Keep Up and Pass It Along

Life teaches us that in every
 face to face encounter
regardless of how brief
we leave something behind.
Also, we are apt to pass it on.

It determines the rest of our day.



and Happy 
SATURDAY'S CRITTERS

Each loving a family pet!
Rusty and Jasmine.
 Now where is Oliver?

Let your playful side win!

"Life is not about how fast you run
 or how high you climb 
but how well you bounce."
Or eat!

"Writing is a lot like making soup.
My subconscious cooks the idea,
but I have to sit down at the computer to pour it out."
Robin Wells

Feel the wonder about you.


Ever since my childhood,
(pretty sure it began one Halloween evening)
I discovered 
One of my secret passions
is to stand still surrounded by darkness
at let the glows that illuminate our path 
brighten our way.
Shine on and carry the light.
Always.

New discoveries light your way.


You just know it was a blast to attend
Let's meet "Pete the Cat" author in Huntsville, Alabama
at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center

I've learned that untold treasures are found
 in the imagination of  a child.
H. Jackson Brown

On the road again.
Selling Girl Scout cookies!


"We begin in childhood that the simplest, tiresome or heaviest task
is most meaningful if you do it with the right spirit."

"Those that dare not to dream big
are cowards
for they fear to expose
the already great potentials 
embedded inside of them."
Auliq-Ice



Little one, who watches, over our pond
we love you.

Betting he's covered in snow as you read this post.


You'll never be able to tell how high a frog can jump
just by looking at him.



This is something worth chewing on-

"We have too many high sounding words, 

and too few actions that correspond with them."

Abigail Adams



Lyra grew up with "Pete the Cat"
just one of many series.

Don't let anyone tell you that keeping a journal of the fun, exciting and satisfying things that happen to you everyday 
aren't worth writing down.
Keeping the memory of them
is as important as the next breath you take.


If we never listen to those moments 
when creativity interrupts our daily life,
well we'd never have any art. Of any kind.

At some point in time
 we learn the great challenge of life
is to decide what's important and to
disregard everything else.

When someone tells you
 that you'll fail at something
don't believe them. 
Try anyway.

We've all learned that sometimes that one thing
or place or being that you could always rely upon
sometimes goes away.

Going to miss coming here.

Nothing could be more fun than
spending the afternoon with 
 40 degrees on an icy lake in Minneapolis.
and dogs that remind you how to be more playful.

We've all learned at one time

that every great achievement

was once considered impossible.

I've recently learned that nobody really knows 

at what precise moment 

when you discover that

one something you never really understood

until that precise moment 

of your discovery.

What happens 

when reality arrives?

What you do with it

makes all the difference.

It really doesn't matter how you get there

just that you do.

Be Bold.

The heart that gives, gathers.

Tao Te Ching 

Advice From a Tree
Stand tall and proud
Go out on a limb
Remember your roots
Drink plenty of water
Be content with your natural beauty
Enjoy the view.


Thanks for stopping by.
Live like a tree and
Take good care of you.

A Few Critters

SATURDAY'S CRITTERS


Things we hand down to our children that were handed down to us and will forever be handed down to future generations.

We're given life. It's up to us to make our living matter. 

There's something refreshing about 

 snowflakes falling from the sky 

and it feels like a thing of wonderment!

If it's snow on the range and a winter palace surrounds our arctic hearth and snowy forts, Misty is all in. 

The more snow on her face the better. She just hates having her picture taken.


My day off this week I spent time with Danny Jr. and Mason (school closed because we live in a frozen tundra) and quality time with their adorable pets too.

Rusty follows my every footstep making it tricky taking photos of the kitty cats. Jasmine has her eyes glued to Rusty behind me!

You know she's thinking, don't you dare enter my space puppy dog!

Clearly, Oliver doesn't mind his buddy and pal Rusty.

Rusty at the moment has his attention on

"What kind of snack are you eating Mason?"

Another kind of critter.

Meet my newest Scarecrow I brought to the deck for safety from our winter storm. You can see how well that worked.

Thanks for wiping the snow from my face but how about

Yes! I'm a little less snowy of a Scarecrow!

Stunning nature moment.

We've survived this arctic blast that sunk us deep inside another frozen tundra  our motto WE SURVIVED this too.

"You've got to find the force inside you."

Joseph Campbell

.....he allowed himself to be swayed by his conviction that human beings are not born once and for all on the day their mothers give birth to them, but that life obliges them over and over to give birth to themselves."

