Saturday, October 8, 2011

Autumnal Joy


"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower." ~ Albert Camus


"Bittersweet October.  The mellow, messy, leaf-kicking, perfect pause between the opposing miseries of summer and winter." ~ Carol Bishop Hipps


"The foliage has been losing its freshness through the month of August, here and there a yellow leaf shows itself like the first gray hair amidst the locks of a beauty who has seen one season too many."
~ Oliver Wendell Holmes


"October's the month
When the smallest breeze
Gives us a shower
Of autumn leaves.
Bonfires and pumpkins,
Leaves sailing down -
October is red
And golden and brown"


"October gave a party;
The leaves by hundreds came -
The Chestnuts, Oaks and Maples,
And leaves of every name.
The Sunshine spread a carpet,
And everything was grand,
Miss Weather led the dancing,
Professor Wind the band."
~ George Cooper
  

"The one red leaf, the last of its clan,
That dances as often as dance it can,
Hanging so light, and hanging so high,
On the topmost twig that looks up at the sky."
~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge


"A weed is a plant that has mastered every survival skill except for learning how to grow in rows." ~ Doug Larson


"Colors are the smiles of nature." ~ Leigh Hunt
  

"There is no season when such pleasant and sunny spots may be lighted on, and produce so pleasant an effect on the feelings, as now in October." ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne


"The milkweed pods are breaking,
And bits of silken down
Float off upon the Autumn breeze
Across the meadows brown."
Cecil Cavendish, "The Milkweed"


"Come said the wind to
the leaves one day,
Come o'er the meadows
and we will play.
Put on your dresses
scarlet and gold,
For summer is gone
and the days grow cold."
~ A Children's Song of the 1880's

Friday, October 7, 2011

Five Minute Friday: Ordinary



It's a Five Minute Friday, the part of the week where I link up with The Gypsy Mama.  Each Friday we're given a topic and challenged to write for 5 minutes flat!  No correcting, no incessant re-writing, just type from your heart and hit Publish Post.  Ba da bing, ba da boom.  That's all there is too it.

I've not participated in 5-Minute Fridays in forever and it feels pretty good to be back.

So here goes nothing . . .

Today's topic is:  ORDINARY . . .


GO:

When I think of the ordinary, I also think of the extraordinary.  Every ordinary moment has the opportunity to be extraordinary.  Sometimes I think the extraordinary is in fact the ordinary.  I believe we're all extraordinary, in our own ordinary way.

I try to go through life, each ordinary day after the next, making my way toward the extraordinary which hides within my ordinary day to day events.  I just have to tap into it.  If only I'd look for it and I'd see that it was there all the time.

I hold the extraordinary inside of me and sometimes I let it hide, out of fear of rejection.  But if I give my ordinary self a chance, I know I can shine in my own ordianry way; and MY ordinary, just might be someone elses idea of extraordinary.

Yes, I'm quite content to know that ordinary doesn't just mean so, so.  I can make any ordinary path and extraordinary journey.  I just have to believe in myself and where I'm going.  Ordinary is not a bad thing, it's good.  It's a path to everything extraordinary.

STOP.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Checkmate!


The kid is ruthless, when it comes to Chess.  No mercy for momma!


Kings, Queens, Knights, Bishops, Rooks and Pawns.


I'm much, much better at Tic-Tac-Toe!

"Chess is intellectual gymnastics."
~ Wilhelm Steinitz

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

It's Tuesday!

Happy Tuesday, everybody!

Here's a list of TWENTY things, starting with the letter "T", that I'm Thankful for!

In no particular order, mind you:

1.  Tuesdays (I'm alive!)
2.  Thanksgiving (It'll be here before we know it!)
3.  Trust (It is the basis of every relationship.)
4.  Trees (They serve a great purpose.  Providing food, shade, shelter, beauty, building materials, paper, Christmas cheer and warmth from a fire.)
5.  Toilet paper (Sometimes used in Trees.)
6.  Tulips or TWO lips (Flowers are delightful and I love lips for giving kisses and making sounds.)
7.  Tape (It holds a lot of things together, especially presents.  I love giving PRESENTS!)
8.  Teeth (Makes eating so much easier.)
9.  Tongues (I love to TASTE and to TALK!)
10.  Taste buds  (I love savoring the flavors of different foods.)
11.  Tea (Especially mint tea of any kind!)
12.  Teenagers (Mine, in particular!)
13.  Teachers (They share a wealth of knowledge and help shape the minds of our children.)
14.  Trails (Whether I'm biking, hiking or just exploring, there's nothing like a meandering trail.)
15.  Tents (A great way to spend quality family time in the woods.)
16.  Time (I wish that it would slow down, just a wee bit.)
17.  Twilight (Such a beautiful time to savor the end of a day.)
18.  Twinkling stars (There's nothing like a clear night sky, speckled with brightly shinning stars.)
19.  Togetherness (Is there anything better?  I think not!)
20.  The Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit.)

Monday, September 19, 2011

An Acrostic Poem: LAUNDRY


L oads of clothes
A waiting a washing
U ntil mom receives
N umerous complaints of
D epleted supplies of socks
R eaching her ears, as she
Y ields to the endless demand, LAUNDRY!

by:  Michelle McCarty

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

WORDY Wednesday: Butterfly Love


"Happiness is like a butterfly.  The more you chase it, the more it eludes you.  But if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder." ~ Author Unknown


"I've watched you now a full half-hour; self-poised upon that yellow flower and, little butterfly!  Indeed I know not if you sleep or feed.  How motionless! - not frozen seas more motionless! and then what joy awaits you, when the breeze hath found you out among the trees, and calls you forth again."
~ William Wordsworth, "To a Butterfly"


"Love is like a butterfly:  It goes where it pleases and it pleases wherever it goes."
~ Author Unknown

"The green grass and the happy skies court the fluttering butterflies." ~ Terri Guillemets

"May the wings of the butterfly kiss the sun, and find your shoulder to light on.  To bring you luck, happiness and riches today, tomorrow and beyond." ~ Irish Blessing