One ought only to write when one leaves a piece of one’s own flesh in the inkpot, each time one dips one’s pen. ~Leo Tolstoy
Is There an Aspect of Nature That Takes Your Breath Away?
The aspect of nature that simply takes my breath away
is staring at an early morning blue celeste sky in adoration
accented with watercolored brushstrokes in splashes of luscious lilac,
peachy peach, and creamy white clouds. I’m mesmerized.
So, what aspect of nature wows you and takes your breath away?
Setbacks: To Give Up or Motivation to Climb Up?
Sometimes the most challenging climb can produce the most incredible, awe-inspiring view.
Life is a series of experiences, each of which makes us bigger, even though it is hard to realize this. For the world was built to develop character, and we must learn that the setbacks and griefs which we endure help us in our marching onward. -Henry Ford
Oh Sweet Butterfly, Butterfly, Where For Art Thou Butterfly?
Monarch Butterfly
Butterflies have always fascinated me. Nowadays, I don’t see as many as I used to but the few I do see I still marvel at their ability to sniff out the nectar in a flower or beam at their carefree curiosity as they flutter serenely through the air. Yet, after all of this time in my utter amazement and joy by watching these delicate creatures in their aerial pursuits, I pause when it rains and notice they do not fly during showers. After the rain ends, I see them emerge once again.
Morpho Butterfly
Where do they go when it rains? I see birds, ducks, squirrels and other critters out and about in the rain, but not butterflies. Do they melt with contact if they venture out in the rain? Nah, actually butterflies hide when it rains. Raindrops pose a direct threat (injury or death) to them and butterflies could crash in inhospitable habitats. So they seek shelter under leaves or in their nighttime homes.
Jezebel Butterfly
Exposing their wings to direct sunlight helps a butterfly to rapidly warm their flight muscles to make their bodies able to regain flight. While I never realized the scientific reasons why I never saw them when it rained, their very nature to know what could hurt them, kill them or energize them still floors me. What natural instincts for survival. And would you believe it or not, as I am writing this piece, my peripheral vision catches a glimpse of a yellow Cloudless Sulfur butterfly fluttering past my banana trees and canna lilies.
Image Credit: ButterfliesAtHome.com (Cloudless Sulfur Butterfly)
Talk about ethereal!
None Indispensable
None Indispensable
Sometimes when you’re feeling important,
sometimes when your ego’s in bloom,
sometimes when you take it for granted
you’re the best qualified in the room.
Sometimes when you feel that your going
would leave an unfillable hole,
just follow this simple instruction
and see how it humbles your soul.
Take a bucket and fill it with water
put your hand in it up to the wrist;
pull it out and the hole that’s remaining
is the measure of how you’ll be missed.
You may splash all you please as you enter –
you can stir up the water galore –
But stop and you’ll find in a minute
that it looks quite the same as before.
The moral in this example
is do just the best you can;
be proud of yourself, but remember –
there is no indispensable man.
-Author Unknown
Back-To-Schoolwear on Fashion Forward Friday
Image Credit: J.C. Penney
From school supplies to the latest hot fashions it’s hard to believe that it is time to get your Back-To-School and Back-To-College gear in order. To give you a few ideas on some fab fashion finds, check out some of these coordinates.
Image Source; Fashion Gum
Image Source: Trnds.com
Image Source: mamiskincare
Image Source: Style Debates
Image Source: Pouted
Happy Back-To-School, Back-To-College
Fashion Forward Friday
Selective Hearing, Limited Sight
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.
2 Timothy 4: 3-4 NKJV
Humanity. Some sat on a stoop looking around and seeing mass hysteria popping up around the world, and a great divide in their own town. Yet, they sat, remaining comfortable and complacent.
They sat on the stoop listening to the obnoxious lies and massive falsehoods being told each day, knowing they were unjust and biased, but they were comfortable and unfazed without question because they felt these matters didn’t affect them, so they went along with it anyway.
They sat on the stoop seeing the unjust intensify, the deceit dripping from telltale lips and hearts, knowing even the eyes lie, as they look directly into yours without guilt or compassion, turning away from the truth because the lies feel easier to digest. This is their doctrine, and so they sat.
