Thursday, October 31, 2013

Six Word Fridays ~ Purple


My misty pond one chilly morn...


...and lovelorn swans under twilight's glow.


Nature casts her spell on us...


...as we stand eager and ready
to capture her majestic purple glaze.



My Memory Art six word fridays

Link up here for "Six Words"
And
I'm also joining in with
Nurture Photography

Boston Strong


Our team of bearded boys finished the job last night.
With heart for their home town, they showed us
'Boston Strong'
We are all so proud...
and grateful!

From the early days after the marathon bombing,
Fenway has brought our city together.
Reminded us of good
and given us reason to hope...
and celebrate.
When you're at Fenway you cheer together
and sing together.
Generation gaps disappear,
Politics, differences and troubles fade away...

And, somehow, the heroes on the field
do more to honor the heroes, the victims, the children and the city
 around them than to 
glorify themselves.

Love my home town bearded bunch!


Linking up with

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Black & White Wednesday ~ Let's Do This!







I'm rooting for the home team.
Oh, yes I am!
You are a championship TEAM...
Let's do this!



My Memory Art


Tawny Leaves & Withered Hedges





"Her pleasure in the walk must arise from the exercise and the day, from the view of the last smiles of the year upon the tawny leaves and withered hedges, and from repeating to herself some few of the thousand poetical descriptions extant of autumn ~ that season of peculiar and inexhaustible influence on the mind of taste and tenderness ~ that season which has drawn from every poet worthy of being read some attempt at description, or some lines of feeling."

Jane Austin, Persauasion


Oh, this truly is my favorite time of year.
I just can't get enough of the tapestries painted across 
our New England Landscape.


Linking up today with
Tuesday Around the World
and
Tuesday Muse




Monday, October 28, 2013

Kindness, Chicken Soup & Baseball


First came some kindness. A cute little (almost three year old!) friend of mine brought her mama to meet me for lunch this week. And her mama brought me some sunflowers! Because she knows there are few things that encourage me more than sunflowers! That same day I got a card (and some very generous gifts) from the bride and groom whose wedding invitations I made not too long ago. The gifts blew my mind - wasn't expecting them at all. But I have to say that it was the words on the card that really melted my heart.

"...we had no idea how beautiful, meaningful and timeless everything would be. 
Neither of us thought the small details of our wedding could be so meaningful! 
Thank you for all your time, creativity and help these last several months."

Those words meant so much to me! To know that this young couple has keepsakes from their day that they will cherish, and that will bring back great memories for years to come...well, that's why I love doing what I do!


Next came the chicken soup. Not nearly so encouraging...I had big plans for this weekend! Plans to travel to Pennsylvania, take a class, see my dad and have a special lunch with a friend. Sigh. I have, instead, been sipping chicken soup and sleeping. There has been a lot of sleeping. In between the sipping and sleeping I've been cheering for the Red Sox - which makes me tense, And probably hasn't helped my head or my stomach. But whew! As I type, we've won game four. So one more in St. Louis then we bring these boys home and cheer them on to a pennant. Tonight it was Big Papi that kept them fighting the good fight! He was so inspiring!





Linkin up with



Saturday, October 26, 2013

From a Mama's Heart


We hold them close...learn every freckle and eyelash...count every finger, tooth and toe. We ride the waves of their ups and downs, share their dreams and carry their woes as surely as we carried them on our hips. As soon as they are wishes, mere whispers in our hearts, we are praying for them...

"May the good Lord be with you
Down every road  you roam
And may sunshine and happiness
Surround you when you're far from home."



We ache from the joy that comes from the privilege of sharing their journey. All of the firsts - from that first breath to their first love...from their first step to their first job. Countless thousands of little moments that combine to become a childhood. Countless milestones that mark their growth into young adulthood. We pray for them. With them....sharing our hearts, our ideas...our ideals.

"May you grow to be proud
Dignified and true
And do unto others
As you'd have done to you
Be courageous and be brave
And in my heart you'll stay
Forever Young..."

 




The days add up, weeks become years, and that letting go season begins. Our hearts are stretched. And our prayers change...

"May good fortune be with you
May your guiding light be strong.
Build a stairway to heaven
With a prince or a vagabond.

May you never love in vain...
And in my heart you will remain
Forever Young.

And when you finally fly away 
I'm hoping that I served you well
For all the wisdom of a life time
No one can ever tell."










MORE THAN ANYTHING...
we always want these babies of ours to know two things...

"Whatever road you choose,
I'm right behind you,
Win or loose..."

And, in spite of the fact that I have to accept, acknowledge and adjust to all sorts of things...
in my heart you will remain
Forever Young!




{Inspired by Rodin's statues and Rod Stewart's lyrics}
Linking up with Kathy for

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Six Word Fridays ~ Red

As the sun settles across the
pond, I stand. I stand beneath
a fiery tree and drink in
every shade of red she offers.

