IT LOOKS LIKE SNOW!

I LOVE to read.

Therefore, I visit my local library often.

The best part about

a visit to the library is that

it's also a great place to take pictures.

When I arrived at the library yesterday,

this is what I found!

I believe that this is a  female Southern Cottonwood tree,

 although my research was inconclusive.

The female produces the seeds

found within the white fluff.

TODAY I CELEBRATE

SURPRISES!

A SPECIAL TIME OF LIFE

A friend

sent me an email today

on Aging.

It expresses

what I've

discovered for myself.

 

I'm sharing it with

those who are in their "golden years"

and with those

who have this special time to look forward to.

 

 

As I've aged, I've become kinder to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend..
I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.

Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM or sleep until noon? I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60 &70's, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love .. I will.

I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set.

They, too, will get old.

I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face.

So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.

As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore..

I've even earned the right to be wrong.

So,  I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever,
but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day(if I feel like it).

TODAY I CELEBRATE

The peace and contentment I feel

at this special age.

BARKING UP ANOTHER TREE

For those of you

who just don't appreciate

my love for

"barking",

feel free to just skip this blog.

I could spend a whole day

just exploring

the nooks and crannies

of a single tree.

Their complexity amazes and delights me!

TODAY I CELEBRATE

Trees!

THROUGH MY EYES

I went to the Jungle on a photo safari with Sandra.  We were surrounded by the same scenery, but we saw it with "different eyes".  I love snapping with the MadSnapper because we each understand what the other one "sees".

These are some of my favorites from our latest adventure.

  They bring me Joy.

 And isn't that what it's all about?



Pretty Bird...Pretty Bird...Pretty Bird

A Peaceful View



When someone directs me to "Go to your peaceful place",
This is what I envision.

The Circle of Life
[I love dead stuff]

The best way to capture a lizard -
Use your camera!



This just makes me laugh!

This makes me laugh, too!
The wrong bird decided to perch on this sign!
NEVER MORE.....



TODAY I CELEBRATE
My Joy in
Seeing through "different eyes"!

HAPPY MOTHERS'DAY!

My mother is no longer living and my daughters both live far away so Mothers' Day is usually not a special day for me.  However, my friend, Sandra aka The MadSnapper, had a special treat in store for me today!
It started with this email:

Then, it was off to the Jungle!

We were the first visitors of the day, so the residents were eagerly awaiting our visit.



Some were still grooming.



One was not quite ready to start the day.

                                                  

One was talking and laughing.



And one was trying to escape!

We moved along to visit the flamingos (after taking many many more parrot photos).



A Contented Couple



A living pretzel!

I am the Flamingo Whisperer!

I'm ready for my closeup.



BUT THE BEST PART OF THE VISIT
was a female flamingo digging her nest and laying egg(s)
 ON MOTHERS' DAY!



Digging her nest



Laying egg
[Flamingos lay only one egg]

She is now surrounded by her bodyguards
or else they were just cheering her on!

TODAY I CELEBRATE

Those who give us birth and those who nurture us

no matter what species!!!

MORE LOVE

I had to take a break from blogging due to a back injury, but I'm back thanks to new meds and advice from my new doctor. 
During my hyatus, I kept trying to think of how to celebrate the situation. That was a tricky one.  However, I gained a greater empathy for those who live in constant pain.  I also got to read alot.   So, I guess there's a reason to Celebrate Everything!

BACK TO THE LOVE CABINET...

Here are more of my "treasures".

Cup from my grandmother's wedding china and her green glass pitcher

Cup from my aunt Anna Margaret's wedding china

Rebecca at the Well

The biblical story of Rebecca at the Well comes from the book of Genesis.
It tells of Abraham's search for a wife for his son, Isaac.
In my family, the story begins with my great great grandmother,
Rebecca Ecker.
The tradition is that the pitcher be passed down to the daughter
who has Rebecca as part of her name
or
 to the eldest daughter.
It was, therefore, passed to my great grandmother,
Sophia Rebecca Ecker Null,
Who passed it to my grandmother,
Kathryn Rebecca Null Culler.
It  passed from my grandmother to my mother,
Helen Rebecca Culler Pease,
Who passed it to me, the eldest daughter,
Judith Lee Pease Prosseda.
It will, in time, be passed to my older daughter,
Amy Elizabeth Prosseda.

Today I CELEBRATE
MEMORIES and TRADITION!

THE LOVE CABINET

The approach of

Valentine's Day

signals

The Season of Love.

In the spirit of the Season,

I'd like to share the story of

The Love Cabinet.

On an Indian Summer day in October

I was painting my dining room.

As I was moving my china cabinet

that contained tea cups that I had collected over the years,

the cabinet fell forward crashing to the floor.

I stood speechless

 surveying the smashed cabinet and tea cups.

Once the tears started

I could not stop them.

A friend called me just as my Pity Party was ending.

I told her what had happened.

The word must have gotten around

because, within hours,

friends started showing up with

special tea cups.

That Christmas,

my daughters, Amy and Tara,

(with the help of my sister, Dottie)

presented me with

a new china cabinet.

I cried for an hour

at the Love that had been poured over me.

Though that cabinet

has been slightly battered

over many moves,

It still holds gifts of Love.



The Love Cabinet

In future blogs,

I'll share some of my treasures

from

The Love Cabinet.

Today I Celebrate

Sweet Surprises

that can come from

unhappy circumstances!



"BARKING" UP ANOTHER TREE

On a recent, beautiful, overcast day, I decided to follow in the footsteps of my heroine, The MadSnapper, and stalk the jungle of the back yard.  What I found was the mother lode to an avid "barker" like me.

Why do I get so excitied about old tree bark?

I guess that I see things with different eyes as I rapidly approach my 65th birthday.  I see the bark as a body that has endured the joys and the storms of Life.  I appreciate the beauty in all of us (as they say, warts and all...).

I see a hooded old crone in rags leaning against the tree.

New Life

Today I Celebrate

the View through "Different Eyes"!

MUCH LOVED TREASURES

I think of February

as the month of

LOVE.

Not the kind of love that can be

advertised and bought,

but the kind of Love

that is shared, remembered, and treasured.

Here are some of my Treasures.



My Great Grandmother's Child's Rocker

  

My Mother's Doll, Red Sally



My Tiny Tears Doll



Doll Made for My Daughter, Amy, by My Sister, Dottie

The chair has rocked many little children

since the mid 19th century.

The dolls bear the signs

of being much loved.

Today I Celebrate

Much Loved Treasures.

WINTER...Here...and...There

You know
that I am a transplant from Maryland
now living in Florida.
My good friend, Linda,
sent me some recent shots of
a walk around her neighborhood.

Though this is not the reason
that I moved to sunny La Florida,

I sooo enjoy weather that I don't have to shovel!

Here



There

 

Here



There



Here

There

Surf Board vs Snow Board

Heron on the Beach

AND FINALLY...

Two feet of snow !

Today I Celebrate

the Beauty and the Joys of

Winter!