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.
Those of you who travel, have seen a lot of different things, and can sometimes be bored by museums and stuff…for me, I could go back and spend the entire day at The Met. The Museum of Modern Art was nice and we went to see the three paintings we wanted to see. Because we were on a tight schedule to make sure we got to see the “Must see” items, we were limited by time for each museum.
For MoMA, Museum of Modern Art, the goal was Starry Night by Vincent Van Gough.
Starry Night by Vincent Van Gough, painted 1889
But while there found others close by that we also wanted to see.
The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali, 1931
What surprised me about both of these painting was how small they were. Not that that was a distraction but compared to Claude Monets Water-Lilies, which covered an entire wall(a big wall), the size contrast were surprising.
One panel of Claude Monet’s Water Lilies, Painted 1914-1926
This is why art is subjective to each individual but amazing to all regardless. When we went to The Met, we each had a must see item. To my daughter it was the Egyptian exhibit and to me it was the armor room with life size horses in their armored shields. I don’t know how they even moved. And the weight, good grief.
Same thought goes with the Knights in shining armor, how in the world did they move. And I can’t imagine how hot they were.
Love this guy with his boots and spurs.
While the armor was confined in a large expansive room, the Egyptian exhibit was several rooms, including a life size replica of a temple.
This sarcophagus was empty but the inside lid was carved.
Museums are not just amazing things to see from an artist’s mind, but the history they tech us is well worth exploring them. We hope to go back and just do a museum run so that we can explore more there.
If you go see the sights of any city, remember to be respectful and kind. I was taken back by the kindness we found in a huge city of New York and having spent most of my young adult life in Atlanta, this was surprising. Maybe the tragedy of 9/11 reminded all of us of the power and purpose of kindness.
While I am technically not located in Hail Alley (those states in the center of the country from Texas to North Dakota), Iowa can still see some damage from hail. Today is March 3rd and where I come from hail comes from those tall thunderheads during the summer…its not even spring yet. (Sigh) But as the saying goes…and it works pretty good for Iowa…If march comes in like a lamb, it will go out like a lion or if it comes in like a lion it goes out like a lamb. I would not call this coming in like a lion but get whiz this stuff hurts when you are running to your house from the car. Hopefully this small pea size hail did not dent my car.
Bouncing on the roof like tiny ping pong balls
Nope, its not snow.
More non-snow
Poor plant trying to come back from his winter nap.
Well here’s hoping the rest of March is calm…wouldn’t bet on it but you can always hope. Even though Mother Nature is choosing not to be kind, we can outdo her and always be kind.
Will we ever be able to stand by one another in unity and peace?
It would be like fresh cool water from a spring being poured over our heads to cool the unrelenting heat of anger that we don’t even understand.
Will we ever be able to support one another in unity and peace?
It would be like adding a soothing ointment that softens the wounds of war and heals the ugly scars we cause on one another.
Will we ever be able to love one another in unity and peace?
It would be like the valleys of heaven descended upon us to show us the beauty and kindness of life that we all were supposed to enjoy.
Will we ever be able?
This poem was first published in Reflections & Revelations, The Short of It, Volume 2, 2022.
It was based on Psalm 133 of the Bible, NIV version. So many of the Psalms are prayer songs that tried to understand the meanness of the world while hoping for better days.
We will never understand the meanness, hurt, and desolation of war. Our inner nature is to love…as he first loved, so war makes no sense.
When we visited the 9/11 Memorial in New York City, the immensity of that place was hallowed. No loud sounds could be heard from other onlookers. Even the sounds of the city seemed muted. Soft cries from people were heard as they placed their hands on the memorial wall that surrounded the massive holes in the ground. The walls surrounding the fountain was filled with the names of loved ones who were killed in the towers or rescue workers who were killed trying their best to save at least one person. Memories of that day still fill my mind, as I was in the Atlanta airport getting ready to board a plane when the airport was shut down. Knives and box cutters were later found in the trashcans around the airport proving another plane was scheduled to be used. How could that much hate be filtered into people against other people? In my mind and heart, I know why but I still ask the questions of why. Below are pictures I took while we were at the memorial. While we don’t want to dwell on this particular travesty, we need to pray for the hatred and unrest filling our planet in so many locations. And we lift our arms to God above to come quickly before we fully implode in anger.
The massive holes in the ground from the destruction of these two building were turned into fountains. In the background is the new 1 Tower World Trade Center building.
More than 2,000 lives were taken that day.
This is a bronze memorial for this horrific day and the many rescue workers that tried to make a difference. They did.
The Oculus Transportation Hub of the World Trade center.
