How You Finish

Had some company this morning watching the sun rise...




"You have to meet all of the challenges,
big and small.
Because how you start is how you finish."
~ Bernie Mac

Venus burns brightly in twilight sky. Peace, gratitude, hope... What a holy morning...Light, wonderful blessing, fills the sky as I finish my prayers. Celebrate life...

Deep Wild Rock Molten

Happy birthday, Kayla...

"Go deeper than love,
for the soul has greater depths,
love is like the grass, but the heart is deep
wild rock molten, yet dense and permanent."
~ D. H. Lawrence

Sky, some sort of orange miracle. Vibrant glowing clouds bright Creamsicle... (My photos are not photoshopped. I say this because even though today's sunrise looks like it is, it still doesn't do sky justice.)

It Is

"Beauty is not caused. It is."
~ Emily Dickinson

So..much...beauty... Takes the breath away... Sunrise.

Nora Jones: ♪♫ ♪♫ Sunrise ♪♫ ♪♫ ( h/t @JackieYunTweets )

Love and Knowledge

"Where nature is concerned,
familiarity breeds love and knowledge,
not contempt."
~ Stewart Udall

This anticipation never goes away... It sure feels good when that sun crests. Finally... Now my world is awash with bright light... Very powerful sun this morning. Full force kisses of light.

Say What You Feel

"Be who you are and say what you feel,
because those who mind don't matter
and those who matter don't mind."
~ Dr. Seuss

Another cloudless morning. The sky along the ridge glows gold against the blue sky... Venus glows in the sky, like some secret promise & fills my heart with love...The sky's colors keep changing, like a bright kaleidoscope. It is now white light against pale blue-gray, waiting for the sun.

Chill in the air, planes in the sky. Wide open sky. Big blue sky. Big enough for every dream and prayer... Totally accidental, but my favorite photo this morning has my feet in it... Ahh, look at my kingdom at my feet.

Loneliness

"Loneliness makes the loudest noise."
~ Eric Hoffer

Caught dawn’s morning star… Tumblr

Time is Eternity

"Time is too slow for those who wait,
too swift for those who fear,
too long for those who grieve,
too short for those who rejoice,
but for those who Love, time is eternity."
~ Henry van Dyke

Believed the Best

"I have believed the best of every man.
And find that to believe is enough
to make a bad man show him at his best,
or even a good man swing his lantern higher."
~ William Butler Yeats

Awe

"Awe is what moves us forward."
~ Joseph Campbell

Glorious sunrise. Cold air fills the lungs with joy. Feels so good to be alive.

Ask Your Heart

Passionate colors of morning light...

"Go to your bosom:
Knock there, and ask your heart
what it doth know."
~ William Shakespeare

Cold, but extraordinary visibility. Ridge awash with light and color... Sun is coming!

I always think the bare trees on the very top look like soldiers, saluting the sun: tumblr

Joni Mitchell: ♪♫ ♪♫ Both Sides Now ♪♫ ♪♫ ( h/t @michaelfmuller )

Sun God

Snow flurries on the deck. Red fire, swallowed up by gray clouds. Beautiful gold over Asheville. Clouds are putting on a show...No sunrise.

"Be... as a page that aches for a word
which speaks on a theme
that is timeless...

While the Sun God will make for your day..."

~Neil Diamond

Neil Diamond: ♪♫ ♪♫ Be ♪♫ ♪♫

Castles in the Air

"If you have built castles in the air,
your work need not be lost;
That is where they should be.
Now put foundations under them."
~ Henry David Thoreau

New Hope

"The word 'no' denotes a shutting of the door.
It means failure, defeat, delay.
But spell in backwards and take new hope,
for backwards it spells 'on.'"
~ Norman Vincent Peale

Heavy Gray Clouds, so no blinding light today. The sun remains a magnificent, iridescent beacon.

Sense of Obligation

"A man said to the universe:
Sir, I exist!
However, replied the universe,
The fact has not created in me
A sense of obligation."
~ Stephen Crane

Ribbons of orange clouds smear the golden sky. Oh, it is pretty today! The sky is open wide with color!

