Just add sunshine...

Butterflies are my thing.  OK, they are a lot of people's thing but that doesn't mean they can't be mine too.  I love this!  If I had one section of lawn with consistent sun for more than 30 mins at a time this baby would be mine.

Tears of happiness...

After it rains the world is drenched in color and dripping with crystal tears.  One of those magical moments to create truly beautiful images. Even a mud puddle sparkles with color.

Pretty in pink...

http://instagram.com/p/ZBgDGyllrH/

I've been so busy I've almost missed Spring.  So glad it is only almost, I still have a little time.  Starting with this!

Flower peeping...

It is a gorgeous day!  The sun is shining, the temperature is practically perfect with just a little chill to keep it interesting and there is a beautiful breeze.  Well, not so beautiful when you have the perfect image in your view finder and the breeze shakes it up.  That just means you get to take more time to enjoy the view while you wait for that second when the world stops bending with the wind.  Just like life...

What makes me happy...

Daisies!

Please don’t glorify the cowards...

Please don’t glorify the cowards.   After, once again, struggling to find a way to tell my child about the senseless violence in our world and a night of praying for those that were lost and those that are fighting to recover, I needed to throw this out into the virtual void: Please, news media, don’t glorify the cowards.  Tell us about the first responders in Boston, the heroes that ran into the fray not knowing what they were going to find but wanting to make a difference.  Tell us about the ones who lost their lives, senselessly, while trying to make a difference in the world.  Tell us about the ones struggling today to move past the horror of what they saw and what it took from them.  

When you know the truth, when you have done the research, when it isn’t speculation, tell us all of that.  

However, when you find out who did this, when you know the individual, or group, that hid in the shadows while so many cried out for help because of their shameless acts, please do not tell us about them.  Call them ‘the cowards’ and give them the notoriety they deserve: none.  Don’t give others the idea that these crimes make you into something.  Don’t give these people the time of day.  Let them be prosecuted quickly for their crimes and let us move on. 

For some reason so many will watch the freak show that is to come and the ratings will insure that this message will fall on deaf ears but this morning, with a truly heavy heart, I had to put it out there.  Thanks for listening.

With prayers for peace and joy, we move forward.   Tomorrow is always a new day.

I use this space to show my view of the beauty around us.  It has been awhile since I have posted but I have wanted to for months.  Funny how we can never find the time for the little things.  We need to make that time.  Well, I am back and I will be posting images that reflect my view of the world we live in.  It is time to start viewing beauty again.   

Finding a memory...

Yesterday we were hunting for a comic book store that would satisfy the needs of my 10 year old Justice League enthusiast.  He isn't opposed to DC comics but he is partial to the JL.  Someday I will need to post my feelings on the lack of appropriate comics for 10 year olds and why there are so few that I could place in his hands without censoring pages, but that is not for today.  Today, after spending way too much on something that we knew he would have mostly read before we ever reached home, we decided to find a park.  It was a gorgeous day, too beautiful to waste, so we looked for a large green area on the GPS map and asked the nice lady to take us there.  She took us to Eagle Rock Reservation. 

It was lovely!  As we drove in on a winding, switchback road, we couldn't wait to park the car and hike the trails.  There wasn't much parking at the access points and the spots were already filled with the cars of other people who had this great idea first.  We kept driving, looking for someplace to pull over.  We found it. 

As we crested the top of the hill we could see the New York City skyline off in the distance.  It was gorgeous and we could see some sort of park ahead so we went over to investigate.  What we had found was the Eagle Rock Reservation 9/11 Memorial.  What a day to be drawn to this spot.

Tomorrow 9/11 rolls around again.  We are 11 years past the day that the world collectively gasped as they watched the towers fall.  In that moment we all felt the sorrow, shared the shock, and experienced the pain.  Living where I do, I know many families that lost loved ones that day.  We've all moved on, they've all tried to heal, but seeing that date on the calendar must be so hard.  It is just a day but it is a day that changed us all. 

So much has happened since, so many things that create so many conflicting feelings in so many people but as I stood at that overlook and ran my hands over the names of the people who lost their lives that day, I just felt sad. No philosophical, religious, or political rationale can return what was lost to these families.  Here and at memorials the world over that hope to show us how much is lost when we can't find a better way to resolve our differences, you wonder, can humankind ever realize that a peaceful resolution is the path forward? As I looked out at the Freedom Towers rising on the horizon, I offered up a prayer of hope. 

There is so much to say and yet finding the words is so difficult.  These images are a true reflection of my feelings.  I was unprepared and did the best I could to show how I felt with the camera in my cell phone.  It isn't close to all I wanted to show you but it is what I have to give.  I'll go back, I'll use better equipment, I'll try again.  Isn't that what we all have to do?  Keep trying, change our tactics, find other ways to move us towards a better understanding so we can all say, 'Never again.  Not here, not anywhere.  Never again.'