See All Sorts of Things

"Imagination makes you see all sorts of things."
~ Georgia O'Keefe

Damp, cold morning, ridge covered with an eerie mist. Strange beauty. Perfect setting for a mystery, a gothic tale... If you look close enough, you can see the ridge. If you imagine deep enough, you can feel the sun...

Reason Abounds

"In quiet places, reason abounds."
~ Adlai Stevenson

Mountains through the glass... Asheville is all slush, ice, snow, rain. Icee anyone? (I'll take mine with strawberry)

Amazingly, while I'm dreaming of shaved ice and sunsets on the North Shore, my Twitter friend Gene, @geneslens, would like some snow in Aiken, South Carolina. He wrote about it today in his blog Gene's Lens.

Hot Heads & Cold Hearts

"Hot heads and cold hearts
never solved anything."
~ Billy Graham

Fog swirls like smoke in the cove.

Grays and whites are colors of good morning.

The ridge, a wise father, curves with proud strength.

As true as time.

Protects those huddled on its slopes...

Feels like more snow coming.

Friendships Begin

"Friendships begin because,
even without words,
we understand how someone feels."
~ Joan Walsh Anglund

Misty morning. Snow still on the ground. Sky in shades of black, gray, and blue, waits for the sunrise. Another new day begins...All the crows are out this morning. Black on white squawks. Sky toward Asheville, glows orange-pink. Mine, gray clouds...And just when you're about to give up, the sun breaks through the clouds and dazzles you with light...

Where He Loves

"A man is not where he Lives, but where he Loves."
~ Latin Proverb

Somehow, whatever hurt I feel evaporates when I look at the sky.

Take the Opportunities

"I take the opportunities each day offers:
 if it is snowing, I work with snow, 
at leaf fall it will be with leaves; 
a blown over tree becomes 
a source of twigs and branches."
~ Andy Goldsworthy

This morning, a cold seat on the deck to watch my sunrise.

Change

"When we are no longer able
to change a situation...
We are challenged to change ourselves."
~ Victor Frankl

Sunday morning, white and cold...New day, bright possibilities...

Sky Sparkling

"We shall find peace.
We shall hear the angels,
we shall see the sky sparkling
with diamonds."
~ Anton Chekhov

The morning sky is a film of lavendar, pink, and gold. Smeared clouds with flecks of gold nuggets where the sun will soon be...Can there be that many shades of purple?

That's the 5th plane that's left Asheville airport to fly over me...Now the sky is gray with faint ribbons of gold... Where or where is sun? Alas, no sunrise. .. The sun has been swallowed up in gray. Still spectacular sky.

Need Each Other

"We all need each other."
~ Leo Buscaglia

Beautiful cold morning here in the mountains. Exhilarating crisp...Waiting on sun...Clouds, fire red glowing, hover along ridge. Anger, Passion, Creativity? Just enough room for the sun to rise...Red clouds transformed to golden wash: Brilliant light...

(Oh it is one of those sunrises where each photo is lovely. How do I choose?)

In the Clouds

"Life is in the clouds:
Great life, broad life, deep life, elevated life."
~ Hawaiian Proverb

No sunrise this morning. Just great, reckoning light... and deep clouds, crossed with dozens of jet vapor trails. A pensive gift of movement and promise?

Follow the Grain

"Follow the grain in your own wood."
~ Howard Thurman

Stillness. Waiting on the sun... Bare, cloudless ridge. Soft yellow light glows, anticipating main event. Mountain powerful pulse of golden glory. All systems go!

Bright sun and memories of Daddy's wood crafts. Beautiful woodwork discovered here: http://www.fableporchfurniture.com/ "All of our pieces are built one piece at a time start to finish. This gives each piece its own sense of uniqueness."

Because It Is Good

"Work for something because it is good,
not just because it stands a chance
to succeed."
~ Vaclav Havel

Thick cloud coverage, weighing heavy on the ridge this morning. Another day without a sunrise? ...Then, miraculously, as the rain began to fall, the sun broke through, with magnificent rays of love.

Passion and Hard Work

"Passion and hard work
makes a great player,
but the Courage to get up
every time you fall
is what makes a champion."
~ Jeanette Lee

Oh my, the clouds are red along the ridge and they quickly transform from red to orange to gold... Seconds matter when the sun decides to rise.

Everything Successful

"Integrity is the essence
of everything successful."
~ R. Buckminster Fuller

On Surprise

"Expect nothing; live frugally on surprise."
~ Alice Walker

Clouds clothe ridge with light gray.

Mist settles in valley, branches, at my feet.

No sun, no drama, just rain, peace, and beauty...

Then, ridge reveals

Blue sky above,

gray clouds ahead,

rain, and moving mist.

Change so fast, you scream, "aha!"

With the crows cawing

At unexpected surprise...

Love Can Do That

"Hate cannot drive out hate.
Only love can do that."
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Breathe wide open sky.

Touch light with face, hands, heart.

The clouds, a heartbeat: eternal love.

Overcome Adversity

"One who gains strength
by overcoming obstacles
possesses the only strength which can
overcome adversity."
~ Albert Schweitzer

The clouds this morning are like smeared pastels against the soft sky...Dawn's sweet Light makes the snow glow whiter than white...Thousands of trees, bare and strong, salute the light. A celebration of all that is good & holy & true...The sun is coming...

Something Good

"Leave something good in every day."
~ Dolly Parton

Face a Challenge

"Face a challenge and find joy
in the capacity to meet it."
~ Ayn Rand

The sky colors come and go so quickly. Each second, a breath-catch and revelation.

