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Thursday, November 27, 2008

Thankful

(Can you believe I took this picture in my garden - today - in November?)

They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and lately, I have to say, this beholder has seen more beauty, every day.

Today is Thanksgiving and because of my recent soul-searching excursions, I realize how thankful I am for everything in my life; my mom and her recovery from this horrible cancer, my brothers, my son, my sister Marit, and all of our family and friends, as well as a job, a roof over our head, the journeys we make safely, color, taste, sound, and all the rest of the senses, emotions, and let's face it, just being a part of it all.

This life is beautiful, messy, fun, exciting, creative, disastrous, chaotic,
up and down and so many other things. How fortunate we all are to be participants.

I am thankful and grateful.



Sunday, November 23, 2008

Happiness Photography Challenge

The theme for this month's photography challenge at One Man's Travel blog, is Happiness. A rather fitting topic for the upcoming holiday season.

While there are many things that make me happy in this world, my son has been a constant source of happiness to me since his birth, and the longest bout of happiness I can recall. This picture was taken about 12 years ago, when Brice was about 3 years old. He was sitting on top of my Ford Ranger and our local lighthouse was visible in the background. I was so taken by the "overalls-with-no-shirt" look and the surrounding beauty, that this has always been one of my favorite shots of his growing years, and the topic of happiness, brought this picture to mind at once.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

TRUE FRIENDSHIP

The longer I exist, the more I realize that friends are a very rare find. Rare gems amongst a sea of sand pebbles. (These are pictures of my mother and I - early on and more recent)To find a friend who knows you, truly knows you, inside and outside, upside and downside, is absolutely priceless. To experience that special bond with someone who shows you reciprocal, unconditional acceptance and love, how could there be anything greater in life? Many would argue and say that, "No, love is the greatest gift in life," and while that may be true on so many levels, don't you really need to have this truest of friendships first, as a basis for any type of love? (This is my dear and very close friend, Dawn) I am very thankful for those in my life who I can call friend, a term which I will never take lightly, and a term by which I value those attributes in a person. I can count my truest of friends on one hand, and I think that is the way it should be. (This is my lifelong friend Annie and I). We will acquire many, many acquaintances in our lifetimes, but so very few, true friends. (My son Brice, and I)

Monday, November 10, 2008

Delcie

I took this shot of Delcie the other night at my brother and sister-in-law's house. She is 6 and as you can see, cute as a button. I loved the composition in shadow and the way she posed for this one so I just had to post it.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Beneath The Clouds - Opportunity

I took this picture the other night by standing on my picnic table in the backyard. I love how majestic the mountains looked that night beneath the scattered clouds. Looking at a scene like this one makes me really appreciate all of the beauty that exists in this realm, on this planet. Getting more and more involved in my photography and my art has illuminated me as to how we should never take anything for granted. I was watching this little black ant on my kitchen floor yesterday. It was struggling so hard to carry a crumb of bread that was three times its size. It never gave up. It kept circling the crumb and trying to go at it from every possible angle. I thought to myself, "That's what I don't do. I give up too easily and I don't explore all of the different angles to approach a situation." Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you look at it. Once you realize that, you can choose to look at all the angles, not just the obvious ones. As small as that ant was, and as insignificant as I initially deemed that moment to be, it taught me a huge, and very valuable lesson that I will not soon forget.

Always remember to look at every angle and never take things for granted. There is beauty in every thing, and opportunity in every moment.