Quote of the Week

The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you can see. 

- Winston Churchill

View from the Ferris Wheel

The past and the future are irreversibly connected. This does not suggest that we live in the past, simply that understanding and acknowledging the past brings more clarity into the future.  The deeper you look into the past, the more you understand, and the more that you understand, the further you can see yourself going in the future.  Wisdom gained from the past equals wisdom for the future.

My earliest memory involved chocolate.  Fact...today I still like chocolate.

Quote of the Week

October gave a party;

The leaves by hundreds came,—

The Ashes, Oaks, and Maples,

And leaves of every name.

The sunshine spread a carpet,

And every thing was grand;

Miss Weather led the dancing;

Professor Wind, the band....

The sight was like a rainbow

New-fallen from the sky....

- George Cooper, "October’s Party"

In our part of the country, October is a beautiful month, often warm with breezes that tickle the leaves from the trees.  

What is October like where you live?

Quote of the Week

Never miss an opportunity to make others happy, even if you have to leave them alone in order to do it. - Unknown

We often think that the best way to show love and friendship to our friends and family is being with them and sharing with them as much as possible.  We want them to feel cherished. Our loved ones know and understand that.  They also sometimes need space to just be themselves and do whatever brings them peace, contentment and fulfillment.  

Healthy relationships are not lessened by this, they are strengthened, and it allows us all to bring more interesting things back to the relationship.  

Quote of the Week

Every leaf speaks bliss to me, 

fluttering from the autumn tree. - Emily Bronte

From the first green buds of Spring to the bright colors of Autumn, each leaf has a story. How often do we take the time to listen as each one gently falls to the ground?

Tomorrow is the first day of Autumn, and the trees are already beginning to speak.  Let's listen.

Quote of the Week

Best friends: it’s a promise, not a label. - Unknown

Nowadays, there are labels for everything, and those labels come and go and change with the times. Best friends do not, and like the picture, it's a simple concept that stands the test of time. 

So BFF or bestie, buddy or pal, your best friend is someone who always has your back.

Quote of the Week

The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit. - Nelson Henderson

Taking this quote at face value, it sounds like a noble thing to do.  I mean trees are pretty great right. Shade, fuel for warmth, paper, and most importantly, oxygen.  However, if we take a closer look we find a deeper meaning.

The true meaning of life is to do things for the greater good, even when you won't be enjoying the benefits. An example of this may be a leaving a legacy that supports a school, church or medical research, or becoming an organ donor.

Not every act for the greater good is on this scale, however, and the small things add up to make the world a better place.  Let's keep planting those trees so others can enjoy the shade.

Quote of the Week

Look at your feet. You are standing in the sky. When we think of the sky, we tend to look up, but the sky actually begins at the earth. 
- Diane Ackerman

When searching for today's quote, I came across the category "clouds and sky" and was reminded of the beautiful clouds I saw over the weekend.  I wasn't alone.  As I scrolled through Facebook, I saw others had noticed them too.

What struck me about this quote was its different view of what actually constitutes the sky. We think of the sky as this blue expanse overhead.  Sometimes it is clear and sometimes filled with clouds. Sometimes it is a brilliant blue, and sometimes it is shaded gray with fog or haze, but always our eyes are drawn upward.

It is interesting to consider that the sky actually begins on earth.  To get a better grasp of this concept, picture a field with nothing to obstruct your view.  Looking at the horizon, it appears that the green grass and the blue sky meet, and therefore if you could suddenly be at that point the sky would be all around you.  In reality, no matter where you are, you are always where the earth meets the sky.

Quote of the Week

Don't find fault, find a remedy. - Henry Ford

Instead of seeing only the negative, find the positive and work with that.  Just because things are not exactly to your liking, doesn't mean they have to stay that way. For every problem there is a solution, so don't find fault - find a remedy.

This is what I started with, and while they are pretty on their own, I wanted a more artsy look, so I added texture and depth. I think it has sort of a tapestry look now.

Quote of the Week

Why not go out on a limb? 

Isn’t that where the fruit is? 

- Frank Scully

Some things are worth the risk, and if you never take the chance you won't reap the rewards.

However, if you sit too close to the end of the bench, it can flip on you, and you end up on the ground.  Oops!

Quote of the Week

The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart. - Elisabeth Foley

My best friend and I have many years of living in different states to back this up.  While we don't get to visit as often as we'd like, time magically falls away when we do get together, and we cherish each moment.

Quote of the Week

There is so much good in the worst of us
And so much bad in the best of us
That it hardly becomes any of us
To talk about the rest of us.
- Edward Wallis Hoch

I think this is pretty much self-explanatory.  None of us is perfect, and we would prefer our imperfections, real or imagined, not be passed around like a plate of cookies until every last crumb has been eagerly devoured by an attentive audience.

