Spirit's Wings

"Love and desire
are the spirit's wings
to great deeds."
~ Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Eyes Turned Skyward

San Francisco

"When once you have tasted flight,
you will forever walk the earth
with your eyes turned skyward,
for there you have been,
and there you will always long to return."
~ Leonardo Da Vinci

Be Kind

"Three things in human life are important:
the first is to be kind;
the second is to be kind;
and the third;
is to be kind."
~ Henry James

Sheen of mist in the valley. Not a cloud in the sky. Pink sky against curving ridge of Pisgah Forest... Cresting gold!

Listen

Too gorgeous for words. Too gorgeous for camera. Wake up everybody and look out your windows...

"Listen to the voices."
~ William Faulkner

Thick blanket of gray clouds overhead, but valley is clear, clean. Cloud wisps. Looking toward Asheville is all clarity. The sky is afire...Stunning. Clouds all fire. Changing rapidly. Absolutely amazing colors. Red purple gold...

Sun gone. Back to gray clouds,blocking sun. Just like that. As if that fire dance was just a figment of my imagination...Unbelievable visibility. those blue mountains, gentle curves, northeast, toward Asheville & beyond...

Ahh, the sun's out.

By Showing That We Look

In tears here. That was life-affirming. Please celebrate today.

"It is by teaching that we teach ourselves,
by relating that we observe,
by affirming that we examine,
by showing that we look,
by writing that we think,
by pumping
that we draw water into the well."
~ Henri-Frédéric Amiel

Oh man, I have fog and light and mist and color... And drama on the ridge this morning. Waiting for the sun...Where is all this fog coming from? http://twitpic.com/2gfhoe ...That's more like it: http://twitpic.com/2gfj9h Come on, sun...

Asheville is blanketed in fog, but ridge rises above it and there's red fire above the fog, where sun should come. Fine mist covers me. Surreal... Mountain w/rugged outlines of tree tops and sloping wonder GLOWS... :) Here comes the sun. Oh man. It's spectacular...

Important Things

Don't give up. Just don't.

"A shaft of sunlight
at the end of a dark afternoon,
a note in music,
and the way the back of a baby’s neck smells
if its mother keeps it tidy…
Those are the important things."
~ E. B. White

Blanketed in fog. Thick, wet fog. Doesn't look too promising for sunrise... Cove completely covered in fog. Remarkable. Can't see beyond my arm's length. But up above, sky is clear. Maybe clouds will rise, like a curtain, for the sun... AMAZING, watching the fog break, clouds move. Spectacular show. Makes me dream and wish and feel good.

Don't know if sun will break through, but w/all this drama, the ridge is visible, curving like a resting bear against the mist...There is a glowing red where the sun should be. Come out, please...Oh my. There it is. Gorgeous red orange, held up by the clouds... & my heart.

Coincidence? Perhaps. I'm going with miracle.

Madonna: ♪♫ ♪♫ I Deserve It ♪♫ ♪♫

Inspire With Emotion

"Before you can inspire with emotion,
you must be swamped with it yourself.
Before you can move their tears,
your own must flow.
To convince them,
you must yourself believe."
~ Winston Churchill

Sky awash with tears. Valley barely visible. Fog... rain... mist... clouds. Light, but no sun... Despite it all, if you look closely, look up, there is lightness above. and Hope...

Patience, Patience, Patience

"The sea does not reward those
who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient.
To dig for treasures shows not only impatience and greed,
but lack of faith.
Patience, patience, patience,
is what the sea teaches.
Patience and faith."
~ Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Carry On Forever

"Cancer can take away all my physical abilities.
It cannot touch my mind,
it cannot touch my heart
and it cannot touch my soul.
And those three things
are going to carry on forever."
~ Jim Valvano

And some mornings, all you can say is, "Amen."

Never Get Too Busy

"May I never get too busy
in my own affairs
that I fail to respond to the needs of others
with kindness and compassion."
~ Thomas Jefferson

Goodness, Beauty, and Perfection

"All the goodness, beauty, and perfection
of a human being
belong to the one who knows
how to recognize these qualities."
~ Georgette Leblanc

Just a sliver of the sun that you have to look deeply to see behind the clouds. Colorful pastel palette. Calming simplicity...And yet, the sun's red light still radiates up, up to heaven with hope...

