Category: Beauty in life

Memories

Sometimes, it’s our memories that help us move forward in life. The memories of love shared with family, the memories of fun and eventful experiences, and even the difficult events we encounter give us memories.

I want to share a memory of my family before we’re all gone. Of my original family, we are now down to 2. Below is a picture of the last time we were all together at my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. You can see the small children up front – they are now married with children. A picture of a wonderful memory.

Some memory makers are items that belong to those we love. My mother and I are big collectors of trinkets. Many of her trinkets were Hummel figurines; my trinkets are various animals, including both land and water animals. I even have a Christmas tree that features many animals from the ocean. Below are pictures of a few of my animal trinkets. Elephants have always been special to me, thanks to a memory of a favorite red stuffed elephant that my grandmother gave to me when I was very young.

My animal trinkets even get into my planters for the living room.

Last year, I lost my brother to ALS. The second sibling lost to that horrid disease. My brother’s disease was attributed to dementia, evidently a common occurrence. Today, I received a package from his partner that contained a trinket of my mother’s that my brother had taken when she died because of what it meant to her. I don’t remember much of why it was important, but it stayed prominently on her shelf in the living room. I do remember its name, “Bluto”, because one of the children could not say Pluto. I think it was my oldest sister, but I am not sure.

This is Mickey Mouse’s dog, Pluto.

You can see he is now on the shelf with the rabbits, foxes, and bears. Some of the rabbits and other dogs are in miniature form.

We all have things that remind us of wonderful memories. May they always be fun and loving memories that show the world can always be kind if it will just try.

A New Day

As we start this new day and this new week, lets us enjoy the beauty of it. Not only in what we see but with all of our senses. Below is another snippet from Smiles from Heaven, hope you enjoy.

A New Day

The early dawn broke quietly across the meadow. Dew was heavily laden bending the leaves downward toward the ground. As the sun crested the horizon, the flower faces turned towards it. They soaked in its warmth causing the dew to slip from the leaves. When it splashed to the ground, the sound awakened the sleeping chipmunks to another day of fun adventure. The first one poked his head out to see the beauty of a bright blue sky with the sun skipping through the branches creating patterns of shadow on the ground.

By the time the second chipmunk came to the surface, the birds were starting their symphony of song awakening anything else that was not yet awake.

They all knew that each new day was a gift from God allowing all of creation a brand-new start, a new chance to share kindness, a new hope that all is well. And a reminder that God’s love is always there.

May you have a beautiful new day surrounded with gentleness, love, and kindness. Share your kindness to make it even more beautiful.

Always Be Kind…to all kinds.

FOTD, May 26, Iris

Yes, I am also sending pics of Iris blooms. I have been waiting for the one in my yard to open. It was given to me and I was told it was a lovey yellow…it is not. Its purple, a light purple but not yellow. Today it looks sad so I will wait until another bloom opens to photograph it. However, I have some beautiful blooms from around my church.

I was told that this was an old fashion color. Not sure what that means but it is really lovely.

This next one looks like an iris but the bloom is small, maybe a miniature variety if there is such a thing.

These are such interesting blooms with their shape and color variations. Flowers are another way we can see ourselves. Some of us are smaller, some are more colorful but all of us just want to be loved and show how beautiful, in our own way, we each can be. So remember to be kind so that others can be kind in return. It will make us all happier.

SOCS, March 4, Wild Animals

Linda Hill challenges us on SOCS this week with Wild Animals. Well, technically these are wild but…they were too comical with how they had tied in with humans. The animals I am referring to…the California Sealions at San Francisco. They had commandeered the marina at Pier 39. My daughter and I spent 5 days in San Francisco and the seals were visited daily. Very entertaining.

They reminded me of my daughter’s basset hound where they would bellow and make lots of noise but would not bother sit up.

The wetter seal just came on the dock disturbing those already sleeping causing much bellowing but nobody really get up.

Occasionally you would have a faceoff of two males proving who was the “baddest”. There would be noise, huffing and puffing, and the occasional snapping about…

But then after sufficient noise, they would all lay back down and go to sleep, usually with a head laid across the other. Maybe man should take notice of how seals settle their arguments, ending in peaceful slumber.

The most comical wild animal at the pier was actually a seagull. I was kind of amazed of how much trash was around the area and in the water, especially when they speak of the damage the humans are making by throwing debris into the oceans. But back to the seagull…someone had thrown a small rubber ball in the water and the gull was having a blast. There were about 15 humans being fully entertained by this bird. He would take the ball, throw it in the air, watch it bounce, and then chase it to throw it again.

Sometimes he would throw it in the water and then go after it, bringing it back onto the dock.

It was all very entertaining watching the “wild animals” at Pier 39. But it gave me pause to see how easily animals and humans interacted with each other creating joy or sorrow at the same time. We all need to be more mindful of God’s creation.

I close with a reminder on the value of kindness and that it doesn’t always have to be towards humans. All of creation needs to be dealt with kindly in every way that makes sense. And in my mind, Kindness always makes sense.

Animals understand kindness as well. Always be kind

All photos at top of post are my own. ©Anita’s Hope
No usage allowed in any form without my written consent.

Photos at end of post concerning being kind are downloads from Google

Dittims

For the last two months, I have been among the missing in the blogging world but I have been very busy. September through December is always a busy time with college football. Go Dawgs!

