Value of Old

To the many gifted photographers who pictures I admire and will periodically use, I thank you for you fabulous gift. It allows us in this blogging world to use them for the expansion of our imagination by taking them yet to another medium. Today’s picture came from Jansenphoto of Dutch Goes the Photo on Living in a Square World . Coming from grandparents that had farms, the pictures really struck me one in particular. Go check out his work and enjoy my take on his picture.

Old milk bucket

RUSTY OLD MILK CAN

It’s just an old milk can, some people would say,

But what if it could talk and tell of its day.

It would tell of its stories when the farm ran strong,

Amazing in it wonders for days were so long.

It sits in the yard now, its value no longer needed

As time and life march by, it’s worth totally unheeded.

Is this all there is to be, it wonders in dismay

As metal begins to flake and the rust eats away.

In same manner of this can, is this how we treat man?

As he begins to decline and struggles to stand.

How sad are we, who deftly refuse to see

The profound value of life, regardless of it’s age to be

To understand its wisdom and love still to give

So that the young may learn, for a better life to live.

As we all go through this life, remember it is all a cycle. So remember to be kind through your cycle so that hopefully the cycle will in turn be kind to you.

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Detective Tin

I am so excited to say I now have a new toy…my computer has not been replaced and man is it nice. I can open a new page in seconds instead of minutes. But I can say my old computer was the top of the line…11 years ago. So to christen it with love I will make my first post fun to help dispel the horrid weather we are still having with more snow this evening. I posted this picture a week or so ago to get ideas of a story and Shelley’s of Quaint Revival was the best. She and I are both kinda quirky so it fit my brain well. Enjoy and laugh along. If you have other short ideas about this picture, feel free to add in the comments. The object is to have fun and enjoy each others art, regardless of medium.

eagle dog

“You know,” muffled Officer Tin as his mouth was full, “if you would just hit the sky, we could catch this guy a lot faster.”

“Nope. Your the knot-head that was determined that I come along. You could have left the branch and me on the tree and we would have been fine.”

“I needed you help, you eye in the sky as it were.”

“Just because you wanted me to come does not mean I am going to help you look.”

“But you always help” exclaimed Officer Tin.

“Not today. I have a headache and you are not helping.”

“Well, the faster you help, the faster you can get home…but you will need a new branch, sorry.”

“Oh, good grief!”

eagle 1

“I think he went down in the valley,” shouted Office Tin spitting the branch to the ground.

eagle 2

“I see him,” the eagle muttered to himself. “Looks like Tin has help coming from the opposite direction as well. Oh, and there is lunch.”

eagle 4

“You have reinforcements coming on the other side of the valley. Head straight and you will corner him off.”

“Thanks. Hey what is in you claws?”

“Lunch. You are own you on, kiddo. I am outta here.”

Hope my quirkiness brought you a smile on such a dreary day. And as I always close with reminders of kindness, remember during these stressful winter times, kindness is like the warming ray of sunshine and we all need some of that. So be kind.

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Waiting for Spring, Twitter tales #122

Why so anxious, we know not why

Phil said,”There’s more to come by”

We stare at the radar as more winter is coming

As rain and sleet start falling and icicles are forming

So closing our eyes, we dream of far warmer places

With a healing warmth of sunshine, for our toes and our faces.

Kat’s prompt for Twittering Tales #122 – It starts with one word, challenged us with to be creative. Mine turned more into poetry than flash fiction but creative all the same.

Remember also the warmth of Kindness.

Welcome February, Photoaday

After a record breaking month of cold and snowfall for January of over 40″ and -34 degrees…good riddance. Hello February with a bright morning sunrise. Please be a kind month.

Come play along with Citysonnet’s Photo A Day challenge. It promises to be amazing.

And as always, remember to be kind. kindness3

An Evening Chuckle Before Bed

I saw this photo and chuckled out loud making Mimi wake from snoring as she snuggled under her blanket on the sofa and looking at me like something was alarming. Our pets can so make us laugh so I am sending the first picture in honor of Shelley’s cats over at Quaint Revival. They always have interesting stories about us hoomans.

catlizzard — Hooman I need you assistance as this prehistoric creature bited me.

The other picture is my crazy dog Mimi trying to entertain herself tonight in negative temps and many inches of snow because she did not want to come in. She was jumping up hitting the leaning over evergreen. When she realized just how cold she was getting she came running in.

img_20190131_181405 — She already pulled the icicles off and ate those.

Yes our pets do entertain us from time to time. It is what makes them special to us. And as my closing always speaks of kindness and we are talking of our pets, I though I would share some of my favorite pictures of animals showing kindness. We could learn a lot from them.

And one more chuckle… animalkind9

Favorite This Far, JusJoJan-last

Linda is winding up Just Jot January with us sharing a favorite post from the last year or month. I have not been blogging but a few months(Aug 2018) so I will just go with a favorite of mine plus one that seems to get a lot of likes for it. It started first as a picture from Irene of Heaven’s Sunshine and I loved that photo so much I wrote a poem about it. Since it is a small poem, I will just repost it all here.

TO THE TOP for THE BOTTOM

One of the most enjoyable things about blogging is the amazing photographers, professional and non-professional that share their photographs for all to enjoy. A lot of the photographs that are shared are due to various challenges as the one I will be sharing with you today, well technically it’s night (2:30 am)but I couldn’t sleep so I am writing.

Irene from Heaven’s Sunshine was following the challenge for stairs from Pic And A Word by Patrick Jennings. Her picture was so inspiring to me, I told her I was going to write about it, so I did. I hope you enjoy it and do stop by Irene’s blog for some wonderful pictures.

