I Quit

Can't do it, tried but just couldn't.  I honestly tried to participate in "The August Break" which was intended to give us bloggers a little break in blogging during the month of August.  Just post a picture, no words necessary or few words necessary.  But somehow this not posting but one or few pictures and none or few words is leaving me too stressed.  I may take a break in February or July, but not August, not this August anyway.  I don't know about you but I take pictures, lots of pictures and to limit myself to one is too darn stressful.  I know that must not make any sense to some, but to me I need to post multiple images and multiple words....so August Break, I am done.  This blog is a journal of my days,  and I can't sum up my day in no words and one picture..uh huh, no way.  So....I am back to multiple words and lots of pictures, just can't seem to take that break.

Yesterday, Marti and I attended a French Connection Day at one of our local public parks.  There was entertainment, a French style market place, food and fun.  And a day that was perfect, cool and a little overcast, it was heaven and to top it off it has rained a good part of the day today.

There was a juggler on stilts that would practice his skills above the heads of spectators.....not me, no way

The French Market vendors were dressed very French-like....isn't she just too cute??

Whew...we are safe, Batman is among the crowd.  (Face painting was a popular booth)

The single balloon began to make noise and many rushed forward....not sure if they thought they were all going to fit into that little basket.

A cutie enjoying herself at the water spouts....

Then after wandering thru the vendors, eating something tummy pleasing that probably had a million calories we decided to stroll through the gardens.  The flowers were spectacular, hard to believe they looked this good after the summer we have had.

This could almost pass for Monet's garden...

This year the colors were brights...bright pinks, bright yellows, bright reds, bright oranges...

Linking to Rosy's Color Me Weekly....

The orange and red zinnias were just wowzers...

Even the birds and butterflies seem to match the color scheme for the season...

Have you ever seen dahlia's that have almost black leaves??  There were just bunches and bunches of these which created a spectacular sight...

Between the oranges, the yellows, the blacks and brights this was quite a presentation.

A fun, fun day!!

Adding a barn to join up with Trish's Barn Charm that I captured a week ago while my sister-in-law and I took that drive in the country.

Hope you have a terrific adventure this week....!!!

"Starting each day I shall try to learn something new about me and about you and about the world I live in, so that I may continue to experience all things as if they have been newly born.  ~  Leo Buscaglia

Until next time.....

The Choices We Make

When a tragedy happens like the one that occurred in Colorado last week, I begin to think about life's journey and what brings most of us to live good lives.  Not perfect and certainly not without pain, sorrow and loss but usually filled with joy and blessings.

As a young person growing up I would classify my life as happy except for the chore of babysitting my younger brother every summer because our Mom worked.  Oh could I tell you stories about those trials, but another day.  I grew up in Dallas, TX in a typical suburban neighborhood, riding bikes, swimming, playing in the woods (who would let their children play in the woods today?), hide and go seek after dark, summer camp.

And then you wonder what kind of a childhood did the gunman have?  He may have led the same kind of life I led, good parents, good schools, not rich, but not poor either.  And as we grow older, decisions are made....crossroads enter our life.  Some of us make the right decisions, chose the right paths.

We become curious about other people, places, or things and certainly other ways of life other than the familiar...

We begin to discover new friends, get new jobs, try new things.....

We begin to discover the wide world that is open to us to discover and enjoy.....

We know there are many roads that we can decide to travel on, some lead us to happiness, some are better left untraveled....

Some have twists and turns....

As I look back on the roads I have traveled, the choices I have made I do not have one regret.  Some choices may have not been ideal, but sometimes those lead to making better choices later on.  And again, I wonder what kind of choices did this young man make in his life that brought him to taking away the lives of others.  I am sad for all those that have lost loved ones, for those that have been injured, for those that will now feel unsafe wherever they go, and I am sad for the family of the gunman, their lives are forever changed and scarred by their son's choices.  I pray for them all.

Linking to Tricia's Barn Charm and Rosie's Color Me Weekly

"We are all affecting the world every moment, whether we mean to or not.  Our actions and states of mind matter, because we're so deeply interconnected with one another." ~  Ram Dass

Until next time.....

It's Monday

It's Monday, the start of another week which I hope is productive....sometimes I have a bad habit of becoming a real slouch especially when it's hot and that it has been with tomorrow predicted to be dangerously HOT!!  But today I must get off my duff and get something done around here...the summer is moving by swiftly.

Before I do get movin' I want to post a few more pics of my travels to the country on Saturday.  That little trip awakened my soul to the absolute beauty that lies just a few short miles "down the road a piece."  Even in this hot and dry summer there is still beauty to be found around ever corner.  Each one of these has a quote which is the challenge for an on-line Flickr group, Prompt Addicts this week.

And this one, also from the trip for Rosie's at Leaves in Bloom for her Monday Color Me Weekly.

And what is more country than Holly Hocks growing wild....

And finally for Tricia's Monday Barn Charm....love this old barn.

"The days come and go, but they say nothing, and if we do not use the gifts they bring, they carry them as silently away."  ~  Ralph Waldo Emerson

Until next time....

Happiness with Aaron

Happiness.  Can that word really be defined?  What makes me happy wouldn't necessarily make you happy.  I can look back and recall the times that I was really happy and I can also look back and remember the times that I wasn't.  But basically overall, I consider myself a happy person.  Little things make me happy, I don't have to have the big-blow-up kind.  Maybe aging has taught me what is important in my world of happiness, but I also think that photography has brought me a new level of happiness.  


Yesterday evening as I looked out the front window I saw my little neighbor, Aaron and his Dad walking, Aaron pushing his little lawn-mower and Dad walking beside him.  I grabbed my camera and rushed out first asking permission to photograph Aaron and then snap away I did.  He is such a cutie and as you can see was willing to smile for me after a little get-to-know-you time.  What made Aaron happy was pushing his lawn mower, seeing and pointing to the airplanes in the sky, and checking out my toenails with bright red polish.  The little things.  What made me happy was being able to photograph Aaron and the delight I found in his smile and the dazzle in his eyes.  

Last week at Beyond Layers, Kim encouraged us to create a color palette.  I have been doing this with The Coffee Shop Blog's Palette template for awhile, but Kim instructed us on how to create our own.  Easy Peasy... Linking to Kim's Beyond Layers Rebecca at The Simple Things and Rosie at Leaves in Bloom.

"Chose to be happy.  It is a way of being wise."  ~  Colette


Until next time

Whoop Whoop I Did It...

Last night I took my tripod, my Nikon D7000 and my Tamron 18-270 up to the school grounds to attempt shots of the fireworks that were scheduled for 9:45.  The fireworks, and the pictures were a success.   I was in aperature mode,  set my ISO at 200, my F stop at 13 and held my breath as I began snapping.  Altho, the shutter took what seemed like forever before it would snap back into place....I guess that is what you call a long exposure...huh?  Don't have much  any knowledge of shooting at night.  But I am happy with what I did capture, knowledge or not, actually I think it was probably sheer luck.  If I get another opportunity I may try to shoot in manual mode, just to see the difference. Instead of boring you with shot after shot, I just put them all together in one collage.  Happy 4th!! 

I am so proud of this I am linking to Amy at Love Bug "Show off Your Shot" And for the first time Mosaic Monday at Little Red House

And since it is Monday, I also have a pic for Rosie's Color Me Weekly.  I captured this last Friday evening when the sun was beginning to set.

"The winds that blow through the wide sky in these mounts, the winds that sweep from Canada to Mexico, from the Pacific to the Atlantic - have always blown on free men." 
 ~  Franklin D. Roosevelt

Until next time.....