Conversations and Critters

 Good morning my fellow bloggers this post is for 

SATURDAY'S CRITTERS 

and City Daily Photo.

Good morning, everyone.

"Every good conversation begins with listening."

Sometimes I feel like I have more conversations in my head.

 than in real life.

"In the best conversations, you don't even remember what you talked about, only how it felt. It felt like we were in some place your body can't visit, some place with no ceiling and no walls and no floor and no instruments."

John Green

A great conversation can inspire you to think deeper.

Keep the conversations going, no matter how random or useless you may believe them to be. You never know sometimes how special or important something may be.

"I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think."

Socrates

Never forget those conversations you have with family and friends.

My father on the left of my grandmother and my aunt on the right.

"Your past is your ancestors and your life history. The wise ones do not ignore or forget that. It teaches and leads one to the vision for new ways."

"The unexamined life is not worth living."

Socrates and

 "The only true wisdom is that you nothing."

Stop and take a moment to ask questions if you see something you're unaware of 

because you might learn something you never knew before.

 

 So here is my gift for you all today.

"You're both the fire and the water that extinguishes it. You're the narrator, the protagonist, and the sidekick. You're the storyteller and the and the story told. You are somebody's something, but you are also your you."

John Green

A great mission for us all today is, strike up a conversation with someone you meet today.

Thanks for stopping in and take good care of you!

Mid Winter and Critters

 Hello all and welcome to my Sunday post for Daily City Photo 

and for 

SATURDAY'S CRITTERS 

Looking down from the 7th floor of our hotel.

Friday night in Saint Paul, we arrived at our Lion's Mid-Winter Convention a tad bit later than expected as traffic was at a crawl of about 25 to 30 miles per hour on the freeway most of the way. Good news the snowstorm was a bust although frigid temperatures still remain.

Happy critters in the know. Why? Because they don't dwell in negativity!

Most dogs are loyal, proud, leaders, confident, compassionate and master sociability, playfulness, and curiosity!

"Inner guidance is heard like soft music in the night by those who have learned to listen."

Vernon Howard

"Even the smallest changes in our daily routine can create incredible ripple effects that expand our vision of what is possible."

 Charles F. Glassman

"The true way of knowing yourself includes neither self-praise nor self-blame, but only a wise silence."

Vernon Howard

"The danger of venturing into unchartered waters is not nearly as dangerous as staying on shore, waiting for your boat to come in."

Charles F. Glassman

"Thoughts frame your portrait, action paints it."

Charles F. Glassman

"You have succeeded in life when all you really want is only what you really need."

Vernon Howard

"For those that are lost,

 there will always be cities that feel like home."

Home is not just a place, it's a feeling that warms the heart."

Home isn't where you're from, it's where you find light when all grows dark." Pierce Brown and sometimes you might get that feeling being in nature.

Now, think about those places that feel like home.

"Don't think that you must involve yourself with complex intellectual philosophies. Don't try to be profound or educated. That only wears you out. Just be simple. Let everyday life be your teacher."

Vernon Howard

 

Thanks for stopping by and gifting me with your comments!

Take good care of you!

Winter Lights at The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum

Taking in this Winter Light event has long been on my list of things to do and so this year I made it happen. Tickets went on sale already in October and I jumped at the chance.  They offered your choice of New Year's party hats to your own style of glowing light stick glasses. A special food menu with pork as the main dish, open bar, The Wishing Tree, crafts, games, create your own smores, selfie locations and besides the light show, the various artworks about the grounds. The band was great and even during their short breaks they kept us entertained. Posting to City Daily Photo.

Welcome to a stroll through the

Winter Lights at The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum

and music performed by Traveled Ground (American Roots Music Group)

featuring oldies and

Folk Blues Root.

We begin at 4:30 pm on New Year's Eve and sunset will be at 4:44 pm.

Life's a beautiful journey.

If you can, take time to wonder, and wander about with curiosity. Make your time here on earth worth living. 

Follow the map - or not, but at your own pace and not necessarily the same path as everyone else.

The beauty here is not only on the outside.

