Just about there....

It is a clear, cold and frosty morning here on the West Coast.

I am up and out in my robe and slippers marveled by who's

hands have come in the night.

 They have swirled and twirled with the moist air and magically 

left crystal strokes of feathery designs everywhere!

Gingerly I make my way across a VERY slippery back deck to

find the rails sparkling with the new dawn...

So many stories could accompany this blog title!

But I'll begin with just a few...starting with

The New Year.

2017.

What will be waiting at the end of that road, 

the one we have so much hope and anticipation about in these

fading days of 2016?

Like this beautiful morning, I start new and clear...

Things will change slowly right along those which come quickly, 

leaving us to once again to adjust, accept and roll alongside life whatever it may bring.

I am not one for resolutions but it's natural to feel the closure of one year and the start of the next.

In our parts spring comes early and we begin to see signs of it already.

The earliest of the flower bulbs have already begun to sprout

through the moss at the bottom of the oak trees.

This coming month will see two VERY big changes in our lives.

One will be Tom's new knee!

It will be a bit more complicated than your average run of the mill knee replacement

(he blew out his whole knee in a motorcycle accident when he was 16)

 and recovery will be tough and long but

we hold big hopes that it will ease some of the difficulty he's

had for the past several years.

Maybe by summer he will be able to come for walks again

in the fields near our house. 

The second big change I will keep a secret for a few more weeks!

Lets just say that new knee will come in handy!!

I hope you all had a lovely holiday season and here's

wishing you beautiful, peaceful, healthy blessings for the coming year.

Good morning 2016...

A sparkly frosty morning to bring in the New Year...Georgia has already been flitting about...

When the land is covered in a dusting of ice and the winter sun hovers along the treeline, 

it's me and the camera out to marvel at the cold hand of Jack Frost...

The term 'Wabi Sabi' in Japanese has no real translation but basically means 

perfection in imperfection, irregular beauty, things in their simplest, most austere and natural state...

The art of everyday life...

And on this first day of a New Year I am welcomed by all and any small thing out here in the cold...

I stare in awe...  

   

 ...at  the creative transformation these tiny things have undergone through a cold clear night... 

Many lie dormant ...

Asleep in frozen grace...

Our lives...are but a little while,

so let them run as sweetly as you can,

and give no thought to grief from day to day.

For time is not concerned to keep our hopes,

but hurries on it's business,

and is gone.

                                      ~Euripedes~

What is life?

It is the flash of a firefly in the night.

It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime.

It is the little shadow which runs across the grass

and loses itself in the sunset.

~Crowfoot~

If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy,

if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you,

if the simple things in nature have a message you understand,

Rejoice, for your soul is alive.

~Eleanora Duse~

Hello...welcome to a new day!

What's in store?

Traditions old and new come and go with the years...

The other night, we finally finished picking apart the rest of the turkey, and low and behold there it was...

...the wishbone.

When I was a kid, it was the final end to Christmas, when we fought about who was going to get to make their dreams come true by snapping the dried up bone in two.

If you were one of the two chosen, your baby fingers gripped the long end of the bone and the strongest tug would yield the bigger half, promising you that your wish would come true.

I don't really remember if any of mine came true.

(I guess I should have wished for world peace or something really tangible to test the magic)

The point was that it was tradition, to go along with all the other bits of the season.

Another part of the season which we were expected to indulge in was the dreaded New Years Resolution.

Truth be told, I've never been much of a believer in this.

I make resolutions daily, weekly, monthly...sometimes even hourly!

I feel that the nature of the beast, that is mankind, should be constantly trying to strive for improvement.

As far as the New Year goes, I think of the promise of things yet to come...

What will the future have in store for us?

 

Will it bring Love?

I feel blessed by those around me who I love and who love me...

What about travel?

 Although I dream of far away places I have yet to see, I have travelled to some beautiful and exotic places in my time here so far...for that I'm also blessed...

Success?

How does one measure this?

Myself, I only have to look around me at our home, humble as it may be, to know that my success comes in the form of peace of mind and good health.

I have my eyes to see the beauty everyday around me...

I am blessed with dexterity of hands and a wandering imagination to create...

And so whatever this year brings for me, I welcome with open arms...

I hope to have the strength to deal with the struggles...

And as always hope for the best for those out there in this bright New Year.