Since March is one of those months that can’t make up its mind about being warm or cold, I feel this is a perfect time to share a few cold pics. A couple of them are from winter but even today that white stuff is around.
After a warm December, January dropped 2 feet of the white stuff.
I really like the tree in the picture above. Nature has a way of making cold look beautiful.
Even the birds were cold and saying “Whose bright idea is this?”
My dog Daisy is not a fan of cold. She will burrow down or get completely under the covers. I gave up making the bed.
If we look through a creative lens of almost all things God creates, we can see the beauty in it. One of the things we don’t realize the beauty of it is kindness. Kindness has a beauty that can touch our heart for a lifetime.
Old Man Winter is refusing to turn loose his grip. While I am thankful for only the inch we got, as Cedar Rapids got 5 inches…I am still done. Thank you very much for coming but leave…
The sunset the other day was so much prettier but we knew he wasn’t fully done.
As we take a deep breath for being teased that spring would be early…we know soon the sweet lady of spring will be here. And until then we patiently wait and remember to be kind. Kindness can warm our hearts until spring is FINALLY here to stay.
Ludwig always has interesting windows with his Monday Window challenge. This week its round top windows.
To me, the arch windows of older buildings are the most interesting, especially to understand the era in which they were made. Some are smooth curves and some are arched with a point.
Churches are noted for beautiful arches.
Windows are the eyes of a building that allow the sunshine to enter its inner being. I remind you in closing the sunshine of kindness. Let kindness radiate from your face like sunshine coming in through a window.
This week’s picture and a word challenge from Patrick Jennings’ Pix to Words blog is dealing with motion.
I think my pic proves that New York City never sleeps, the words, well, they may put you to sleep.
Motion
The restless city she never sleeps
Ever moving with shouts and beeps
Man nor machine never stopping to sleep
Sounds of their moving makes their heartbeat
The one thing that proved itself to me, as much as I express its importance, is the amount of kindness we found when in New York City. It really matters not how large or how small the area or situation is, you can always be kind.
Giving in is not the same as giving up. Giving up says you can’t win so quit trying. But giving in says you will accept the outcome even though it was not what you hoped for. My neighbor had enjoyed watching my bird as they fed so she put up a feeder as well…on the fence between our houses. She gets the basic birdseed which draws the sparrows…by the millions. Don’t get me wrong, sparrows are cute but they are hogs and they take over the feeder pushing out the other birds.
I changed the food per the “experts” advice to saffron seeds but these critters are very adaptable. Then I separated the feeders putting the platform feeder out towards the fence and leaving the tube feeders with the stripped sunflowers that they don’t like near the house. You can see from the picture, that they didn’t read the same report.
But at least the peanut and suet feeders are drawing in the two types of woodpecker we have here and the nuthatch. The cardinals can usually fend for themselves and the platform feeder does draw in the mourning doves. So, fine. It is what it is. In a few more weeks I will put out my hummingbird feeder and begin the war with the ants. Never a dull moment when you enjoy your yard. Maybe I will try cayenne pepper at the base of the hummingbird pole. It worked in keeping the squirrels out of my potato beds last year. Welcome to the joy of spring and summer. Enjoy these pictures. They are not real clear but at least they may help you smile. First is the nuthatch.
Then the red-bellied woodpecker. A really pretty bird.
The smaller downy woodpecker is striking with the red stripe on the back of his head.
Now that spring is just around the corner here in the US, try to get out and see its beauty. And remember kindness is a beautiful gift to not only share with fellow man but also to nature.
I enjoyed the post from woollymuses about interesting buildings. When my daughter and I went to New York City in February, we saw many interesting buildings. I have shared some of them off and on but not together so I thought I would do that even if sharing some pictures more than once.
It was amazing to me the mixture of very old buildings along with new modern buildings all throughout the city.
Besides the amazing churches we saw, there were two building in particular that made me do a double look. One was the Oculus Building that was built at the World Trade Center after 9/11 disaster.
The inside is just as amazing.
Another building that I have no clue what its name is or what it is used for we saw from a distance but it made me stop for a picture.
It looks like the game of Jenga. But you can see in this picture a mixture of old and new. New York City, ever-changing. The Chrysler building is an amazing building and to me more interesting that the Empire State Building, which we did not get a chance to see. The new 1 World Trade Center is impressive and thought provoking as well for why it was built because of the unneeded disaster. Over 2000 lives lost.