Steps to the Cross — Bailly Cemetery – Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

THE CLIMB

I see and maintain it still is not fair,

I have nothing to lay at the top of the stair.

It’s not my fault, I did nothing wrong,

Well, maybe I did, it’s just been so long.

How long has it been since I climbed to the top,

I remember it’s relief, Why did I stop?

How can a symbol of such astounding grief,

Be given to us to bring so much relief?

With love so amazing, to the cross did He die,

To flood us with gratitude that still makes us cry.

The burdens we carry don’t always seem fair,

Always we can lay them at the top of the stair.

The first step looks brittle, can it carry my weight?

This burden is heavy and may seal my dire fate.

As I touch each step and climb ever higher,

Is this what I should do, is this really my desire?

As I clear the last step, the cross is before me,

I question my worth, did He also die for me?

As my knees get bent, I am smothered by His grace,

And I lay all my burdens at the accepting cross base.

– Anita Tillman Neal –

Always remember there is a burden carrier and it isn’t you. Scripture tells us repeatedly that He is there to carry our burdens for us, we just have to be willing to give them to Him.

crossburden

And as always, I remind everyone the much loaded value of kindness. Carry it with you where ever you go and share it as much as possible.

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Wintry Blast, #1LinerWed/JusJoJan

Prayerfully waiting for the 60+ degree warm-up on Saturday of 40+ degree highs with one sentence but many pictures. Thanks to John for the picture I am copying as it helps give the visual of…GOOD GRIEF!

And this is my local area. Live within 15 minutes of the Quad City Intl Airport @ -52

So with Linda’s One Liner Wednesday combined with almost the last Just Jot January, we bid you warmth and kindness.

But even in the cold the beauty of life can still show its marvelous head.

img_20190130_101712 (1) — Birds gotta eat

I remind you of the warmth of kindness even on a cold blustery day.

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Dirty, Just Jot January

Linda G Hill with the final guest prompt by Jim has challenged us with “dirty”. Right now I am more consumed with snow and cold than dirt but I have heard cold being called “stinking cold”. Stinking usually refers to something really smelly dirty. So I am going with the cold being dirty. At least it is leaving a mess at my front door.

img_20190129_144415 — Dried melted salt and salt crystals in the carpet

I just came in from getting the mail and these new pictures and the current temp is 3 degrees and steadily falling with the onslaught of this polar vortex. Temps to drop to an estimated -22 with a wind chill of -51. For all of you also in this dirty stinking cold, stay inside as much as possible. I am praying we don’t get further damage from this cold air mass. Sunday we will be basking in heat at 44 degrees. That’s 60 degrees warmer so it will feel great.

I am adding in a few pictures of the snow. While I know it is silly to post snow pictures but being from south Georgia, this is not a normal scene for me. So chuckle with me and stay warm.

While the angle is not good, the snow is knee high and drifted higher in some areas.

The mound in the center of the yard is the Christmas decorations and a small live Christmas tree. The decorations may have to wait until spring to get remove.

img_20190129_142606_1 — Archway over the sidewalk

I hope these evergreens are resilient enough to straighten back up with spring.

Even though we are stinking dirty cold, we can always be crystal clean kind. Sometimes when things are under stress, kindness is more important, more needed and much loved on the receiving end. So remember to be kind.

snow kindness

What is or Who can be a Photographer, #JusJoJan

Cutting is down to the basics, in my mind, a photographer is one who has a eye for capturing and balancing the right angle of a subject to reveal an awe inspiring moment that makes the rest of us drool at its beauty whether it is a split second action shot or the beautiful contrast of nature at it best…or worse in some cases. Who are these photographers? Anyone who has the passion for being able to capture these awe inspiring moments. There are some amazing photographers I have seen in this bloggosphere world – if that is such a word, spell check says no, but I am sure you all know what I am talking about.

Examples of amazing photos I enjoy come from experts like jansenphoto of Dutch Goes the Photo, Irene of Heaven’s Sunshine, Debbie Smyth of Travel With Intent, Norm 2.0, Pedrol, and so many more. Check out their work as it truly is amazing. Then you have people who love photography and take pictures to add to their fun as they blog like me, and Shelley, Laurie, Dan, and again so many more people. Photography, while it can be very technical, it speaks to the eye then quickly moving to the heart to be shared in awe for all viewers. A wonderful and fun medium of expression.

I say all this to be able to share a meteorological phenomenon that I saw today called a Sun Dog. I had never seen or even heard of one until someone told me what it was.

Sun dog

Description

A sun dog or mock sun, formally called a parhelion in meteorology, is an atmospheric optical phenomenon that consists of a bright spot to one or both sides of the Sun. Two sun dogs often flank the Sun within a 22° halo.Wikipedia

Yea, what he said. Regardless it was amazing to see. Oh, and the temp was -8, with a wind chill of -30 degrees. Really? This is western Iowa, not Alaska.

img_20190125_083830

So sometimes photography is being at the right spot at the right time, like I was this morning. About an hour later it was snowing again. Total for the year so far is over 40″ (its still January) with another 4-8″ possible on Sunday thru Monday. That’s a lot of snow for someone who was raised in south Georgia, 15 minutes north of the Florida border. Now I am trying to balance 20 pounds of clothes to keep from freezing to death.

But even in the cold you can still find time to be kind, maybe even more so. So I remind all, of the wonderful attribute of kindness. I promise, sharing it will balance your day.

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