Time In a Bottle

"If I could save Time in a bottle,
The first thing that I'd like to do.
Is to save every day,
Till Eternity passes away,
Just to spend them with you."
~ Jim Croce

This morning, there's a beam of light connecting the sun to heaven... and snowflakes. Lots of snowflakes.

Habit

"Habit has a kind of poetry."
~ Simone de Beauvoir

Pre-dawn Asheville sky is indigo and cloudless...9˚ F in Enka, -5 with windchill... Sun's fire along the ridge and snow flurries tickling my tongue... Ahhhhhh...

Glowing New Metaphor

"The coldest Word
was once a glowing new metaphor."

~ Thomas Carlyle

Private Door

"God enters by a private door
into every individual."
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Cloud action this morning on ridge. Looks promising for nice sunrise...Sitting, waiting, praying... Predawn orange and light that take your breath away.

Each Moment

"Take care of each moment
and you will take care of all Time."
~ The Buddha

All I know: It's freezing, but the sky is remarkable...Wild light rays. Watercolor clouds and golden beacon...

All There Is

Happy Birthday, Susi...

"That love is all there is is all we know of love."
~ Emily Dickinson

This morning the ridge (and my spirit) glows orange, anticipating the cresting sun. My camera can't quite capture the colors correctly... The moon & I wait for the sun to rise: http://twitpic.com/wmvx9

Best in Winter

"Grace growest best in winter."
~Samuel Rytherfond

Constant Observation

"Art demands constant observation."
~ Vincent Van Gogh

Okay. I am waiting for the sun and looked the other way... A spectacular pre-sunrise moon through the branches.

Thunder and Lightning

"If I accept the sunshine and Warmth,
then I must also accept the thunder and lightning."
~ Kahlil Gibran

OK. Update: According to weather.com, in Asheville, North Carolina, "it's 17 degrees...feels like 2." Two! Two! Two is an age, not a temperature...

Blazing sun and gentle snow flakes....

Gentle Whispers

"Listen now to the gentle whispers of Hope."~ Charles D. Brodhead

Happy New Year.

Another I

"A friend is another I."
~ Aristotle

Friendship is fortune:

Silver clouds, gold like the sun.

Priceless whispers shared

moments, each breath.

Singular Sweetness.

Across the sky a jet flies

carrying my grateful heart to you.

Diligence

"Diligence is the mother of good luck."
~ Benjamin Franklin

When We Share

"When we share --
that is poetry in the prose of life. "
~ Sigmund Freud

Like me

You rise to greet the sun.

unencumbered

unexpected delight.

At the sight of you

my heart joins with yours.

We soar.

As Far and As Deep

"Really, I think one's art goes only 

as far and as deep as your love goes."

~ Andrew Wyeth

Unrequited

Over there

my heart waits for you

blazing with longing truth.

Happy Heart

"A happy heart comes first,
then the happy face."
~ Shania Twain

Approaching pink and lavender
Over snow and gold,
endless happiness.

An Asheville Airport plane 
rises above the ridge
My ridge, the cove, 
a treasure chest
of white powder and sky...

Contemplation

"Teach correctly…
Find delight in contemplation."
~ St. Augustine

Snow, like memories,

fall and grow

creating depth too holy

to completely fathom today.

Nathan with snowman he created with Kayla

Clapton rarity: looking at the camera

Kolo, ready to explore

To Be Loved, As To Love

"Make me an instrument of your peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;and where there is sadness, joy.

O heavenly Father, grant that I
may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying
that we are born to eternal life."
~ Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi

Time helps you see things clearer.

I said this prayer every day

when I attended St. Francis High

I still find my way back.
Meaning resonates 

Words comfort 

And my hope for peace remains.

amazing day

"i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;
and for everything
which is natural
which is infinite which is yes"
~ e.e. cummings

Happy birthday, Grandma Dorothy...

To Live

"To Live is so startling it leaves time for little else."
~ Emily Dickinson

Color Is Joy

"Color is Joy.
One does not think Joy.
One is carried by it."
~ Ernst Haas

The sun suggests immortality...And the clouds... all the answers to every question are there, in the clouds... Spectacular sunrise. Fast moving fog drenches Cove, rising and twirling against a blue sky, clean from the rain.

Imagine It

"You won't get anything
unless you have the vision
to imagine it."
~ John Lennon

Just a glorious sunrise. I walked with the morning chill. Open your heart and let the light in.

Can't Stop the Sun

"Can't stop the sun from Shining... Shining..."
~ Tom Petty

Today's sunrise brought to you by brrrrr... Toto, we're not in Honolulu anymore...

Caring For Others

"Caring for others creates the spirit of a nation."
~ Pat Nixon

Change

"Everything in life that we
really accept undergoes a change."
~ Katherine Mansfield

Here's the dilemma... The sunrise is absolutely gorgeous... blue sky, clouds... bright. I'll have to post another pix. Remarkable contrast.

Fully Understood

"Every man supposes himself not to be
fully understood or appreciated."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sky is burning red... clouds magnificent. (And the sun hasn't risen even)

After a Storm

Sunset off front porch...

"Birds sing after a storm. Why shouldn’t we?"
~ Rose Kennedy

Unbelievable Asheville sky... Storm rinsed out gray. Bold colors of yellow, orange and blue. Spectacular, fast-moving clouds... Going into the sunset business today.

Always a Valley

"Always a valley before a hill."
~ American Proverb

Waiting for the sun in morning chill, listening to Kapono Beamer strum classic "Pua Lilia" on my MP3. Gorgeous... Thinking.... How can life be this full and simple?