Then November we add more busy as we put up Christmas…and there is a lot of Christmas – 5 big trees, 3 small trees and décor everywhere…

Then two weeks ago was the college football playoffs between four teams…we won our match – Go Dawgs!

Monday night of this week was the National Championship for College Football…again we won…back to back championships…

Go Dawgs…super year.

Then today, after two weeks of intense editing, I was ready to create the cover for my new book. This book has been in the works for seven months and I hope to get it released next month. No, its not about football or Christmas, but it is about a very special dog – Dittims.

Dittims was a very large Great Dane, 189 pounds, mostly white and as some white dogs can be – he was mostly deaf. And later in life, his beautiful blue eyes began to lose sight. Even though I lost him close to nine years ago, I will always remember the lessons he taught me. Regardless of the issues you may have, you can still find joy and the love of life if you allow it to come in. This book was written as an encouragement for those who may be hurting, have lost loved ones or loveable pets, or just need the hope of Heaven to hang on to. Our Real Home is Dittims’ perspective, along with all the other dogs I have had in my life, to share the beauty of Heaven as they see it with biblical scriptures throughout to help back up some of what they are seeing. Yes, it is still fiction, but it brings about the encouraging hope of what is to come for all of us. It’s a compilation of silly stories the dogs share with each other, stories of aching loss on earth replaced with the joys of Heaven and the hopeful chance of a reunion of loved ones in heaven, man and animal alike.

The sample market I have given it to seems to have enjoyed it and if you are an animal lover, I hope you will give it a try. I will announce its release as soon as it is done. And if you are not much of a reader, that is fine, just make sure you love on your pets while you still have them. They have wonderful gifts to share with us if we will only listen and watch.

And as always, I remind you to be kind in all that you do. You never know what angel you may be tending to.

And in Closing…

As we get ready to close out another year, I am again astounded as to how fast this past one went by.

For most of us, its a time of reflection…

Did we remember to enjoy the beauty we saw…the amazing colors of the sunrise or the calming of the sunset? Did we remember to share in the gentleness of smiles we saw, sharing them back with contagious love?

Did we catch a single snowflake on our tongue, feeling its cold but seeing their beauty as they cover the land in white perfection…knowing that no single flake is like another – an astounding reality of creation…much like every man.

Did we pause as we listened to the chirping of the birds or hear the laughter of children as they play? Or maybe we went for a walk and could hear the quiet sounds of nature as she whispers the beauty of life as God intended us to hear.

Did we truly feel the love come though with that hug we received? Did we in turn hug back with that same love, sharing a quick taste of the love to come from God…a love so full it could make you gasp with its power?

Did we remember that the gifts we are given from God are free to us for the mere asking…even though they came at a great cost…a cost we could never fathom to withstand by ourselves.

As we begin to start a new year, let us remember the beauty of this past year, even with it hardships. The hope of God’s love gives us strength even when we feel weak.

Always remember the beauty and power of kindness. It can be brighter than any star and powerful enough to change any direction. For this next year, try a little extra kindness and see how it brightens your new year.

FOTD, Snow Bloom

I have been so busy lately. I have not had the chance to visit but I always had my camera (ie, my phone) along and I wanted to share this photo of our first snow back in November.

The dianthus had been beautiful all summer and even with the snow, it was showing a different side of beauty. Now that we are approaching the colder months, let your kindness warm the hearts of those around you.

Always Be Kind

SOCS, Nov 5

I fully realize today, in my time zone, is Friday morning BUT I loved the idea of tomorrows SOCS prompt. My Saturday is going to be out of control busy so I are doing it today.

My favorite word is a word of action or an expansive adjective, and sometimes it can be an adverb. Its a word that is uses in every language on earth. Its an action that is used by every creature ever made that shows our inner hearts. It is a characteristic of one of the nine fruits of the spirit mentioned in the book of Galatians. It is the forerunner of all things beautiful. I close every post I create with it in some form. That word is….Kindness.

Kindness in any of its many forms, like kind, kindly, kinder… etc. is a base word for growing beauty. Think of all the actions you do on a daily basis but kindness is where you start from…like love, sharing, gentleness. It is a word we should always have in our pockets to use at any given moment. The dictionary has 197 synonyms and antonyms for the word kind proving the power of this one tiny word. Animals use it within their family units but how often do you hear about an animal reaching out to a different specie with an act of kindness and even protection of the other specie. I could tell you countless stories I have read, the most recent from National Geographic about a diver and a whale. It happens more than we know.

Kindness can be as simple as sharing a smile, a soft hello to someone scared, or a much needed hug from which you also benefit. It is a word we ALL benefit from so let’s use it often and help the world become a better place.

Always Be Kind

Tuesday Writing Challenge

Devereaux Frazier and Beth Amanda are currently hosting the Tuesday Writing Prompt Challenge which was started by our star writer Christine Ray. We hope to offer all of you something that will spark your creativity and willingness to participate.

Todays prompt: Write a poem using the words “crescent”, “timeless”, and “sliver”

Crescent Light

Crescent moon rising over the Tokyo bay area by Kyoshino

I stare above at the crescent of light

Beauty so timeless if gives me freight

It reflects on the water as a silver light

With stars of heaven that seem so bright

Shining like diamonds on the darkest of night

I relax in peace at this magnificent sight.

Anita Neal

There are many things we see in the journey of life that makes us pause, staring at the beauty arounds us and make us grateful for where we are at that one moment. May we never get bored of the beauty we see. And as always, remember to always be kind. It has a beauty all its own.