The wind is crisp, the water
ripples and fall has, yet again, 
cast a mesmerizing spell on me.










My Memory Art six word fridays

Also linking up with
Nurture Photography


Tableau


These blustery days are bringing that change that leads us towards the frosty days of winter. There's a real chill in the air, and everywhere I look there are leaves dancing across sidewalks, lawns, streets, ponds and air. Each "sky line" looks just a bit different these days. Some trees are still full of green leaves. Others are fading to brown. Many of the grand limbs are ablaze with color. A midst all of this, there are already many trees who have lost all of their leaves.

I watch as the landscape changes day to day. I'm struck by the watercolor tableau...and by the thought that our world is being decorated one leaf at a time. As with the artist's painting, where each stroke, each tiny dab of color, combines to give us their entire vision, so it is with fall. No two trees are exactly the same. Every leaf has its place...finds the sun light, feels the cold and yields to the winds in his own time. My mind wanders from the tree tops to the friends I have, the people I love...the individuals that color my world.

I'm very glad that we are all so different. Each finding the light in our own time, our own way. Each walking, one day at a time, through they myriad of emotional ups and downs that life sends our way. Each learning to yield to the winds of change at our own pace.

And each vital to mye colorful, ever changing landscape.


Joining Kim for Little Things Thursday



Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Black & White Wednesday ~ Destiny


"I don't know if we each have a destiny,
or if we're all just floating around accidental-like on a breeze.


But I think maybe it's both.


Maybe both are happening at the same time."
Forrest Gump



My Memory Art


Sunday, October 20, 2013

Possibility


"I howled at the moon with friends,
And then the sun came crashing in.
But all the possibilities,
No limits just epiphanies..."
Best Day of My Life by American Authors

This weekend we've got a house guest.
One of those feels-more-like-family-than-just-a-friend friend.
He got here Friday, and the locals who miss him
have been stopping by to visit.
And bringing some good wine with them!
Last night we were up until past midnight waxing philosophical, laughing, 
arguing and laughing some more.
It was good.
{late...but oh, so good!}

There were more friends today...more wine...
and the sharing of memories and dreams.

In the midst of all this, I was privileged to be included in a very special baby shower.
We gathered, family and friends, at a local restaurant and piled mountains of gifts across two long tables. 
Every detail ~ adorable.
Countless hand made stars and moons and chocolate lollipop favors
told the story of one sister's love for another.

When the mom-to-be walked in the room,
her eyes welled up with tears. 
It felt like that moment when you see a bride for the first time at a wedding.
You see, it's been a long road to pregnancy for this mama.
{might have been told she wouldn't have children}
She looked at the room today, at all of us, and said through her tears,
"I just never thought this would happen."

So today, as I toasted a friend's 50th and celebrated the promise of new birth,
I realized I was having one of those days.
One of the really good ones.
One of the days when the sun comes crashing in and
I see more possibilities than limits.

When the epiphanies of the howling hours
make sense in the light of day.


{It must also be said that THE SOX ARE GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES!!}
{Worst to First...Believe it!}
BOSTON STRONG!


Joining the Sunday gang at Kathy's for




Thursday, October 17, 2013

Six Word Fridays ~ Orange


Set against the towering maple, this
abandoned house ~ this eyesore of the
neighborhood ~ seems to be almost beautiful.


Under the vibrant, orange canopy, her
broken glass, peeling paint, cracked bricks
and drooping shutters bother no one.


These, after all, are the weeks
where ghosts and goblins come alive...


...and scary houses spark our imagination.





My Memory Art six word fridays

{also linking up with Nurture Photography}


Wednesday, October 16, 2013

What Do You See?


In an ordinary corner of an ordinary parking lot sits a tree. It's not a huge tree, or an exotic tree. But it's there to greet me every morning when I get to work, and to wish me well on my way home in the evening. If you follow me on Instagram you've been watching my tree with me over the past few weeks.


Remember the bright, vibrant, fiery red?


The red that glowed with the light of the sun...


...and glistened when wet on those rainy...


...blustery days.


I've watched the full branches slowly loose their leaves...


...until all but a very few have fallen. 

It's only been two weeks since I took that first shot of this tree ~ full and on fire! Now it's time for rest. The snows and ice will be here before we know it...and, though I won't be able to see it, growth and rejuvenation will be taking place right here. Inside the tree, in that ordinary corner of the ordinary parking lot, nature will be working her miracles. 

My hope today is that I won't ignore the bare, winter-time tree. But that I'll remember. When the branches are dark and empty, stark and brittle against a gray winter sky, I hope I'll see beyond all that and remember... Remember the buds of spring, and the greens of summer and the crimson that is fall. And know that change ~ powerful change ~ is happening. Whether it looks like it or not.


"It's not what you look at that matters,
it's what you see."
Henry David Thoreau

Linking up with