Gabriel Garcia Marques

In case any of you (like especially the Floridians including my co-workers that escape there until April) just in case you're wondering what we've been up too, not just quick-brisk-evening walks

lots, and lots of yummy cakes of various structures and flavors.

and busy putting away a few more winter-wonderland-decorations that have cheered our souls enough for this season.

Snow crafts 

and can't forget all our warming for the soul tummy comforts!

Thanks for stopping in

stay warm or cool whatever the case for you and

take good care of you.

Upside Down or Not

Hello from the frozen tundra of (at the moment) sunny Minnesota which promises to dip back to -31 this evening.  We Minnesotans are a tough breed though, and other than a handful of probies (totally not prepared for these temperatures) everyone made it to work today.  By the weekend it will be a return to early spring (if only) with a high of 39 real degrees on Saturday and a high of 44 on Super Bowl Sunday!  Hooray! For the time being what's truly essential is staying warm!


Lesson learned. Taking photos is essential.

The things that keep me right side up during these upside down periods in life, are memories of the joys we share with family and friends throughout the years.


Hey you hanging upside down from a tree limb.

Even the weather persons described Minnesota weather as being 

upside down with such a discrepancy in our temperatures in a short time.

"Strength doesn't come from winning.

Your struggles develop your strengths.

When you go through hardships

and decide not to surrender

that is strength."

"Be ruthless! Say no to everything that is either not essential 

or doesn't add something of value to your life." Dee Waldeck

Just as the water reflects the stars and the moon. 

The body reflects the body and soul. Rumi

This next quote is something that has been heavy in my thoughts. It's like an upside down mixture of thoughts.

"Your task is not to seek for love,

but merely to seek and find all the barriers 
within yourself that you have built against it."

Rumi

Sometimes life surprises you, and when life turns you upside down

and you might just discover that this is the right way.

Thanks for stopping in. Enjoy your week and take good care of you.

Old Man Winter Defined Kind of For Mac

Our local newspaper referred to Old Man Winter this year as,
"All hat, No cattle." Of course that was earlier, not so much now,
as his brutal action, determined power, blustering substance and pretentious nature came to life once again.

"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it."
Confucius


But when his back is turned,
On winter days like this 
Old Man Winter doesn't come to mind.

Winters come and winters go
but when the icy breath of Old Man Winter blows in
calmness quickly becomes calamity.

Dear Old man winter, who are you and where did you come from?

My own curiosity has prompted me to try and answer our blogging friend, Mac  after he recently left a question on my blog, "How did old man winter get his name?"

Wikipedia explains old man winter as a personification of winter, a colloquialism for the winter season derived from Greek mythology and old world pagan beliefs evolving into modern characters in both literature and popular culture.
Myths and Fairy Tales too.

"The gem cannot be polished without friction, 
nor man perfected without trials."
Confucius 


We humans are funny and for the most part we fight his blistering blizzard like temper-tantrums and the spiraling snow he drops upon us like heavy paperweights. 

Fight, fight, for what's right.

It's a magical winter-wonder-land for the most part, 
when Old Man Winter and his icy breath disappears.

Even Bunny statues ignore Old Man Winter's hammering
 as they throw on a hat and scarf and rest quietly
upon the fluffy white snow drifts in spite of him. 



Over time, the old gods of winter changed to new humanizing of the seasons including Old Man Winter.

This next description makes more sense.

Boreas (the purple winged-god) of the north wind who swept down from the cold mountains of Thrake (Thrace) was the Greek god of the north wind, and chilled the air with his icy breath. Depicted in ancient art as an old man, he was considered the bringer of winter and the cold. The old gods riding across lands on icy winds transformed to the more modern adaptations, such as Old Man Winter, or Russia's Father Frost.

We understand it's his frozen clutches grasping at anything just so he can rule over our winter-wonder-land and our only choice is to retaliate against him. 

"It's bad enough that Old Man Winter makes his bed

with sheets of ice and blankets of snow

But why do we all have to crawl in there with him?"

Susan Gale

A lovely Old Man Winter song here.

If one would carve Old Man Winter out of frozen snow this would be it.

"Melancholy were the sounds on a winter's night."
Virginia Woolf

Luckily not a peep out of Old Man Winter to spoil this winter evening.

"Even the strongest blizzards start with a single snowflake."
Sara Raasch

"Snow was falling so much like stars
filling the dark trees that one could easily imagine
its reason for being was nothing more
than prettiness. "
Mary Oliver

"Old Man Winter" original song by Kathleen Healy


"Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face."
Victor Hugo

Honestly, I believe Old Man Winter derived from a comparison of the harshness of winter with that of a harsh personality, often severe in nature.