First Dawn

"Yes, I now feel that it was then on that evening of sweet dreams that the very first dawn of human love burst upon the icy night of my spirit. Since that period I have never seen nor heard your name without a shiver half of delight, half of dreams"
~Edgar Allen Poe

Absolutely love how the light gradually fills the sky with color, accenting the shadows of Pisgah National Forest. Stunning natural beauty... The cold air just makes it all more magical...Incredible visibility. What are all these flocks of tiny black birds? There are dozens soaring together across the sky...Counting planes. Six. Beginning to know the daily Asheville airport flight plans. What a great time to fly.

To Love

"I have seen the truth. It is not as though I had invented it with my mind. I have seen it, seen it, and the living image of it has filled my soul forever …In one day, one hour, everything could be arranged as one. The chief thing is to love."
~ Fyodor Dostoevsky

Mountain Ridge, my heart, glows passionately...

Victories of the Soul

"There are victories of the soul and spirit.
Sometimes, even if you lose, you win."
~ Elie Wiesel

Light clouds along ridge. Ageless shadow and silhouette. Mountain strength. Holy. Humbled by beautiful ribbons of orange blue gold...We are, at the same time insignificant... and essential...Hints of fire, passion, make the clouds glow red. The sun is coming!

Oh, My Passion!

"Oh, my passion!
That is what finally carried me through.
Let passion burn all the way,
heating up every layer of the psyche."
~ Natalie Goldberg

Feels the Light

Yipeee!! Can't believe the sky opened for me!

"Faith is the bird that feels the light
and sings when the dawn is still dark."
~ Rabindranath Tagore

Earlier HOPE (always for me) for sun to crest with all that lavender sky gone. Now it's all gray and raining. Calm & quiet. Gentle cool rain... Finishing my prayers & counting my blessings... No matter what the weather condition, it is always breath-catching beautiful along this ridge. I love Asheville... I got a glorious sunrise!

As Loving As You Can

"Don't be afraid to feel as angry or as loving as you can,
because when you feel nothing, it's just death."
~ Lena Horne

Oh man, it is gorgeous on my ridge. Fantastic clouds and light and I am just thrilled here.

Sunrise on tumblr

I Can

"The day's blow rang out, metallic -- or it was I, a bell awakened, and what I heard was my whole self saying and singing what it knew: I can."
~Denise Levertov

I've got clouds this morning and beautiful orange ribbons of light and hope ablaze in the sky...Yesterday's disquieting day magically is pulled away by the vortex beauty...Vivid color floods the sky.

Sunrise on tumblr

Delights

"Life delights in life."
~ William Blake

Not a cloud in the sky. Golden light against dark ridge. Contrast makes me realize how all the colors are necessary... I wish there was a way for me to capture how the bright sun makes every leaf look like a shimmering jewel this morning.

What Matters Most

"What matters most is that we learn from living."
~ Doris Lessing

Deep, Deep

"Look deep, deep into nature,
and then you will understand everything better."
~ Albert Einstein

Light, no clouds. Counting airplanes & crows in the sky. Dreaming. Waiting for the sun...Nothing more perfect than this moment...Forest in front of my house ablaze with glorious maples. Photo: http://tumblr.com/xpqml22ik

Yearn for Something

First one, my dear, older Casio with the broken shutter... (Many miles traveled together; Great emotional attachment.) Second photo, my new Panasonic Lumix with enough features to make my head spin. Yearning here.

"The best antidote I have found
is to yearn for something.
As long as you yearn, you can't congeal:
there is a forward motion to yearning."
~ Gail Godwin

Pure Love

"Some emotions don’t make a lot of noise.
It’s hard to hear pride.
Caring is real faint -- like a heartbeat.
And pure love -- why some days
it’s so quiet, you don’t even know it’s there."
~ Erma Bombeck

Blue sky is streaked with orange and this black crow is making a lot of noise... Magnificent, magnificent clouds. Stunning. Sun nearly cresting. Close to tears here...That was a good one.

Chuck Berry: ♪♫ ♪♫ You Never Can Tell ♪♫ ♪♫

Invent

"I transmit. I do not invent."
~ Confucius

First light: http://tumblr.com/xpqm33sqr

The Material

"Every master knows
that the material teaches the artist."

