Everyday Offer Comfort

We can't take away another's sadness

but we can offer comfort 

and our deepest

heartfelt feelings

in their time of need and sadness.

Today we honored the life of Pam, who passed away unexpectedly, is my daughter-in-law's mother, 

and my friend, and was a woman who deeply loved her family and friends. 

Every loss of another in our life brings the importance of kindness,  to the surface and just how important those in our lives are to us.
Life is short and our journey takes unexpected turns.

 If we always do the best we can, every where in our day to day lives, and never hold "things" as more valuable than the people in our lives, and remember

people hold the most value. Yes, even strangers. Everyone that enters our lives arrives for a reason. Every person deserves to be honored. Everyone is or has suffered something, sometime, and if you lighten one person's burden today, you too will be uplifted.

When we leave people feeling better than when we first gathered,

 then we all feel comfort.

Here are some of the things Pam loved.

From being on the lake, fishing, bonfires, singing, music, God and her bible verses, angels and baking, gardening, helping those in need and spending time with family and friends. 
She may be gone from our sight, but never our hearts
and memories of times shared together, through thick and thin, sadness and happiness. 

We shall plant a tree in her honor by the water.

I took this photo and the next one from one of my favorite outings with our dear grandchild that we share! It was a notable adventure that day, so many odd and silly things came our way, and especially important was a duck in need at Lake Harriet that entered our world who needed all the help we could give it.

This sign in the window gave us pause and we had to capture it.


Take good care of you and every single being in your life
 shower them with love and kindness.

Language Without Words

One of my favorite languages, isn't words written or spoken.

The language of friendship is not words but meanings.

Henry David Thoreau

"If the English language made any sense, lackadaisical 
would have something to do with a shortage of flowers."
Doug Larson

Honestly, the Snapdragon flower resembles the face of a dragon
 that opens and closes its mouth by a squeeze of your finger.
 

"Whatever you focus your attention on 
will become important to you even if it's unimportant."
Sonya Parker


So far this winter it's been unseasonably warmer, far less snow and more often rain and yes, this is still Minnesota. The winds are a bit gusty today, but they'll be heading out soon.

Even overcast, grey skies, barren, broad calm, bitter cold, or chilly days, and cloudless, hazy grey or even clear pale skies we snap pictures of it perhaps to prove ourselves wrong, that in truth there is always a silent spring existing within every winter.

On a canvas of grays and white 

 a red barn prevails in spite

of old man winter.

Your eyes assume there isn't any open water here,

 when in fact there actually is.

Look I caught myself in the window!

Actually dogs have a language all their own, and it's not just barking.

It's their body language and it overpowers words.

"Words are pale shadows of forgotten names.  As names have power, words have power. Words can light fires in the minds of men. Words can wring tears from the hardest hearts."
P. Rothfuss

"Tell me to what you pay attention and I will tell you who you are."
Jose' Ortega Y Gasset

Thank you, I enjoy all your visits and comments
Take good care of you.

Conversations With Critters

Good morning to all

and welcome to

SATURDAY'S CRITTERS

Meet Mr. Distinguished

The eagle has no fear of adversity.

Joyce Meyer

Calm gathering, all champions of begging.

Often times when you

Put your expectations on conversations 
with your dog and your inner soul
 you find fabulous 
and sometimes dazzling
but always,
successful results.

Happy, handsome and most harmonious cowman

Woodsy conversations.
Listen to the trees.
and any wooden cowboys you happen upon!

Good conversation is as stimulating as black coffee

and just as hard to sleep after.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh

"The sun, with all those planets revolving round it and depending on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do." 

and yet we humans often struggle with the most tiniest of things.

Galileo Galilei

Yep Misty requires many toys and all are
 under complete protection.

The most exhausting thing in life is being insincere.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Humans are sometimes, critters never.
You get what you see
and what you give.




Yesterday we enjoyed seeing 
How The Grinch 
Stole Christmas 
at the Children's Theatre and it was of course
the merriest time ever!

You bet the boys wanted to have their picture taken with
The Grinch and his dog Max (younger version) there was an older dog Max narrating in places throughout the play.

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
nothing is going to get better. It's not."
Dr. Seuss

What do you suppose he's thinking?

