Drink the Wild Air and Critters

It's been a busy couple of weeks for me, with work, and Halloween all while staying over at my son's house for a week while his son, my oldest grandchild graduated from boot camp for the United States Air Force.

...and a day before his graduation
Halloween arrived once more!

Slowly, yet most assuredly Emme reaches the window, 
with not even a bark.
Oh my what does she see? 

and of course critters
for SATURDAY'S CRITTERS

We are all truly blessed.

These kiddos always have a theme, (just three in this shot)
and this year they all dressed up as characters in
Alice in Wonderland.

Why, sometimes I've believed 
as many as six impossible things
before breakfast.

Live in the sunshine

swim the sea

drink the wild air.
RWE

My quotes today come from the breezy depths

 of Ralph Waldo Emerson's wandering wisdom.

You're entirely bonkers.
But I'll tell you a secret,
All the best people are.
Lewis Carroll

Was I ever surprised when these two grandsons (brothers) came knocking at our door just clowning around.

You cannot do a kindness too soon,

for you never know

how soon it will be too late.

Tread gently on anyone who looks at you sideways.
Billy Connolly

So happy it's gonna snow tonight says Misty!
It did, not a fun drive in to work either.

Enthusiasm is the mother of effort, and without it

nothing great was ever achieved.

Can we play ball now, please?

It is not the length of life,

but the depth of life.

People seem not to realize that their opinion of the world

is also a confession of character.

My grandson is the young lad on the left.
They are all so young.

Trust your instinct to the end,

though you can render no reason.

Passion lights the fire in every soul.

Thank you for stopping by.
Take good care of you.

Words and Critters

I'm not only joining but hoping to cheer on other participants for Words for Wednesday as well. 

I'm also joining SATURDAY'S CRITTERS

The first image offered by Words for Wednesday
struck a creative process the moment I saw it!
Work and life got in the way until this morning,
so I'm a bit late.

There are so many thoughts drumming 
 through my thoughts.

Real drums.


Yet mostly what springs to mind are the hands that pound away
in various grooves and set so many beats.

I knew I was headed in the right tempo.


The human brain is a funny thing:
it's very susceptible to tempo and melody.
You put the right words to it
and it becomes very influential.
Ray Stevens

Words always matter.

Our hands,

Can hold mini basketballs of course.

Hands guide horses.

Hands are perfect for birds.

Paws like hands are great for protecting clean laundry.

Holding on for dear life!

Protective hand gear sometimes crucial. 



We find only one tool,
neither created nor invented
but perfect;
the hand of man.
Julio Ramon Ribeyro

Our hands also

Lead and direct.

Pump water.

Create

and make funny gestures!

and take many selfies along the way.

Control your own future.

Put your future in good hands. Your own.

Mark Victor Hansen

I'm going to leave you with this eloquent quote by Ray Charles

What is a soul?

It's like electricity.

We don't really know what it is,

but it's a force that can light a room.

Ray Charles

Thanks for stopping in and take good care of you.

Enjoy your weekend too.

Fine Craft Collective

I have eyes for you!

Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Such a lively autumn sport, watching the leaves turn. 

Yet how does just one leaf jump ahead of his fellow leaves?

Speaking of stepping out into nature (weekend camping adventure)
 I'm pleased to
introduce to you

a new pup (she's growing faster everyday)
belonging to my daughter and her family.

"Thorns may hurt you
men desert you
sunlight turns to fog;
but you're never friendless ever,
if you have a dog."
Douglas Malloch

Some birds are not meant to be caged.

"If you want to fly,
give up everything that
weighs you down."

Buddha



No story will ever live if nobody cares to listen.

Everyone has a story.

It was a rainy, chilly afternoon when we followed along listening to past stories about a few Dundas residents buried in Groveland Cemetery expertly told by a group of enthusiastic storytellers.

Storytelling is the most powerful way
to put ideas into the world.

We are as a species, addicted to story.
Even when the body goes to sleep
(and dreamland enters)

the mind stays up all night
 telling itself stories.
Jonathan Gottschall

Storytelling the oldest form of education.

What storytellers actually do,
they restore order
 in our imaginations,
the world around us
and 
allow all stories to live on 
forever and ever.

On this day our bones felt a cold chill perhaps,
yet our hearts were warmed by each new story.

This Dundas, Navy sailor survived the Pearl Harbor attack
returned home to heal his wounds and once again returned to serve his country only to have his ship brutally attacked again. His body was never recovered.

So continue on build your new stories 
share them often
as well as also taking time to listen to others.



I'm going to just leave this one thought with you today
 from John Muir
about nature.

"When one tugs at a single thing in nature,

he finds it attached to the rest of the world."

Thanks for stopping by
enjoy your day
and take good care of you!

I Spy With

I Spy With My Little Travel Eye

the beginning of a series!

It's about feeling grass between your toes, sand rushing over your bare feet, fresh breezes, watching trees sway, an unexpected walk in nature, places you've never been to, or places you see with new eyes, notice works of art around you, from the human hand or nature, just keep seeing, breathing, doing and cherish the absolute feeling of being alive.

Oops

Please, don't look down!

A step towards what you fear is a mile towards mastering it.

Matshona Dhliwayo

From my downtown collection.

I Spy Some places in Minneapolis.

Lighten up. Brighten up. Smile.

A. D. Posey

There's an upside to everything.

Remember 

The Kindness Rocks?

Now go get some paint little man.

Does he realize he's hiding in plain sight?

Hold on to your heart and life will give you wings.

A. D. Posey

I spy this from my own garden box.

I spy a sight upon our lovely

St. Croix River

Waiting for my ride with ticket in hand!

(where I recently took a river cruise

on the St. Croix!)

Get high on water.

and the moral to my spying is

"There's always a reason to look up."

A. D. Posey

Be the energy you want others to absorb.

All That We Share

Welcome to 

SATURDAY'S CRITTERS

on Sunday

with highlights from this year's Renaissance Festival 2019.

"What I know for sure is this:

You are not built to shrink down to less,

but to blossom into more.

To be more splendid.

To be more extraordinary. 

To use every moment to fill yourself up."

Oprah

"Sometimes we spend so much time and energy 

thinking about where we want to go

that we don't notice where we happen to be."

Dan Gutman

There's so much more to a book than just the reading. 

quotes Maurice Sendak

and

It's how I feel while attending a Renaissance Festival.

There's so much more than just being there.

Oh my goodness, haven't you ever met a Grey Elf Before?

"Elvish singing is not a thing to miss,

in June under the stars

not if you care for such things."

J.R.R.R Tolkien

Thoughts on

 dressing up.

It's not just people doing it!

"Dogs are not our whole life,

but they make our lives whole."

(take time in life to greet those that enter your day.)

Precious beauty captured in stonework.

You know someone is special when their absence

 is felt deeply within.

It is good people who make good places.

Anna Sewell

You always hear incredible new names for dogs

 at a Renaissance festival.

 Like the pup following behind Karina. 

Meet

White-Fluff-Dragon!

So many slithering friends to meet!

"The snake stood up for evil in the garden."

Jack Frost

Of course you know there's a dragon on your shoulder? 

Someday if not already, someone will create a 

Renaissance Festival Museum.

What a sight that will be. 

"Museums are places 

where we're taught to pay attention."

Yet

Isn't that how we should 

 experience everywhere we go?