Black & White Wednesday ~ This Season

{June 7, 2015}

"Childhood is a short season."

Helen Hayes

Snap.

Snap your fingers,

blink your eyes

and,

as we all know,

childhood has flown by.

Maybe not as quickly for our babies

as for these baby swans...

In only four months they have turned into long necked beauties.

Ready for the big pond.

Ready for friendship.

Ready for their close up!

We've got both kids under our roof tonight.
All four of us, after a long day's work.
Feels so good.
Takes me back.
Fills me up.
Makes me long,
not for a return to those childhood days,
but for many chances to fully live this season.
The one we all share as adults.
This grown-up season that's here to stay a while.

Join us here and share some of your

Black & White photos!

I'm also linking up with

Wednesday Around the World

Too Early?

"On the Seventh day of Christmas
my true love gave to me
Seven Swans a Swimming"
and
One Swan a Standing


I know.
No one wants Christmas Carols yet.
Still 86 days until the big day.
But every time I see this swan family,
I think...
I want to get a photo of seven-swans-a-swimming.
But there are eight of them!
Such a conundrum.
Do I leave one out of the family photo?
Or just give up on the lyrics that pop into my head every time I see them?
I know.
Try and contain yourself.
My mental gymnastics are so. very. interesting.
Not.
Anyhow...
This weekend it happened!
The perfect shot!
Honestly, it's my favorite new shot of "my" large swan family.
And, not only are they all in the shot
but
{and here's what pushes my happy button}
only seven of them are swimming!

Enjoy all those shopping days left until the holidays!



Joining Kathy for
Song-ography

Six Word Fridays ~ Gold

{Wisconsin Wedding, July, Keely Joy Photography}

Make new friends, keep the old.

One is silver...the other gold.



Link up here and share your stories ~
six words at a time!

Black & White Wednesday ~ Friendship

"If you need a friend,

I'm sailing right behind..."

Simon & Garfunkel

Navigating the waters of friendship

can, at times, be unsettling.
When those waters are troubled
and the ship is tipping,
rocking,
flooding
or sinking,
it's easy to give in to the dark voices of loneliness.
In moments like these,

I'm reminded how blessed I am
to have the daughter that I do.

Calm waters or rough,

seasons of plenty or seasons of want...

we'll always be able to turn around

and see the other sailing right behind.

I hope that eases her heart and mind

as much as it does mine.

Love you, girl.

Please link up and share your

Black & White photos!

I'm joining Kathy for

Song-ography

and

Communal Global for

Wednesdays Around the World

Things are looking up....

A weekend of couch cuddles with a cute puppy is good for what ails ya.

Cause that's about all I did for two days.

Cuddle and curl up.

And I am feeling a bit better!

I might have strained myself just a bit cheering for the Pats....

but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do!

Looking through some of my photos this weekend,

I found this treasure.

I love when the sunlight catches a random stem or branch...

a little natural gem that might have gone unnoticed without that stream of light!

This morning,

here in Boston,

it really FEELS like fall!

So, pardon the obsession with trees that will fill up the blog over next few weeks.

I'm about to have way too much fun chasing all the fall colors!!

Welcome Monday.

Here's to a week where I'm able to actually do something

other than the bare minimum it takes to get from one day to the next.

Let's go!

Joining Tamar for

The Good. The Random. The Fun.

Six Word Fridays ~ Red

Like the red robin, our harbinger

of spring, this fallen leaf signals

the bounty sweet autumn will bring.

Please join me here and share your story ~

Six Words per line!

Of Vines and Motherhood

I've heard that vines, though lovely to look at, are known for squeezing the life out of things.

Things like marsh grass.

Or entire trees!

I've read that they can wrap themselves so tightly around the trunk of a tree

that they choke out all of it's growth potential.

and...

        Vines that climb and cling often cover over the cracks and weaknesses underneath them.

also...

        They will, if left unchecked, grow thick enough to weigh down their host

or limit the light that reaches it's branches.

As I've watched

{via social media}

another school year begin,

these vines have wrapped themselves around some thoughts I'm having about motherhood.

Whether you're sending a child off to their first day of pre-school,

or their first day of college,

the emotions that come with

"letting go"

are often very difficult for a mama to navigate.

Since my kids are both over 25

{and "over" the whole school thing}

I don't have the cyclical reminder that time is passing,

that they are growing up,

and that part of my job is to figure out just how much to let go.

Truth is,

I don't think I was ever a very clingy or tightly wound mom.

But I've still had to do quite a bit of letting go.

And still get smacked in the face with waves of emotion

when I find myself longing to wade back in to the center of their worlds.

The vines help though.

Because I don't want to EVER be that mom

that smothers.

I don't EVER want to cling on so hard that I stunt their growth

or weigh them down

or steal their light.

Right?

None of us want that.

But, oh my...

the letting go can be oh so unnatural sometimes!

The twenty-somethings hit road blocks too sometimes.

Young adult struggles are real and, often, laden with real-life consequences.

So that overly-protective,

cover their cracks,

hold on extra tight

motherhood gene springs into action.

It's dawned on me recently that

I was holding on tight

to a young man who needs breathing room.

Oh,

maybe not in a way that most people would notice.

But my mama heart's been in squeeze mode.

Time to take a deep breath

and,

for the one-millionth time,

let this kid keep on going.

And keep on growing.