Chrysler Building9/11 Memorial Fountain with 1 World Trade Center in the background
But we need to remember that buildings don’t last forever but love and kindness do. They get carried with us to our eternal home. So make an extra effort to always be kind. Kindness opens many doors to many situations.
Cee’s Flower of the Day is always a wonderful reminder of the beauty of this earth. Spring is a time of rebirth of many bulbs, trees, and sometimes even us humans. Last fall I moved stuff around in yard and covered up one of my daffodil bulbs without realizing it. This morning as I was moving things again, I moved that block and was sad that I had coved a bulb and shocked at its determination to survive.
Without the sun, no chlorophyl was made but still the plant pushed through. By this afternoon, it was beginning to stand tall reaching for the sun, broken but alive. Other bulbs coming up in my tard are the crocus as well as other daffodils.
And my lilac bushes are budding. Can’t wait for their fragrance to fill the air with their beautiful and delicate blooms.
Other Daffodils and crocus flowers…
While pollen and I are not friends…I still love the beauty of spring. May you all have a wonderful and colorful spring. And remember the beauty of kindness and may you share it often.
If you read my blog then you probably know I am an “indie” writer. I do it for fun and hopefully to help people smile. I would appreciate it if you would think about buying one of my books.
“Smiles from Heaven” is now available for purchase in paper book or Kindle at Amazon. I got my copies today.
It is a book of short stories, micro writings, and a smattering of poetry about the things that make us smile or remind us of God smiling down on us. All of my writing tries to encourage the reader for I feel we can all use encouragement.
I thank you in advance if you do purchase one. And I close as always reminding everyone of the beauty and power of kindness.
For the last couple of weeks, I have been sharing my pictures of my trip to New York City. The museums are magnificent with amazing statues but THE statue is the lady on the water.
We knew that we didn’t want to go to Ellis Island because you could see the full statue better from the Staten Island Ferry. These ferries constantly moved from the city to Staten Island and back which I understood to be where a lot of people in the area lived that worked in NYC.
The views from the ferry were exceptional. You could see New York’s amazing skyline from a distance plus the skyline of Staten Island.
New York CityStaten Island
And there is always something in the air…
Our trip was wonderful with dreams to go back and see other things. If you are interested in New York City, do your research for the things you want to see and map out your visit to maximize your time to get to see it all. And don’t forget the pizza or the cheesecake.
I was awakened this morning, a morning I had hoped to sleep in, but no, loud equipment kept me from being able to do that. As I looked out the window, I saw it was tree-trimming people. I was amazed at how two men were going to take down my neighbors huge sycamore tree. It was a beautiful tree and I had taken many pictures of it during the changes of the seasons. It was easily 100 feet tall and the trunk was close to 10 feet in diameter. Here are pictures of its glory this fall and again last month during the snow.
I watched for a while amazed as two men and a laptop-type device controlled a mighty crane. Little by little it took the tree down. It also saddened me how such a beautiful tree had become diseased and a danger to life around it. A sycamore is a tight and heavy wood and as the trunk sections hit the ground, you could feel the ground shake. So, yes it could cause some damage if a storm were to take her down. But it still made me sad so, I wrote a poem to it. After that, I am posting some of the pictures I took as she came down.
Sycamore No More
The beauty we saw that you once had
Has left us forever and we are sad
The base around your mighty trunk
Started to rot and the ground sunk
We heard them come, early one morn
Removing your limbs, our hearts are torn
But we knew the dangers if we let you stay
Winds could break you, your limbs could sway
Watching in sadness, as they took you from us
You said not a word, you made not a fuss
We felt the ground shake while graceful your limbs fell
No longer raised to God, no longer here to dwell
I am a firm believer that all things created by God at some level only, known only by Him, can communicate with Him. And all of His creation is beautiful. Here are a few pictures of the technology now used to take down a tree.
Lower limbs cut first
Going for the topWith a snip of the saw and it is gone
May we always enjoy the beauty of a tree, with the shade it provides, the colors during the different seasons, and even in its death, it provides lumber for building and kindling to keep us warm.
I close with the reminder to be kind. Even trees share and also need kindness.
For the Love of 