Extraordinary Opportunity

 This morning's prayers are whispered to the fog and light. Carry my thoughts like swirls to the sky...

I woke up this morning with the thought, maybe today a sunrise....

We are covered with fog. And the birds continue to sing sweetly...

My brother has been sending me Hawaiian sunrises and I have been adding his thoughts to the photos and sending them back to him. The collaboration revitalizes my creativity. Makes me look deeper, experiment with my work. Last night I found this new application and added the words to my photo.

Above the fog, the sky is blue. "Hope for the sun," I say aloud...

Often, I think the sun will rise and it simply cannot make it through the heavy clouds. Light comes, sure. But this morning, the birds stopped singing for a moment. A pause of thick anticipation...

I am not disappointed.

Finally, after days of waiting, my sunrise. Streams of light, peace and patience. The fog makes the sun glow even more. The birds are singing like angels.

"Whenever you see darkness,

there is extraordinary opportunity 

for the light to burn brighter."

 ~ Bono

Daring Plunge

"The only way of full knowledge lies in the act of love; 

this act transcends thought, it transcends words. 

It is the daring into the experience of union. 

To love somebody is not just a strong feeling--

it is a decision, it is a judgment, it is a promise."

 ~ Erich Fromm

The Art of Loving 

I am honored to be guest hosting #SpiritChat this morning with the very wonderful @AjmaniK.  What a celebration he and the community he has built are... 

Our topic? Celebration Awakenings...

The Heart

"It is the heart which experiences God and not the reason."

 ~ Blaise Pascal

Morning Asheville colors are a bold smear. The shy sun seems to be giggling behind the clouds. And the fog, a cauldron of bubbles moves into the cove.

And quite appropriately, from @Maven_7 on Twitter, a morning song...

Beatles, ♪♫ ♪♫ Good Day Sunshine♪♫ ♪♫

You Are You

"Accept everything about yourself—
I mean everything. 
You are you and that is the beginning and the end— 
no apologies, no regrets."

~ Clark Moustakas

Contentment

"A harvest of peace is produced from a seed of contentment."

~American Proverb

Love's Gifts

"Love's gifts cannot be given, it waits to be accepted."

~ Rabindranath Tagore

Simple Fact

"The simple fact of yourself...there it is. 
 A very simple fact, the only thing you have. 
 Keep it as clear as you can."

~ Georgia O’Keeffe

Ajar

"The soul should always stand ajar. 

Ready to welcome the ecstatic experience."

~ Emily Dickinson

5:19 am

Grief

"The only cure for grief is action." 

 ~ George Henry Lewis

Beloved

Brand new day. If you look closely enough at this Twitter photo, there is a sliver of the moon dancing in the swirling clouds.

Then I took a gentle walk outside, just to see...

Waiting for the sun this morning in the front garden, I added the treasures I collected this trip along the shell pathway.

I thought I would have enough time to finish and catch the sunrise from the back deck. The sun had other plans.

The sunrise shot below is taken sitting on the ground, looking up.

"And did you get what 

you wanted from this life, even so? 

I did. 

And what did you want? 

To call myself beloved, to feel myself 

beloved on the earth."

~ Raymond Carver

Friends

My friend Beverly has returned to Honolulu and I am waiting for the sunrise, thinking about all the good things I have and planning my work day. I am amazed how green everything is in the cove and the birds are singing in full chorus, as if they, too, can't wait for the sun to crest the ridge.

The clarity from here to Asheville is amazing. The beauty here truly is miraculous.

It is a new day, full of possibilities.

"Friends are not only together 

when they are side-by-side, 

even one who is far away... 

is still in our thoughts." 

~ Ludwig Van Beethoven

Determination

"I ran and ran and ran every day, 
and I acquired this sense of determination, 
this sense of spirit 
that I would never, never give up, 
no matter what else happened."

~ Wilma Rudolph

Solution

"The only solution is love." 

~ Dorothy Day

Magic

"We ourselves cannot put any magic spells on this world. 

The world is its own magic."

 ~ Shunryu Suzuki

Excursion

 Chilly walk, watching the sun rise. Beautiful solitude. Planning my day.

 Thoughts, suspended. Hurt on hold. Only beauty and love exist in this perfect moment...

"The excursion is the same 

when you go looking for your sorrow 

as when you go looking for your joy." 

~ Eudora Welty

Beautiful

 Happy Birthday, Rodney...

“He smelled the garden, 

the yellow shield of light smote his eyes, 

and he whispered, "Life is so beautiful."