Joining Kim for

Little Things Thursday

and Mama Kat for her

Writer's Workshop

Black & White Wednesdays ~ Enough

May your joys be as bright as the morning, 

and your sorrows merely be shadows that fade in the sunlight of love. 

May you have enough happiness to keep you sweet, 

enough trials to keep you strong, 

enough sorrow to keep you human, 

enough hope to keep you happy, 

enough failure to keep you humble, 

enough success to keep you eager, 

enough friends to give you comfort, 

enough faith and courage in yourself to banish sadness, 

enough wealth to meet your needs and one thing more; 

enough determination to make each day a more wonderful day than the one before

Irish Blessing

Please join me and share some

Black & White Photography!

I'm also linking to

Wednesdays Around the World

and

Good Fences

Orange Sky

Well, I had a dream

I stood beneath an orange sky

Yes I had a dream

I stood beneath an orange sky

With my brother standing by

With my brother standing by

I said, "Brother, you know you know

it's a long road we've been walking on

Brother, you know it is you know it is

Such a long road we've been walking on."

{Alexi Murdoch, lyrics}

Sometimes,

when you've been feeling like crap,
a good thing happens in the middle of the pity party you've been throwing.

Your brother sends you cute photos of your little nephew.

Photos of his family

and some play time in the water.

And the sunshine smiles brighten your {otherwise} miserable day.

And the knowledge of how

completely

stinkin'

happy

your brother is brings tears to your eyes.

The good kind of tears.

And then...

you really start to miss him.

And feeeeeeeeeeeel all those many miles that separate you.

And you get all nostalgic

and start looking at scrapbooks.

Then,

because you're already nursing the worst cold in the history of mankind,
and this is, after all, a pity party,

you get all

"woe is me"

and

"where did the time go"

and

"why am I not on a beach...."

So,

you go to bed.

And dream.

And, as is often the case,

when my brother is on my heart,

he is also very close to me in my dreams.

At some point last night,

as I fitfully slept and coughed and slept some more,

we swam together.

And for that moment
there was no cold,
no melancholy,
no distance...
only peace
and laughter
and
the two of us.
Still together.
As close as ever as we navigate this
long road called life.





Joining Kathy for
Song-ography

Six Word Fridays ~ Green

Against a backdrop of summer green,

autumn is sending us hints of

all that she's about to bring.

Bushes are bursting with juicy berries

and stems bow gently as the

wildflowers begin to wither and fade.

Each leaf arrives to celebrate fall
in their own time ~ some on
the early side...while others make
us wait...as if they know
how to show up fashionably late.

Summer has given generously of her

sunshine, heat, gardens and grand adventure.

Now it's autumn's turn to share

her treasure...crisp air, colorful landscapes

and comforts of hearth and home.

Join me here and share your story,

Six Words at a time!

I'm also linking today with

LIttle Things Thursday

and

Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop

Black & White Wednesday ~ Courage

"Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak;
courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen."
Winston Churchill

Interesting, isn't it...
When something is true, it's also timeless.
In this day and age of everyone voicing an opinion
{or two or three}
I fear that courageous listening is becoming a lost art.

I want to be someone who can
learn from those who think differently than I do.
I never want to forget to be a really, really good listener.
I want to be someone with strong principles and ideals
who also has an open mind and heart.
The older I get,
the less concerned I am with making sure my opinion is heard
and the more I want to be able to
admit when I'm wrong.
The more I want to listen...
and, yes, listen attentively enough to actually have my mind changed from time to time!






Join us here and share your
Black & White photos!
I'm also linking up with
Wednesday Around the World

When the sun is out....

Good day sunshine,

Good day sunshine,

Good day sunshine!

I need to laugh and when the sun is out
I've got something I can laugh about
I feel good in a special way

I'm in love and it's a sunny day!

Thanks to the Beatles for the ideal song to hum
on those picture perfect days around the pond.
I'm not in a hurry for autumn...
for maybe the first time EVER in my life.
The hot, sunny, long weekend was full of rest,
hours in the sun,
good food
and time with others
{human, flora and fauna}
who enjoyed all the sunshine as much as I did!
Summer daze still has a hold on me....




Joining Kathy for
Song-ography

Green Thumb?

Nope.
Don't have one.
I keep a few office plants alive. Barely.
I'm very glad there are some green thumbs in this world
because I sure do love a beautiful garden.

One of my favorite things about gardens
are the different stages of growth
that share space and tell a wonderful, wonderful story!!

Call me crazy,

but I love the sight of these fading petals 

sharing their stem with a new bud.

Life is chock full of transitions, right?

And change isn't always pleasant, or easy....

especially when we're in the middle of it.

Somehow capturing the beauty of this cycle-of-life in nature

fills me with peace.

Each bud so full of promise!

Every bloom a beauty in her own right....
Drinking in the sun's light
and glowing
from deep within.

Yup.
Gardens are good.
My insights might be a bit random...
but thanks for coming along for the ride.
It sure is fun to share them with you!


Joining Tamar for
The Good. The Random. The Fun.

Six Word Fridays ~ Purple

As August gives way to September,

the back swamp at Horn Pond

treats us to some purple magic!

One at a time, each stem

sheds its summer green and dons

a royal cloak of violet blooms.

The pond is aglow ~ the blue

of the heron pales next to 

the dreamy hues of early autumn.

When the sun has its way,

petals are set on fire and

paint such a dramatic back drop.

Oh, purple. Reaching towards the sky
or reflected on the blue waters,
you've cast your spell on me!





Join me here and share your story
Six Words at a time!