~Ilya Ehrenburg

Dancing Star

Overwhelming, pure light. So much white light...

"One must have chaos in oneself
in order to give birth to a dancing star."
~ Friedrich W. Nietzsche

Light reveals the contour of my ridge. Sensual strength. The Pisgah Mountain forest is about 50% yellow. The gold mixed with green trees-- so very pretty this tapestry. Pool of light fog in the valley... Stunning display of fall colors and light...

Accept Change

"The secret of a happy life
is to accept change gracefully."
~ Jimmy Stewart

Clouds and haze along the ridge are not necessarily a bad thing when one is chasing the sun. Engulfed in a light fog, the sky radiates orange gossamer. Some sort of Hollywood special effect... Spectacular sunrise. As if the heavens knew about the miracle going on in Chile.

Caring for Others

My ridge glows pink, then in seconds, transforms to intensified red...Wild!

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

Constant Education

"All of life is a constant education."
~ Eleanor Roosevelt

Mother of Discovery

"Necessity may be the mother of invention,
but curiosity is the mother of discovery."
~ Charles Handy

Root of Knowledge

"Wonder, rather than doubt,
is the root of knowledge."
~ Abraham Joshua Heschel

Brightness. The sun bursts through. The mountain top, shaped like the curve of two cupped hands. An offering, homage, blessing... I am in awe. And delighted.

True Joy

Ahh, Sunrise. Twelve hours earlier... dusk...

"Without kindness there can be no true joy."
~ Thomas Carlyle

Deep Listening & Truth Telling

"Our world is incomplete
until each of us discovers
what moves us--our passion.
No other person can hear our calling.
We must listen and act on it for ourselves.
To hear it, we need a positive environment
that supports deep listening and truth telling."
~ Richard J. Leider

No clouds this morning. Just a mighty fine orange glow along my ridge. Absolutely beautiful. There's a glow of gold intensity, just before sun crests. Like to think that's passion of our dreams, talents, creativity, waiting to rise...So this morning, I celebrate that glow, at the heart of EVERY creative endeavor.

Another view of the sunrise: Tumblr

Burst Into Flame

"In everyone's life, at some time,
our inner fire goes out.
It is then burst into flame by an encounter
with another human being.
We should all be thankful for those people
who rekindle the inner spirit."
~ Albert Schweitzer

A prayer to this moon sliver, a morning greeting along my ridge: http://twitpic.com/2v3evr... That sliver moon rises and the sky is full of gold light. No clouds, just magic this morning on the ridge...Hmmm. Is it really 33 degrees on this lanai? #gladmyuggsareon: http://twitpic.com/2v3qt1

Simply Throbbing

"Develop interest in life as you see it;
in people, things, literature, music--
the world is so rich,
simply throbbing
with rich treasures, beautiful souls,
and interesting people. Forget yourself."
~ Henry Miller

Life's Challenges

"Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you,
they're supposed to help you discover who you are."
~ Bernice Johnson Reagon

Dawn's light reveals the colors of morning along Pisgah Forest. The cold air and punctuating clouds promise a fine sunrise... Clouds over Asheville. Now. Waiting for the sun... and your dreams: http://twitpic.com/2ukz3o

In Solitude

"In solitude the mind gains strength
and learns to lean upon itself."
~ Laurence Sterne

Too beautiful a sunrise to even notice the chill on my bare feet... I always catch my breath just before the crest. Always. http://tumblr.com/xpqkf5la5

For the First Time

"Do not say, 'It is morning,'
and dismiss it with a name of yesterday.
See it for the first time as a newborn
child that has no name."
~ Rabindranath Tagore

Delicious Autumn!

"Delicious Autumn!
My very soul is wedded to it,
and if I were a bird
I would fly about the earth
seeking the successive autumns."
~ George Eliot

Clean chill in the air. And for the first time in days, stars are twinkling above me, whispering, "the sun is coming."

No clouds along my mighty ridge: http://twitpic.com/2tlf37. Asheville this morning, watercolor clarity: http://twitpic.com/2tlfh3 ...No hurts, all peace. The mountain air resounds with possibilities.