Different to the respect that I wrote the word and saw another word in it. He said the word "community" but he pronounced it more like "come unity."


Community: A group of people living in same locality and under same government; A social group or class having common interests; Similarity or identity; Society as a whole, public; A group of plants and animals living in a specific region under relatively similar conditions; Common possession or participation.

Unity: The state of being one, singleness; The state, quality or condition of accord or agreement; A combination or union thus formed; An ordering of all elements in a work of art or literature so that each contributes to a unified aesthetic effect; Singleness or constancy of purpose or action, continuity.

To me, the similarities of the words are there. Come together and unify into a community! A community can bring unity to a group of people, a singleness, an order, a continuity of purpose or action. You may have heard the church being described as the "community of Christ." What a rally cry for Christians, "Come unity!" Come and join in the unity of Christians. Come and join in the unity of all people to a single purpose. What a more worthy purpose than peace on earth?

Speaking of earth, I chose today's photo because it shows a community, a group of plants living in similar conditions. In this case it was a nursery, green house as we call it up North. I just couldn't resist taking a picture of the colorful planters all in a row. If you look really close, you may think the picture looks "different." You're right, this photo was made into "coloring-book" format. You can see the black lines delineating the edges of the pots, table and flowers. In this case it's already been colored for you.

There are so many "communities" that we each belong to, isn't there? We have our physical living location that is a community. We have our employment community. We have our church or religious community. We have our social, fun-loving, "let's do this" community. We have our political party community,or maybe we're in a community of those "undecided." We have the community of our family, that may be spread out over several states, yet we have a unity that no one can take away from us. We belong to a certain lineage that is heralded whenever we get together. Getting together, coming together in unity creates a "community" whether it be for an hour, a day or years. Whenever you are in the community of others for single purpose or action.... isn't it great?

Even as each individual planter (in the picture) was dusty and flowers were not outstanding or abundant, together they created for me a memorable picture. And this picture reminds me as well of a memorable day plant-shopping with my sister. Come together with others in some way today! Enjoy!

Keep Out!

Keep Out! Apparently the wind, rain, blazing sunshine and animals can't read as they have invaded this house in a Texas "ghost" town! I wonder what the owner is protecting by posting this sign. Perhaps they are trying to protect the house from a few more bricks being stolen from it's walls. Tonight, I found myself browsing my pictures looking for something that would "state" my mood today! This picture seemed to do it.

It's been a very busy week at work, with a heavy workload and a lot of other work being pushed aside on my desk. In fact this morning when I walked into my office, I felt like I was going to have an anxiety attack just looking at the mess of papers on my desk. Projects and "fires" to put out seemed to pile up all day. One of my staff came into my office and I didn't think that I reacted physically, but she said, "You said, you have an open door policy." Then she grinned as she discussed one more problem (i.e. "fire").

Yes, sometimes I feel like my office is in this type of building, no protection from the elements and everyone can easily see if you're in or out. They can "invade" my dwelling. And yes, sometimes I wish that I also had a "keep out" sign. Even tonight my phone rang and I stood up, as if to go and get it. Then I stopped in my tracks and paused as I thought to myself, "Should I answer it or not?" My sense of commitment to work got the best of me as I surely thought the caller must be one of my co-workers. So, I answered it. It was an old friend from New Mexico and her call was a pleasant surprise.

Yes, some days, it feels like you have no protection, no roof over your head. It feels like the walls are crumbling around you. There are critters crawling on your floors and you wonder if you can take the heat one more day? But if you lean back in your chair and look straight up, you'll feel the warmth of sunshine on your face and you'll see a cloudless day with beautiful blue skies. Awwww! It's not all bad! If you look up, other things in your life will "look up."

Look a Little Closer

Have you stopped to smell the "roses"? Do you take a close look at the common everyday things? Or do you rush by the flowers and barely catch a glimpse of color? What are the "flowers" of your life that you are rushing by or even worse, ignoring? Could it be your child or spouse that needs and deserves your up-close attention? When you really look up-close, oh what beauty and worthiness we see!

Silent Screen

"Silent screen" is the term for the old movies without any sound or voices. Music was played on an organ or piano to accompany the action of the movie. This door and screen were photographed in a ghost town in Montana. The "town" was the perfect setting for good ol' western movie. But no modern movie could every re-play all the action that actually occurred in this town.

I wonder how many times this door was opened and closed until now it stands silent? They say, "If walls could only talk." What about doors? Doors have been touched by human hands much more than walls. The door has been closed quietly when the man of house comes home from the bar up the street with a few beers under his belt and a few less dollars in his pocket because he has a poor poker face. The door has been slammed shut when the woman of the house kicks her son out the door for being a no-good-lazy-son-of-gun! The door has held up the mother as she leans against it and sobs tears of sorrow for being put in position that she had to show tough love to her loved one. The door has caressed by the young daughter as her first kiss lingers on her lips from the young cowboy that just walked her home after Wednesday night church.