Sometimes the questions are complicated 
and the answers are simple.
Dr. Seuss

Thanks for stopping in
Take good care of you.

Yesterday was the 365th page of 2018 Today 2019 Begins

Good - Bye 2018

and 

Hello 2019

Today marks the first page in our Book of 2019. 

"Time flies like an arrow
fruit flies like a banana."

I trust your celebrations were an explosion 

of all the goodness and woes of 2018

readying us all for a fresh beginning in 2019.

What do you think of fireworks?

I'd say they're pretty dynamite. 

Determination. 
Keep your dreams alive.

Keep reaching for your
 "King of the Mountain Moment"
all year long.


A smile is a chosen vehicle of all ambiguities.
Herman Melville

If everyone is moving forward together

then success takes care of itself.

Henry Ford

Learn the rules like a pro

so you can break them like an artist.

Pablo Picasso 

It is not down in any map,
true places never are.
Herman Melville

I think people have had too much to think
 and ought to flex their magic muscles.
Captain Beefheart

Be. Create. Solve. Why? and How? Are important.

Study. Learn. test. Discover. Live well.

"It is not the answer that enlightens,

but the question."

Eugene Ionesco

Dreams and sadness bring us together.

Be as kind as you are bold.

Man ( and children too) is a make-believe animal

he is never so truly himself 

as when he is acting a part.

William Hazlitt

2018 brought much to the true meaning of voting.

Teach/share/spread the meaning of voting to those in need.

"The proper function of man is to live, not to exist."

Jack London

and 

"You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club."

Prejudice is the child of ignorance.

W. Hazlitt

The most beautiful stories always start with wreckage.

Jack London

"The love of liberty is the love of others,
the love of power is the love of ourselves."
William Hazlitt

"A gentle word, a kind look, a good natured smile can work

wonders and accomplish miracles."

W. Hazlitt

Life is absurd. 

You cannot unmask a mask.

Be the you that

you truly are.

Albert Camus

The only way to deal with an unfree world 

is to become so absolutely free that your

very existence is an act of rebellion. 

This. Is. Something. That we all must discover.

We cannot live only for ourselves.

Thank you for sharing your

time with me this year. 

Hard to believe 2018 is history.

I appreciate and enjoy all of your visits

and visiting you as well.

Take good care of you.

The House With Critters

Setting the scene. Our senses are feasting this time of year. Open fires, roasting chestnuts, gingerbread, Hot Chocolate, fresh pine trees, cinnamon, eggnog, candles burning, and for many snow, each harvest our celebrations.

Merry making feeds the soul, even the smallest acts.

Everything matters.

Welcome to Saturday's Critters.

Any house without critters

 is missing 

what our heart desires most. 

Unconditional Love.

Let my soul smile through my heart and my heart smile through my eyes,
that I might scatter rich smiles in sad hearts.  
P. Yogananda

Creating is living beyond your dreams.

 Dream with open eyes. 

Your eyes are the doorway to our hearts.

Your smile will unlock any heart.

Smiles are free.

Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try.
John F. Kennedy

Of course all the critters in my family know Santa always remembers them in my Christmas packages.

Have you ever wondered what magic lies within cardboard boxes, that always brings such joy and comfort to kitty cats?

Meow, purr, purr. Wow, this kitty toy actually squeals like a mouse! Purr, purr, puRR!

Being joyful every minute of the day, isn't reserved just for critters.

Christmas cards, or whatever holiday cards you desire most, all signed, sealed and delivered are unexpected joys for everyone, beginning with you, the sender.

Don't ever be defined by the things you didn't do. Just open another chapter and live on stronger than yesterday. You'll be thankful in all your tomorrows if you do.

The faces of the all the critters in my life enrich my heart more than words can describe. I am defined by each and every critter I've ever come to know.
Truly.

Critters live by appreciating everything, 

and that's their little secret they wish upon us all.

Dogs will always teach unconditional love. It's what they do best.

So whatever is in your life I hope it includes a critter or two or more.

You may recall this photo from last May, taken on my birthday this year, and the humor that I was trying to offer by pretending to take a drink. But that message is still one I offer today.

Life without good and kind humor is no way to survive. 

Thanks for stopping by,

stay joyful 

let humor live outward

and inward

and take good care of you.