Banana Pancakes

"Maybe we can sleep in

Make you banana pancakes

Pretend like it's the weekend now."

~ Jack Johnson

7:07 AM: Banana pancakes and my sky. These pancakes are leftovers, made six months ago and frozen and then I found great organic bananas yesterday at Ingles Market, so this was an easy meal fix. (I decided to pause and pamper myself -- still working on my taxes.)

This morning the beauty is a celebration of grays.

Rise to Greatness

"It is the nature of man to rise to greatness 

if greatness is expected of him. " 

~ John Steinbeck

6:54 AM: Glorious color and light in the clouds above Asheville this morning. And the trees stand firm against the honest sky...

The Excursion

"The excursion is the same 

when you go looking for your sorrow 

as when you go looking for your joy."

~ Eudora Welty

Did I tell you that I bought a new chair for me to sit and watch the sunrise?

Hard Work

"Miracles come after a lot of hard work."

~ Sue Bender

Great delight this morning, working in my garden, moving rocks and mulch, listening to the birds sing, and watching the sun rise.

In the Living Present!

"Act, act in the living present!"

~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The Color of Shadows

"Daydreams, as it were… I look out the window sometimes 

to seek the color of the shadows and the different greens in the trees, 

but when I get ready to paint

 I just close my eyes and imagine a scene."

~ Grandma Moses

Words Are My Life

"Words are my life.
I look at words as if they were entities, sacred beings."

~ Emily Dickinson

A Wondrous Phenomenon

Rising sun shines on Mos Way

"Life is a wondrous phenomenon."

~ Albert Szent-Gyorgyi

Through My Eyes

"I see through my eyes, not with them."

~ William Blake

Arm in Arm

"For me optimism is two lovers 

walking into the sunset arm in arm. 

Or maybe into the sunrise whatever appeals to you."

~ Krzysztof Kieslowski

6:47AM

Morning colors are slowly seeping. Quiet saucer moon smiles at me above.

Dig the Well

"Dig the well before you are thirsty."

 ~ Chinese Proverb

7:57 AM

One more. Quietly beautiful this morning. Chill. Promise.

See the Miraculous

"See the miraculous in the common."

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

My fortune cookie message

Life is delight and wonder... and always full of surprises.

Surprise

"Surprise is where creativity comes in."

 ~ Ray Bradbury

Road Is Life

"Our battered suitcases 

were piled on the sidewalk again; 

we had longer ways to go. 

But no matter, the road is life." 

~ Jack Kerouac

Rosie's Sunrise, made w/ Waterlogue

Produce Joy

"Do anything, 

but let it produce joy."

~ Walt Whitman

A photo, memory, smile.

Just a moment to be mindful now, 

an invitation, the birds songs of spring.

For harmony and hope to come and rest in my heart.

To share and be grateful for all, even the grief which blossoms joy:

Kolo waits for the sunrise with me.

Here she is on this morning, 

resting in the light:

♥ My Society6 Art Gallery \(‾◡◝ )/

Be a Beginner

"Be willing to be a beginner 
every single morning."

~ Meister Eckhart

The sunrise blazes with timeless wonder and teaches us that each morning is a new beginning and chance to start all over. The new day is here. Are you ready to begin anew and explore the possibilities of today?

Awareness Is Like the Sun

"Awareness is like the sun.

When it shines on things, they are transformed."

~ Thich Nhat Hahn

Hardly Time to Breathe

Saying goodbye to the morning moon...

"Life comes in clusters, 

clusters of solitude, 

then a cluster when there is 

hardly time to breathe. 

~ May Sarton

Carry With Thee Always

"Make two homes for thyself... 

One actual home... 

and another spiritual home, 

which thou art to carry with thee always." 

~ St. Catherine of Siena

Two homes. An actual home and spiritual home. We all live with this inner and outer reality. What we carry inside we carry wherever we go.

Happy to be home from an extended stay in New York City. Obviously by this dawn, my Asheville sun missed me as much as I missed it. And this light, dear sun on the ridge, I carry with me always.

A close-up is always called for...

Something Creative

"I'm always thinking about creating. 

My future starts when I wake up every morning . . . 

Every day I find something creative to do with my life."

~ Miles Davis

A little bit of snow on the ground, yes, but who has time to look down when the sky is playing a symphony of  colors above...

Applause

"There are high spots in all of our lives 

and most of them have come about 

through encouragement from someone else. 

I don't care how great, how famous 

or successful a man or woman may be, 

each hungers for applause."

 ~ George M. Adams

Faith Shines

This is what negative degrees look like. 

First light, new day.

Freezing cold outside.

But everything is 

clear and dry.

The United States is in the middle of a weather phenomenon called the Polar Vortex, responsible for one of the nation's coldest periods in two decades. We are all a-buzz with the cold today.

Western North Carolina is dealing with the coldest temperatures since 1985. Stay warm. Move smart, my friends... It is remarkably clear outside. The cold sky is absolutely beautiful.

All is gold. Inside. Outside. Along the ridge. Asheville glows.

Kolo close to me.

Kolo, huddles closer to me on the couch as I work on dailycelebrations.com. She snuggles deeply, as if to say, "please stay put." This tenacious dog makes it difficult for me to get up. However, I need to check on my sun which will rise without me.

Determination wins again.

Remembered my shoes.

I wait for the sun. Cresting the ridge, blazing, rising, throwing shadows and sparks against the ice flecked deck...

"I see heaven's glories shine
and faith shines equal."
~ Emily Brontë

Lifelong Attempt

"Your letter shows me also that 

wisdom is not a product of schooling 

but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it."

~ Albert Einstein

Letter, March 24, 1954

Snowflakes, gentle. Sun, strong. Cold air, warm hearts... Watching the sunrise reminds me. Every morning is rebirth. We can create good things w/ our gifts.

26° in Asheville this morning. The wind whips outside. Howling through dancing trees. In my haste to run outside, I forgot my shoes.

Hearty Laughter

"Hearty laughter is a good way 

to jog internally without having to go outdoors." 

~Norman Cousins

Catch the Trade Winds

"Throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. 

Catch the trade winds in your sails. 

Explore. Dream. Discover.." 

~ Mark Twain

Kolo surveys her kingdom...

Thanks, And Thanks

"My kind Antonio, I can no other answer make but thanks, And thanks."

~ William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night

Word After a Word

"A word after a word after a word is power." 

~ Margaret Atwood

This is the first year in a long time that I did not brave the midnight Black Friday crowds to find Christmas bargains. 

Instead, I was able to sleep in, cozy under comforters, then capture my sun, rising aglow over the strong, bare trees and snow-kissed mountain ridge...

Spirit and Soul

“I paint the spirit and soul of what I see.” 

― Brian Froud

Instead of a photograph, I captured this morning's sunrise in watercolor...

Our Language

"Our language has wisely sensed the two sides of being alone. 

It has created the word loneliness to express the pain of being alone. 

And it has created the word solitude 

to express the glory of being alone."

~ Paul Tillich

Joyful Heart

Happy Birthday, Kaylala

"A joyful heart is the inevitable result of a heart burning with love."

 ~ Mother Teresa

Every Single Day

“There's a sunrise and a sunset every single day, 

and they're absolutely free. Don't miss so many of them.”

~ Jo Walton

Kayla caught me in joyful motion, just chasing my morning sun...