Set Wide the Window

“Set wide the window. 

Let me drink the day.” 

~ Edith Wharton

Beauty, Inside and Out

Happy Birthday, Manny

“He is beauty, inside and out.

He is the silver lining in a world of darkness.

He is my light.” 

~ Marie Lu

Care and Diligence

"Care and diligence bring luck."

~ Thomas Fuller

Hope Is Like the Sun

"Hope is like the sun, which, 

as we journey toward it, 

casts the shadow of our burden behind us."

~ Samuel Smiles

Gold of Truth

"Tragedy is like strong acid -
it dissolves away all but the very gold of truth."

~ D. H. Lawrence

As Close As

Happy Birthday, Rodney 

“ Brothers and sisters are as close as hands and feet.”

~ Vietnamese Proverb

 Watching the sunrise, I counted 4 pileated woodpeckers in this tree. 

Singing. Red heads gleamed with rising sun.

Be Mindful

“Be mindful. Be grateful. Be positive. Be true. Be kind.” 

~ Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

What Love Is

"If I know what love is, it is because of you."

~ Hermann Hesse

Reflect Innocently

"I tried to reflect innocently."

~ Alice Neel

Invisible Strength

"I was six when my mother taught me 

the art of invisible strength... 

'strongest wind cannot be seen.'"

~ Amy Tan

While watching the sunrise, I counted four pileated woodpeckers in this tree. You can seem them if you zoom. They were singing a resonant song. Chattering. And their red heads gleamed with the rising sun.

Dependent On Others

“We are dependent on others to become what we are.”

~ Siri Hustvedt 

To Ask

"I do love praying. 

Like prier from French, 'to ask.'”

~ Pádraig Ó Tuama

Hope Is A Gift

"Hope is a gift we give ourselves, 

and it remains when all else is gone."

~ Naomi Judd

Hearts and Minds

"We do not take pictures with our cameras, 

but with our hearts and minds."

~ Arnold Newman

Teach Us to Soar

"Only dreamers can teach us to soar."

~ Anne Marie Pierce

More Worthy of Serious Attention

"Poetry is more philosophical 

and more worthy of serious attention 

than history."

~ Aristotle

A Kick Out of Living

"Calm energy is the natural flow state 

in which you get a kick out of living."
~ Robert K. Cooper

You Cannot Soar

"As long as you keep a person down, 

some part of you has to be 

down there to hold him down, 

so it means you cannot soar 

as you otherwise might."

~ Marian Anderson

Paying Attention

"Luck is largely a matter of paying attention."

~ Susan M. Dodd

The Thing You Cannot Explain

"Art is made to disturb. Science reassures. 

There is only one valuable thing in art: 

the thing you cannot explain."

~ Georges Braque

Follow the Sun

"But tomorrow may rain so

I'll follow the sun."

~ Lennon-McCartney

Discipline Is the Key

"Don't wait for inspiration. Discipline is the key."
~ Esther Freud

Comfort For Every Sorrow

"The best remedy for those who are afraid, 

lonely or unhappy is to go outside, 

somewhere where they can be quite alone 

with the heavens, nature and God. 

Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be 

and that God wishes to see people happy, 

amidst the simple beauty of nature. 

As longs as this exists, and it certainly always will, 

I know that then there will always be 

comfort for every sorrow, 

whatever the circumstances may be. 

And I firmly believe that nature 

brings solace in all troubles."

~ Anne Frank

Love

"Love loves to love love."

~ James Joyce

Find Your Subject

"You don't find your subject, it finds you."

~ Andrew Motion

So beautiful outside this morning, I am waiting out back for the sunrise. A slight turn to the right, and here is the moon out front, tangled like a beacon in the trees. I am leaning into the moon with delight.

Look closely. Watching the jets. I count five trails, taking off from Asheville airport, white lines in the clear blue sky.

Sunday

"Sunday, the day for the language of leisure."

~ Elfriede Jelinek

Your Own Resolution to Succeed

"Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed, 

is more important than any other one thing."

~ Abraham Lincoln

Keep Looking Upward

"I try to avoid looking forward or backward, 

and try to keep looking upward."

~ Charlotte Bronte

Wounds That Cannot Be Seen

"The wounds that cannot be seen 

are more painful than those that can be treated by a doctor."

~ Nelson Mandela

Depth of Friendship

Ice on the deck and the sun rises to say "Happy Birthday Alma."

"Depth of friendship does not depend on length of acquaintance."

~ Rabindranath Tagore

Even Better This Time

"I had to pick myself up and get on with it, 

do it all over again, only even better this time."

~ Sam Walton

Waiting at the red light.

Two Beautiful Daughters

"Hope has two beautiful daughters 

their names are anger and courage. 

Anger that things are the way they are. 

Courage to make them the way they ought to be."

~ St. Augustine of Hippo

Love Loves

"Love loves to love love."

~ James Joyce

Infinity on High

"Be clearly aware of the stars 

and infinity on high. 

Then life seems almost enchanted after all."

~ Vincent Van Gogh