...

Yes, he thought, if I can die saying, 

"Life is so beautiful," 

then nothing else is important.” 

~ Mario Puzo, The Godfather

Live

"Live strong and live with passion." 

~Tony Robbins

Sometimes the day gets away from me and I forget to post my sunrise. It is either still in my camera, or ready to go, but I have gone on to another project, thinking I have already posted to this blog.

Here is yesterday's sunrise. It was so beautiful and I think I shot 100 photos with both my cameras. I also was chopping vegetables for turkey stew as I watched the light shine through my kitchen. The colors and clouds were spectacular and really flavored the stew deliciously. 

I never get tired of this morning miracle. Do you?

Each Friend

"Each friend represents a world in us, 

a world possibly not born until they arrive, 

and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born."

~ Anais Nin

Susi and Bev are meeting in Seattle today. Tell me again why I did not join them?

Care for Somebody

"If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else, 

you will have succeeded."

 ~ Maya Angelou

Sun Within

“There is a Sun within every person.” 

~ Jalaluddin Rumi

Every person does shine; h/t to @Santha_G for sharing that quote.

Victories

"There are victories of the soul and spirit. 

Sometimes, even if you lose, you win."

~ Elie Wiesel

Loving

"It's much easier to be a loving person, 

to give away love.

 This ability is something you can have control over. 

None of us has the power 

to make someone else love us. 

But we all have the power

 to give away love, to love other people. 

~ Harold S. Kushner

Improvise

"More of me comes out when I improvise." 

~ Edward Hopper

Heart

"Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart."

~ William Wordsworth

Complete

"It is easier to live through someone else 

 than to become complete yourself." 

 ~ Betty Friedan

Information

"Everybody gets so much information 

 all day long that they lose their common sense." 

 ~ Gertrude Stein

Cumulus

“The humble Cumulus humilis - never hurt a soul.” 
 ~ Gavin Pretor-Pinney

But

"I will not take but for an answer."

 ~ Langston Hughes

Dusting of snow on the ground this morning and gold in the sky. Good morning aloha. It is February!

Grandstand

"Life is not a spectator sport. . . 

If you're going to spend your whole life 

in the grandstand just watching what goes on, 

in my opinion you're wasting your life."

 ~ Jackie Robinson

Faith

"Even the merest gesture is holy

 if it is filled with faith."

 ~ Franz Kafka

Pictures

"God makes the pictures I just take 'em."

~ Ed H. Urqhardt

So this one was taken with my new Nikon D5100. Still lots to learn, but very happy to learn.

Start

"If we don't start, it's certain we can't arrive."

~ Zig Ziglar

Nature

"Read nature;  nature is a friend to truth.

~ Edward Young

The dusting of snow provided me with a canvas for many beautiful photographs this morning. I walked around, marveled at the morning, and have many shots to choose from. The snow made the ordinary quite extraordinary.

Perpetual

"I cannot see that art is anything less 

than a way of making joys perpetual."

 ~ Rebecca West

Can life be any more beautiful or mysterious than this?

Watchword

"The watchword for the future: Enjoy yourself."

 ~ Thornton Wilder

 Skin of Our Teeth

This morning's mushy sunrise was full of color and light. Kolo and I walked and watched the sun break through the clouds. We stopped for a bit and I took in all the patterns. I was fascinated by the bare branches of this familiar tree, the streak of the jet-stream, and the cove's settled fog.

Seek a Newer World

"Come my friends, 

'tis not too late to seek a newer world."

 ~ Lord Alfred Tennyson

Dawn

"I wake at dawn with a winged heart

 and give thanks for another day of loving."

 ~ Kahlil Gibran

Oh this sun is so beautiful. My nose seems to be frozen, but my heart burns with inspiration... Working in the light room with this morning's sunrise photo, I find myself going into the branches of the tree that's there, reaching toward the light. The light spills everywhere.

Harmony

"The supreme harmony of the cosmos

 is selected in the harmony  of the spirit."

 ~ Franz Liszt

I Am

"When I am done thinking, 

I wander in the woods 
gathering handfuls of flowers."

~ Ryokan

AVL jet, left to right. 

Three black birds, right to left.

Choreographed against a golden sky...

Glow, anticipating my first sunrise for 2013... 

Dawn's light. Bare branches. And one bright star. A quivering beacon of hope.

Cold crunch of ice underfoot. Shivering, but look up. All warm glow, dear moon mine.