Quote of the Week

It is only when the mind and character slumber that the dress can be seen. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sleeping ducks in Lititz, PA

It should be our inner selves that make the impression, not how fashionably (or unfashionably) we are dressed.  

Quote of the Week

Stressed spelled backwards is desserts. Coincidence? I think not! -Unknown

Image Source:  Niner Bakes

Time for some long-awaited R&R.  

Have a nice week everyone!

Quote of the Week

Colors are the smiles of nature. - Leigh Hunt

Tulip Poplar

Flowers and trees
Butterflies and bees
Sunrises and sunsets
Are all nature's smiles

Quote of the Week

Liberty has never come from the government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of it. The history of liberty is a history of resistance. 

- Woodrow Wilson

Having just celebrated our 238th birthday as a free nation, it seems appropriate to look back at just how important those documents signed long ago still are to us today. Our founding fathers put pen to parchment to declare us free, and much has been sacrificed to achieve and maintain our freedom.

The signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Image Source: Wikipedia

They further ensured our rights with the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Among other things, we can speak freely (First Amendment) and protect and defend not only ourselves and our families, but defend our freedoms as well (Second Amendment.) The 15th, 19th and 26th amendments ensure our right to vote.

Image Source: Wikipedia

The 13th amendment abolished slavery. Inspired words from Abraham Lincoln's famous Gettysburg address in 1863:

"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal .... that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." 

Image Source: Wikipedia

Let Freedom Ring!

Quote of the Week

Is the glass half empty, half full, or twice as large as it needs to be? - Unknown

We've all heard "is the glass half full or half empty".  This is a new perspective on that old saying.  

Now, half empty signifies that the observer is a pessimist, while half full indicates the person is an optimist. 

What does it mean when we are asked if it is twice as large as it needs to be?  My take on that is this.  A glass twice as large as it needs to be makes things look out of proportion. Skewed in other words, depending on your view of the world. If you have the same amount of water in a smaller glass it will always be full.

To illustrate this, I used two wine glasses (colored water, people, it's too early on a Saturday morning for drinking), and filled them each with about 6 oz. of water.  

As you can see, the larger glass is half full, or half empty depending on your view, or love of wine, while the smaller glass is full.  

I know most serious wine drinkers would prefer the larger glass, but for the sake of illustration, we are going with the small glass being the ideal point of view.

Quote of the Week

The trouble with, "A place for everything and everything in its place" is that there’s always more everything than places. - Robert Brault

Question:  Do you need less stuff or more places?
Answer:  A little of both.

I think most of us have things that just sit around collecting dust that we haven't touched in years. Some have the philosophy that if you haven't used it in two years, throw it out.  That may be a good rule of thumb for some things and some people.

Others hang on to stuff for decades because they might need it someday. To be clear, I'm not talking about hoarders like you see on TV who keep everything that comes into their house, including trash, and things used up or broken beyond repair.

I have things packed away that I don't use. Do they take up space? Yes. Should I get rid of them? Some would say yes, and in time I may...when I can let go.  

Do we have more everything than places? Yes.  Is it junk?  No.  Hubby has a project he's working on. He needs something, goes into the basement and voila, he finds something that fills the bill. It is likely something that I would have thrown out years ago.

Just this past weekend I was making something and I needed some double-sided tape. I went down to a shelf in the basement and rummaged through a box of all kinds of tape I'd brought from my parents' house years ago. I found what I needed and finished my project.

So while there are extremes on both sides, and as much as we strive to maintain the balance, we always have more everything than places.

Quote of the Week

Do it, and then you will feel motivated to do it. 

- Zig Ziglar

It's true. The longer you put something off, the less you will feel like doing it. No matter what your project, digging in with both feet will energize you. Once you begin to see some progress, you will be even more motivated to keep plugging away.
  

Quote of the Week

Why do we love the sea? It is because it has some potent power to make us think things we like to think. - Robert Henri

I've always had a love for the beach, beginning with the first trip that I can remember to Topsail Beach. I was about six, and Mom made me a terry cloth beach jacket (we called them beach jackets in those days instead of cover-ups).  It wasn't ideal weather for a first visit to the beach.  It was overcast and drizzly, but I still was out there playing in the water in my bathing suit and windbreaker. On our last day, the sun broke through the clouds and I got what was probably my first sunburn.

Now I look at all the beaches I've seen, North, South, East and West, and there is one thing they all have in common.  They allow me to recharge my internal batteries.  I can sit for hours listening to the water as the waves run up the sand and retreat, repeating the pattern over and over...timeless. 

The ocean is a vibrant, living thing, and a wonderful place to think, to dream and to ponder the mysteries of life.

Quote of the Week

The smallest deed is better than the greatest intention. - John Burroughs

No matter how small the act, any deed well done for the good of someone else is worth more than all the good intentions, however big or small, that are never acted upon.  So don't just talk the talk, follow your words with action.