Did the door scream, shout or sigh when the last occupant walked or was carried out of the house and shut the door for it's final time? Was the screen door broken before they left? What was the story? What can the front door of your house say about you?

Football Fan-atics!

It's football season again. In my family we are divided between being fans of the Vikings, right across the state border from where we lived in Northwestern Wisconsin, and being fans of the Packers, way across the state in Green Bay. I was browsing pictures yesterday and found these taken about 3 years ago at a family gathering where Dad's birthday celebration was interrupted for the Packer-Viking game.

The top two pictures were taken during the game and the fans reactions. My mom is the one in the back with all the beads on her outfit. The third picture is of my dad getting his "sympathy" phone call from one of his Viking daughters. The rub-it-in phone calls are a standard fare between these two!

The botom picture is of a Viking fan (on left) and a Packer fan (on left). Who would guess she's a die-hard Packer fan, even down to her underwear?

Are we ready for some football?

Welcome to My Ol' World

This rooster says, "Welcome to my ol' world!" This tin rooster was and maybe still is situated next to an old house in Northwestern Wisconsin. It welcomed visitors, usually family, to my parents home. I started to write house instead of home, but thought better of that. To my parents, unlike me, that house is their HOME. It's the first house they bought after many years of marriage and renting. They have lived in that home for 43 years. I only spent four years of my life living there full-time before I went to college.

I chose this picture today, because this morning I happened to pick up a book, "Come Read With Me." This book is a collection of stories and poems written by members of the Northwest (Wisconsin) Regional Writers club, of which I was a member. Many of the writers in this club are people of my parent's age and they often write of their youth and things that occurred then. One story told of an old house and the happenings there for several generations. For some reason, it brought on a sense of nostalgia and sadness, perhaps homesickness, in me. That's OK, because as the story implied, things change. Even thinking back to my own history, I have memories of fun, happiness and sadness. We all do. That's OK, that's life.

I have this photo of the rooster framed and setting on my kitchen counter for several reasons. I like the oldness of it with the rust showing. The stars remind me of the Texas stars that prevalent down here. The deep red of the rooster comb and the flowers is my second favorite color and it matches my granite counter top. :) I have to put a smiley face here, because I value color coordination. Also, the word WELCOME is not commonly used in a greeting, but for some reason, I have often used that when visitors arrive. "Welcome!" Another reason I like the photo is that it reminds me of my parents. It's not great photo, technically, but to me it's a symbol of my ol' world. Welcome!

Waves of Gratitude

This is a statue of Jesus Christ on the banks of the shipping channel at the end of South Padre Island. I was reminded of this picture tonight when I watched the newscast showing the surf at the Island as a result of Hurricane Ike. The video was taken off shore looking back at the shore with supposedly hundreds of surfers taking advantage of the huge waves breaking. The statue was shown in the background as waves pounded the jetty and splashed high in the air.

As much as I like excitement, I am sure grateful that Ike decided to take a hike up North! South Padre Island would be hard-pressed to handle another hurricane right after Dolly less than two months ago. Our home, at 75 miles inland from the Island was spared any damage from Dolly and did not even suffer power outages although other parts of our town, less than two miles away, were without power for days! Grateful, yes!

Gratitude can wash over you with a sense of peace and well-being. Almost like waves washing the shoreline of our lives. Sometimes that gratitude becomes huge waves that hit the shoreline with a huge splash and the spray flies up in the air, kissing whatever it touches. Or perhaps drenching whatever it touches.

Yes, we will see a lot of videos over the next few days, showing the huge waves crashing on the seawall of Galveston Island. Let us pray for those that are there or those that are ready to clean up afterwards, may they be safe and sound. Let us pray with thankfulness and gratitude if we are not there and we don't have to be there. Experience the waves of gratitude washing over you today!

Got ya!

I have seen very few hummingbirds in my life. I have never had a feeder that attracted them. The flowers we have now in our yard have attracted some that have been fun to watch. That is if you don't blink your eyes very fast. They are fast and don't sit still for very long, if ever. I have always wanted to get a picture of a hummingbird and while on vacation we stayed a place that had a dozen or more hummingbirds. There were three feeders hanging from the rafters of an old porch and the birds seemed oblivious to people sitting right below them! So I decided to attempt to get a picture of them. After about sixty pictures (thank goodness for a digital camera) and thirty minutes of sitting still, I was able to get one picture that I'm not embarrassed to show.