Cyndi Lauper: ♪♫ ♪♫ Time After Time ♪♫ ♪♫

Into the Hawaiian Heart

Lavendar gray sky is alive with colors of pink and red. Can there be that many shades of life? There's my fog island in the midde of the cove. Kala'ana. With Makaha Sons singing in my ears, I can imagine... Big red silent sun. No drama. Just spectacular peace... and longing...Oh. And promise.

"Make good the good in you…
and you will slowly steal into the Hawaiian heart,
which is all of softness, and gentleness, and sweetness."
~ Jack London

Makaha Sons : ♪♫ ♪♫ Nohili e & Kealoha ♪♫ ♪♫

Live More Abundantly

"For me, education means to inspire people
to live more abundantly,
to learn to begin with life as they find it
and make it better."
~ Carter G. Woodson

Watercolor sky of grays, lavendars, and pinks. Golden light radiates from behind the clouds. Sun there, of course. Waiting for you...Gentle rays, heaven's spotlight, stream from behind clouds. Clouds moving left to right. Pink, the sky is all pink. Wonder.

Red sun peeking. Again, the catch-your-breath beauty. There. And the promise. "You can do anything."

Wow. I need a wider lense...

This keeps getting better. No way I'll be able to choose just one photo...

Show off sun. Now it's trying to outdo itself with beauty. Okay, I'll keep snapping... So beautiful. Stunning. All this natural wonder. How can we not aspire to goodness?

Thank you, @michaelfmuller, for choosing: Mountain Xpress

Luminous Halo

"Life is a luminous halo,
a semi-transparent envelope
surrounding us from the beginning."
~ Virginia Woolf

Waiting and wondering with the valley's thick fog. Too much clouds in the sky. Will the sun be able to peek through? ...Ahh, the sun is like a red moon. Glowing softly against a pillow of clouds.

Wonder

❤ Richard

"It melts into Wonder... "
~ Dave Matthews

Roosters, birds, and that sliver of a moon. We wait...Red sun barely peeking through cloud smear. Rising, emerging. Once it breaks through, no holding back...

Dave Matthews Band: ♪♫ ♪♫ #41 ♪♫ ♪♫

Love is the Only Gold

"Love gives naught but itself 
and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not
nor would it be possessed;
For love is sufficient unto love.
Love is the only gold."
~ Lord Alfred Tennyson

Thinking that the heart holds so much light and goodness.

Thinking Through My Fingers

"Thinking is the activity I love best
and writing to me
is simply thinking through my fingers."
~ Isaac Asimov

Waiting for the sunrise gives me some time to think, an activity I enjoy, so I understand Asimov's idea that writing--all art, really-- is thinking through fingers.

I have a crescent moon overhead, fine mist in the cove, and a spectacular silent sunrise. I feel full-up with awe, love, and gratitude. My Hawaiian heart sings, "Aloha nui loa."

Love Want Wisdom

"The wise want love;
and those who love want wisdom."
~ Percy Bysshe Shelley

My heart awakens with joy as I watch the sun rising magnificently. 

The Shelley quote reminds me that everyone searches for something. We reach out with hope.

The sky is a gift of light and promise. Everything seems gold, all golden... Peace & creativity echo across the horizon. This morning shines all possibilities. Today I believe I can (and will) accomplish anything I set my mind to...

Me and the Sun

All Blues

Happy Birthday, Nathaniel

"All blues is happy blues."
~ Willie Dixon

Fond of the Sky

It is absolutely gorgeous out here this morning. Ethereal splendor. I'm full of peace, lost in the clouds...Stunning, wonderful beauty, clouds... lots and lots of clouds, fast moving and tinged with sunlight. Fullness. Happiness. Blessings. Light...I'm covered in fog. Light and fog. Remarkable...Thought the show was over. Maybe I'll wait it out and see what happens... All drama this morning on the ridge... Rain... I got rain on my toes, in my coffee cup, making my hair frizzy. Absolutely love it... No sun... Fog, light, and life...there she is... And I'm soaking wet. Must be heaven here on the ridge this morning...

"An old story tells of a man
who grew so fond of the sky—
of the clouds like hills and the shadows of hills,
of the birds like notes of music
and the stars like distant blessings
that he made his heart a kite
and sailed it into the firmament."
~ Kevin Brockmeier

...So much aloha is sent your way with this sunrise... thank you for your follow & friendship. Make it a special day. Celebrate!