Project 52 - Favorites

Favorites

One of my favorite things is an unexpected moment. A moment of grace. Not given lightly and easily missed, these moments can lift your spirits and change the course of your day.

You have to be receptive and open to these moments because they are fleeting. You have to be prepared for them because they won't last long.

Last night at my friend Sally's house on her balcony, we saw a beautiful rainbow, a huge purple shaded evening cloud and I of course was not prepared. No camera!! But maybe I was only meant to sit amongst friends, enjoying some good food and wine, and a rainbow and a cloud. Maybe that was all the prepared for a moment I needed at that moment!

Moments of grace come on silent and cautious feet, trusting a bit to stand and be observed. They are only meant to be observed for if you step toward them to grasp them they disappear.

They don't stay forever. You have to pay attention when they present themselves.

Moments such as these lift our spirits.

Have a wonderful weekend!!

Project 52 - A Great Leap

Willband Creek is located halfway between Mission and Abbotsford, B.C. It is home to many varieties of birds and also possesses a couple of loops around the park for people to walk along. And some lessons to be learned as well, so I found out!

It was one of those nice dry days, albiet after a few days of rain, and  Hubby and I went to visit and go for a walk. He took the short loop.

I took the long loop path around the Sanctuary which was fine, lots of beatiful scenery, nice day, with a few people enjoying their walk as well.

No wind, so easy to get some awesome reflections on the water.

So far all is well!

I had just about finished the long loop and could see the parking lot within eye shot, when I came to a part of the path that was not dry. In fact it was a long section of thick wet mud. Lots of mud. And water, in fact it was a bit flooded. Now I could of gone around, back the way I came and had a doubly long walk. After all, it was a nice day. But I could see the goal line aka: the parking lot.

And its really not me to just walk away from a little obstacle like a bunch of mud. (Sorry I did not take a photo of the mud for you!) So I braved it. I walked on. Rather I squelched my way through, and at one point up to my ankle in that said mud. Would of sucked my shoe off if my shoelaces weren't tied as tight as they were. I made it through, upright on my feet but muddy for the effort.

There wasn't any Giant Leap I could of taken that would of got me through that mud unscathed. I should of gone back the way I came. Sometimes you have to backtrack to get back on track. I missed my Giant Leap and saw it in hindsight. But I lived to tell you about it!!!

Linking up with http://skyley.blogspot.com/

Linking up with http://weekendreflection.blogspot.com/

Project 52 - Week 4, Self Portrait.



Oh my gosh, this was a hard one for me. I am like a lot of you, not liking to have my photo taken. And even though I understand the reasons I should let my picture be taken, its still hard.

I think that is what makes it an awesome subject! It is always good to face the things you find difficult and overcome them. I might just work more on this in the future!

Project 52 - I Dreamed a Dream



My hubby and I provide Respite care for a two year old developmentally challenged little boy. His name is Taige.

(Aren't his eyelashes dreamy!) Oops, off the subject there!

Taige has a multitude of problems he lives with day to day. His care is quite complex. But he is in the moment. He deals with it all moment by moment. So do we when we care for him, but we are always jumping from moment to moment, into the future, trying to anticipate, plan for, ready ourselves for his next big moment, and then missing the actual moment. When Taige is having a good moment he is chock full of vocals, laughter and smiles. He is not off somewhere dreading the next. When he deals with a bad moment, once its over with and done, he is not wrecking his present moment by worrys of the next bad moments.

I could learn from that! I miss my own moments when my head is either in the past thinking about something or in the future worrying about something. When I am there and not here and now, I miss the moment I should be in.

So I could take this moment and wish to be in my own moments more, leaving the past where it belongs and the future in the future. Live in this moment.

That is a dream worth dreaming!

Macro Monday

It has been a long time since anyone saw these kinds of shoes on someone's feet. They are not exactly the type of fashion that is in style today. But I wonder who did wear these shoes. What were they like? They look well taken care of, like whoever owned them regularily cleaned and polished and took care of them.

Where did these shoes take them?

How about those first pair of shoes your child owned, the ones they wore when they took their first steps. Somewhere in a box I have a pair of small white boots that my daughter wore, and a pair of brown ones that my son wore. You want to keep them forever. Or bronze them like these ones. You think you will keep them forever and when the time is right you will give them to thier proper owner and they in turn will cherish them forever.

They won't end up in a Vintage Second hand Store like these shoes have.

To see other entries of Macro Monday, please go and check out http://lisaschaos.com/

Wordless Wednesday

Linking up with Wordless Wednesday at http://www.wordlesswednesday.com/newhome/

A Very Mellow Yellow Macro Monday

http://lisaschaos.com/

I have been featuring photos from Hilda's Tribute Garden, which we visited a couple of weeks ago. She had garden signs all over her garden which she designed and painted herself. Her hubby did the metal work for each sign. Here are just a sampling of some of the signs in her garden.

There were many more signs but I am sure blogger would of cut me off sometime!!!

Check out Mellow Yellow Monday to find more photos: http://mellowyellowmonday.blogspot.com/

Macro Monday

Maya eats Cake.

At the recent wedding my hubby and I did the photography for, we met Maya. She was a young child that I met when I sat down to take her picture while she was eating cake.

Maya had waited all evening for her piece of cake. She got a side plate of mixed berries that she carefully stacked on top of her cake and then drank the berry juice off the plate.

Her slice of cake was a masterpiece. Just the way she planned and created.

Time to dig in. Every mouthful has to have cake, icing and some of those carefully arranged berries on top. Its all about the cake!

I was fascinated by Maya and her cake. So many times I have passed on the cake for lots of reasons that I thought were good at the time. I denied cake to myself and I denied the pleasure of the experience of eating cake.

We can't have cake, why it would cause weight gain! A simple pleasure in life we deny ourselves for selfish reasons.

Sometimes the guilt of even thinking of having a piece of cake is enough to cause us to turn the cake down. Guilt can make us feel bad, can ruin a good experience and can create in us a pattern of self hate if we break down and give in to the cake. We should of been stronger, we should of had the will power to deny ourself the pleasure of a piece of cake.

I think there might come a day when Maya denies herself the pleasure of endulging in cake, but for now she got so much joy out of a simple treat. She waited patiently for it, she decorated the cake to make it even more enjoyable and she ate it slowly and carefully to enjoy each and every bite.

And she got it all over her face which was just fine too.

I learned something from Maya and her cake. Life is too short. You can have your cake and eat it too, and enjoy it thouroughly while you were at it. Don't guilt your self out of it, its the simple pleasures in life that make life so pleasureable.

To see more photos of Macro Monday please go and visit http://lisaschaos.com/