What's the old saying? "Good things come to those that wait." This picture may be an example of that saying, but more importantly for me is my marriage. I met my husband when I was 34, just about given up hope to find the man of my dreams. In fact I had decided to give up on California guys and move back to Wisconsin "to find myself a good old farm boy and settle down." Of course I had no one in mind, but I was willing to give up the city lifestyle for rural Wisconsin.

Well, God had other things in mind. In the process of closing down the business I worked at in California, I met my husband. The man of my dreams? Not really. Older, balding, conservative, Republican, and divorced. The man of my dreams? Yes really. Compassionate, loving, caring, thoughtful, intelligent and supportive. He's the one that's been encouraging to write again. He's the one that "loves" my pictures and always reminds me to bring my camera when we go out driving.

So it's appropriate that I share today this picture of the hummingbird taken from the porch of the quaint, old hotel that we stayed at on our honeymoon twenty years ago and again last month on our wedding anniversary. The place had hardly changed. I don't think I can say the same for hubby and I. I hope hummingbirds stay the same, elusive to photograph and exciting to catch a good shot!

Moth & Butterfly

Flowers and a butterfly. At least I think it's a butterfly. There are some beautiful moths out there and it can get confusing. According to my friend Webster (as in dictionary) a butterfly has a slender body with four wings. A moth has a stout body. I think the top picture has a butterfly and a moth.

Even though there is not a great amount of difference between a moth and a butterfly, they both fly and have wings and antennae. Think about the differences in our attitude towards one or the other. Historically, are we not prone to dislike moths? They eat our clothes, therefore the need for mothballs. They flutter around just like butterflies, yet they do so at night. Therefore we can't see them as well and they startle us when their wings brush against our hair. Moths are usually not as beautiful, therefore we don't often seek them out to observe or take photos of them.

We treat people the same way, don't we? People with stout bodies and are not as attractive are often overlooked, bypassed, ignored or shunned. People with slender bodies and glamorous colors or clothes are the center of attention. Many times an unattractive person will have a colorful personality. Perhaps as a way to draw attention to themselves. Many times an attractive person will have little personality. Yet they still draw attention to themselves. How do we judge people? How do we want others to judge us? Are you a moth or a butterfly? You're just as important and valuable whichever you are! Be colorful!

Cactus: Any of a large group of plants, mostly native to arid regions of the New World. They are characterized by thick, fleshy often prickly stems that function as leaves and in some species have showy flowers and edible fruit.

I love flowers. I should say I love viewing flowers, taking photos of flowers. I do not have any interest in growing flowers or doing all of that work, just looking at them. I have hundreds of pictures of flowers. As I browse through my pictures, once in awhile a picture will make me spontaneously say, "Oooo!" This was one of them. Some of you may not have the same reaction or even be the slightest interested in a picture of the cactus flower. Isn't that awesome? So many interests that we all have in life? Isn't it awesome that God created so many different plants to have showy flowers?

Today in Sunday School we were discussing the planet Earth and how we are just a small speck on this Earth and our Earth is just a small speck in the Galaxy. The Milky Way Galaxy is a small speck in the Universe.... and on and on! God made the prickly pear cactus have a showy flower. God took the time to make each of us unique and special. He gave each of us a "showy flower" for all the world to see and admire. For some people, it's their smile. For others, it's their eyes. For others, it's their hair or fingers. Just like there are thousands of varieties of flowers, there thousands of ways that God gave us to be showy flowers.

Don't we often think of ourselves in terms of the stems (of the flowers)? When I was typing the cactus description, "characterized by thick, fleshy often prickly stems," I thought, "That's me!" You can't get much more thick, fleshy AND prickly than me! True or not, God still gives me a showy flower to let the world see beyond my stem. There's a motto out in there, "God doesn't make junk." Do we feel that? Do we believe it? Or do we degrade ourselves? Do we degrade the product that God has made? We are God's most special product, made in His image. We are all the showy flowers that God puts on the "stems" of the world. Show off your "flowers."

Flags

The political party conventions have exposed our flag and it's colors, red, white and blue all over the television screen in the past weeks. An American knows those colors from the time we were little children. We waved a miniature flag at our town's parades as we sit on Daddy's shoulders or hold our Mommy's hand. We were secure with our parents and we are secure in our towns and states. The flag is a symbol of security and freedom for our citizens. The flag is often synonymous with our soldiers, even unto death when a flag is folded and given to family members in honor of the deceased one's serving our country.

This picture is not of the real flags of our country or my adopted state, Texas. They are banners at a kite festival on South Padre Island, an island that is about far south as you can get in the United States. From all corners of our nation, we can see and feel the patriotism that we have for our country. We are so blessed. Do you feel it? God bless America!