The ceiling inside the Oculus BldgInside the Oculus
Around the Oculus are wonderful statues by Gillie and Marc proving the beauty of wildlife and animals. Their whimsical art statues of animals doing things humans do gives you a light smile for a very sad place because people are not the only creatures on this planet that are purposely attacked.
Rabbit and Elephant share a book and a coffeeDog and Rhino are in an intense game of chess
The entire gang is out for a ride in the big city leaving an open seat for anyone to join.
We should always remember that if we try, truly try, we can find goodness in each of us and can work together to find and maintain happiness. It starts with being kind.
I am honored to be part of “The Short of It” group of writers who share their work with each other. Come follow Susi Bocks as she shares her writing and many others with poetry, microwritings, and fun ways to play with words.
And as always, I remind to to be kind. You never know who may need your kindness.
Cee’s Which Way Challenge has given us a wide-open opportunity to share where we have been, how we got there, and where others can go to have fun. Since I have been sharing some fun from my New York trip, let’s add a few of those here.
The ever-changing colors of the stairs in FAO Swartz.
Subway – For getting anywhere you want to go in NYC
Bethesda Terrace and its many steps
Riding in a jet and seeing the many roads and bridges of New York City below.
Remember, regardless of the size of your city, regardless of your broken or not broken circumstances, No Act of Kindness is ever wasted.
Our trip was a fast 4 day adventure taking us from one end of the island to the other. While there, we saw many beautiful, amazing, and a few sad sights. Below are a few of the miscellaneous sights we saw that we enjoyed.
Carnegie Hall. What a beautiful way to dress up an ordinary brick building with painted-on windows.
The front of Carnegie was being worked on so scaffolding hid the front entrance.
Every city has homeless people but I admired the gentle spirit of this one as he shared what he had with the birds and they adored him for it.
“Who you gonna Call?” Ghost Busters! The firehouse used in the iconic movie Ghost Busters is an actual working fire station in New York City and they are good hearted enough to allow crazy fans…like me…to take photos of them and their station.
F A O Swartz…oh, what a store. I could spend hours there, after all, I am just a big kid. Loved the zebra but don’t think he would fit on the plane.
Who doesn’t love animated farm animals?
If you are going to go to NYC, you have to try New York cheesecake and New York Style Pizza. One slice of pizza is a meal!
And the reviews were not wrong. It was the best Pizza I have ever had.
The beauty in the mixture of old architecture and new showed the life of a city that is ever growing.
High End apartments on 5th Ave were something to see.Because of my background, the Chrysler Building was a favorite.Taking an old church and repurposing it for the community
Then you had the opulence of 5th Avenue. A bit too much for my taste.
Sax of 5thAlmost gaudy door topper and statue.
Then the night scenes around Times Square.
Or daytime…
New York City is so diverse, that everyone can find something they enjoy. I came away with an understanding that I did not expect to find and I mentioned it in one of my other post. As a whole, the residents of NYC are kind proving how easy kindness can be shared. Always remember the beauty of kindness.
Someone asked us before we left for New York City, what did we plan to do. One of the main things we wanted to see was the Public Library. This person could not understand why a library. Besides there being a copy of the Gutenberg Bible, the library is also a museum of printed works. Plus the building was fabulous. During my early career, I was a drafting designer, before we had computers to do that for us. We drew with pencils while standing up to a huge drawing board. How technology has changed but the beauty of the buildings in NYC from the 1800s is still something to see. So, if you never get a chance to see this library, I hope you enjoy this long post of things that I marveled at in a building of books. I took over 50 pictures in this one building but I promise I won’t post them all.
The Main Entrance
The Library has been guarded on either side by massive lion statues, named Patience and Fortitude since the library dedication on May 23, 1911.
On either side of the entrance are fountains. It is February so they are not running but still beautiful.
Once we got inside I was amazed at the ceilings of marble, mosaics, and inlayed wood.
Main Entrance
And the marble columns with their beautiful patterns were striking, but then again I am a design nerd.
Now for some printed inspiration. Having a quasi interesting in writing myself, these ancient works give you quiet pause.
I tried to figure out where in the bible this was but couldn’t. But regardless, the very first printing of a book as we know it today, in 1455, was a Bible.
There is a book of Shakespeare’s works and a score of Mozart’s Music.
Then coming to a more modern era and closer to home, there are copies of the Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights and letters of Washington’s Farewell address, and the book showing the beauty of birds by John Audubon.
And on a softer whimsical note, there is a constant audio playing of the reading of Winnie the Pooh.
Winnie is a good place to stop and remind us of the power and beauty of kindness that should always be displayed to man and beast alike. Where in the world would we be without kindness. May we never find out.
For the Love of 