Wander within.

Don't love the view out a window? As a matter of fact, I won't share them all, but I snapped every single view from every window view!

Magic is everywhere.

Just a little stroll along the avenue of the Arb!

"Happiness is not achieved by the conscious pursuit of happiness; it is generally the by-product of other activities." Aldous Huxley

So put yourself out there! 

 

Something glowing, here there and everywhere as music plays merrily along your way.

There's always a Winter-wonderland waiting for you.

This is from the outside of the flower garden where inside you can see various flowers all aglow! 

"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."

J.R.R. Tolkien

"Logic will get you from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere."

Albert Einstein

"The woman/man/child who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. The woman/man/child who walks alone is likely to find themselves in places no one has ever been before."

Albert Einstein

 

Do any of you remember this darling little Gnome like fairy house from my Autumn walk at the Arb in October? 

"If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things,"

Albert Einstein

Keep asking questions. Be curious, Learn things.

"Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it."

Albert Einstein

"We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out." 

Ray Bradbury

Thanks for stopping by your visits are gifts!

Take good care of you.

 

Joyfulness and Critters Too

Good morning, everyone on this Happy New Year's Eve Day 2023. Life has been busy in my world, and my Blog, Instagram, and City Daily Photo has suffered so much.

Many of you may not know that I joined a Lions Club a year before COVID-19 hit and this past year I've been consumed in a lot more work with the Lions, so my social media time has taken a major hit, and I'm bound and determined to change that as of today! I miss my valuable friends in social media!

I'm posting to

 SATURDAY'S CRITTERS 

and City Daily Photo

Being a Lion You Serve. Working with Others for Others. Worldwide Service to Humanity. Where there's a need there's a Lion. We Serve. This December we aided in serving from smaller organizations to larger ones that serve our communities and our club (as others did too) served three families in need from Farmington to make their lives and holiday special for them.

and the Lions have a uniquely special critter, right?! 

December meant giving to communities not just where I live but surrounding me. 

Yep, that's me on the left with two Apple Valley Lions..

Lions from Farmington and Apple Valley assisted The Rosemount Lions in selling Christmas Trees which began the day after Thanksgiving, and they all sold out in just over a week!

What a difference we can make serving others.

The Farmington Police Department put on their "Toys for Town" gift giving and wrapping day which was an unbelievable success for those families in need. The response from community so warm-hearting-beyond-words. 

Of course, Santa and Mrs. Claus offered their assistance and took photos with all the folks on wrapping day!

Thank you again Farmington High School for opening your doors and providing space for these dynamic events.

Yes, even an Elf was caught helping out! 

"Every ending is creating a new space and opening for an amazing new beginning."

"The chief beauty about time is that you cannot waste it in advance. The next year, the next day, the next hour are lying ready for you, as perfect, as unspoiled, as if you had never wasted or misapplied a single moment in all your life. You can turn over a new leaf every hour if you choose." Arnold Bennett

A few highlights from festive holiday celebrations with family and friends as well, to those traditions that hold a bond like nothing else in keeping us connected. 

Plan an event and they will come.

Joyfully and happily!

"Why not squeeze every single second that we can out of life, because those of us that are young, you have plenty of years to grow, to be braver and bolder until those days when your bones may ache, and your skin wrinkles don't be sorry you didn't do more in this one amazing life." Karen Sather

These hoofs are made for walking.

If you can choose, why not. 

Be the sweetest you can be?

When you can. Build things.

When you can shop, shop!

Yep, I'm in there again with some of my family at Christmas in the Village!

"Set fire to the broken pieces; start anew."

Lauren DeStefano 

A huge lesson I've learned.

"We grow up with such an idealistic view on how our life should be; love, friendships, a career or even the place we will live - only to age and realize none of it is what you expected and reality is a little disheartening, when you reached that realization; you have learnt the best gift of all, any new beginning can start now and if you want anything bad enough you'll find the courage to pursue it with all you have. The past doesn't have to be the future, stop making it so." Nikki Rowe

Wishing you all the Merriest and Happiest New Year of all!

Take good care of you.