Keeping Our Path Illuminated

 You have to find what sparks a light in you so that you in your own way can illuminate the world.  -Oprah Winfrey

Be surprised.

You needn't know everything beforehand. 

 

So plant your own gardens and decorate your own soul, instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers. Jorge Luis Borges 

 

 

Sometimes what you're looking for arrives when you're not looking.

Life itself is a quotation. - Jorge Luis Borges 

 A broken world is waiting for us, to bring in the light.

Have I told you lately, what a treasure you are?

Seriously, I need to do so more often.

Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.  Albert Einstein

I'll always leave the light on for you.

No one has ever become poor by giving. Anne Frank

The best way to not feel hopeless is get up and do something. Don't wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the world with hope, and you will fill yourself with hope.  Barack Obama

Be the light.

We must continue to make each other feel safe.

A fine glass vase goes from treasure to trash, the moment it is broken. Fortunately, something else happens to you and me. Pick up your pieces. Then help me gather mine. Vera Nazarian

Leave a trail of light behind you everywhere you go.

Whose darkness you may illuminate you may never know.

L. R. Knost

Keep moving forward.

Life is amazing even when it doesn't feel that way.

You can do anything.

So enjoy, endure, survive each moment as it comes to you in its proper sequence, a surprise. Vera Nazarian

I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for stopping by

and all the wonderful comments you leave behind. Know that you're more special than you believe. 

Take good care of you.

Shopping Local and Living Seussisms

Take it from the "Guide to Life for those just starting out and those already on their way" there's something warmhearted in sharing Seuss-isms. There is!

You'll miss the best things if you keep your eyes shut. - Dr. Seuss

Kid. You'll move mountains. - Dr. Seuss

Being King of the Mountain suits us well!

 This year more than ever I'm shopping local when possible to help keep our smaller businesses in business! 

We've been enjoying, Great Harvest Bread for years.  Of course some things have changed. Before COVID-19 they always had samples to enjoy! Not anymore. 

Silly you, toy shops are for everyone.

Never Underestimate the Power of One.

A person's a person, no matter how small. -Horton Hears a Who!

Sometimes the questions are hard and the answers are simple. - Dr. Seuss

Unless, someone like you cares a whole awful lot,

 nothing is going to get better. It's not. - From the Lorax

One day they realized they weren't meant to be anything but a Gnome.

But everyone knows there's Gnome place like home for the holidays,

especially when you share it with Gnomes.

People who make you laugh have such an invaluable price in your life.

 - Alfredo Cano

A toy a day-

or a paint brush, or crayon, or piece of wood to carve, or a song to sing, or bird to see any day, keeps sadness away.

Everett and Charlie

Art Gallery

They feature local artists and this last Saturday I had the pleasure of hearing a violinist audition.  He played fantastically.

Creativity is as important as literacy. 

Sir Ken Robinson

Do you have any idea how much joy arrives from a stone or a shell?

The happiest adults are those who never buried old toys or abandoned imaginary friends.

Richelle E. Goodrich

Life is not life at all without delight.

Coventry Patmore

and sometimes that delight comes from a huge scoop of Pavarotti ice cream!

Sebastian Joe's Ice Cream our go to place since 1991!

We should strive to treat each other with Common Human Decency. 

Dr. Seuss

Why fit in when you were born to stand out. - Dr. Seuss

Be gentle with yourself. Think less and feel more.

 Be as happy as you can. You only have this moment.

 - Dan Millman

Today's the day to make someone feel better.

Thanks for sharing your time with me.

Take good care of you.

When you support small business

you're supporting a dream.

Moving Forward Are You With Me

 We're all searching for that happy life which to a great extent is a quiet life, an atmosphere of hope and love. 

Imagine my surprise when I met this familiar stranger!

I feel we are all islands - in a common sea. Anne Morrow Lindberg

One by one, we are but one drop,  and yet joined together we become the ocean.

"Hello there little one!"

The moment a wee little voice appeared from around the corner, Father Christmas was off to greet them.

Sometimes you just need to wander about. Perhaps in a familiar place, or maybe a random unexplored place you're entering for the first time. As if you're being led through chapters in a book from your favorite author, not quite sure where you'll end up.

Murphy and Artemis enjoying the day!

Sometimes, if you're lucky you'll meet those special ones along the way,

 and you'll always want them near you.

Stop, don't hesitate and say, hello!

Sometimes, it's all about that unexpected person that walks into your world.

Does the walker choose the path, or the path the walker?

Garth Nix

Moments. It's all about moments. 

There isn't such a thing as a bad day, only a moment we need to improve.

Taking a path I haven't walked lately. In Stillwater, a town that comforts me, and so many memories from being there that always soothes my soul.

The journey not the arrival matters.

T.S. Eliot

A bridge to somewhere: useful, a place that ties us compassionately together, honorable, onward and forward destination....much like a happy life,  just a simple journey in life.

As long as we can sail away.

And now that you don't have to be perfect, you can be good.

John Steinbeck

Always dream big.

Cookies and soup! Possibly in that order too.

What would this time of year be without our Gnomes, and the joy they bring?  It's all about the story of now, that happens every day, especially when we venture out.

 

Meet the brothers! 

Life is a tremendous collection of experiences some temporary, others lasting and the more we share them the better off we are.

Inspire, create, imagine.

Just write. Or sing, laugh often, or maybe just dance.

Chase your dreams.

Live.

Alive.

One can never pay in gratitude, one can only pay in "in kind" somewhere else in life.

Below a reflection from last year..... as we begin our Advent celebrations again this year.

Thanks for spending time with me again. May you be safe and well.