Escapist Coloring Club, May

Boy do we need to escape from this mess now, and this is a great way to do that. Some of us are busier than ever and some are at a snail pace. I am somewhere in the middle but lean more toward the snail. I wanted to color something to make it feel like spring, even though we are still in long sleeve.

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Come join in the our fun way to relieve stress get in touch with your inner child. Linda G Hill hosts this prompt once a month as The Escapist Coloring Club Prompt.

And remember to always be kind with all people and all creatures, especially when things are so unhappy. You may never realize the affect you have in doing so.

be kind

Beauty In Life, SMM

Irene of Heaven’s Sunshine has a Monday post of macro photography, and while I only have my cell phone, it does a pretty decent job. Since my state is “shelter in place” we are not out and about but after the spring snow from last night, about 2 inches, I just had to walk around the block. It was early and no one much was out but the distinct sound of the wood peckers tat-tat-tat could be heard as it echoed through the quiet morning. The first couple of pictures follow the “macro” theme but I am also including the beauty I saw this morning of the naked trees draped in the graceful beauty of white as they stretch their limbs toward heaven, something we need to do as well in this time of challenge and sadness. May you all be safe during this time.

Hope you enjoy a few of the 40+ pictures I took from this best kind of snow – beauty with clear streets – not that I am going anywhere…

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And as always, remember the beauty of life, even in dark times. There is always a silver lining even though it may be too small to see – it can be felt.

Isaiah encouragement

CFFC, Fun With the Past

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge allows us to bring fun from our archives or new pictures that reflect ideas from the picture above : Mural, covered bridge, car, green, grass, vintage car, people, trees, road, flowers, landscape, sidewalk, or come up with your own topic.

So below are some of my pictures of the past. Since we are venturing out less right now, I felt this was a fun way to deal with the self quarantine.

Mural, one of several from my town, Rock Island Illinois:

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Centennial Bridge between Iowa and Illinois and blue sky:

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Flowers, can’t wait until spring:

Landscape & trees around town:

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Old cars:

We are now in a time of more fear and resentment and the need for kindness and patience is drastically needed more than ever. Remember to always be kind especially when others are not. Be the light they need.

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The Best Kind of Snow, JusJojan, #SoCS

It is January which means it’s winter in the northern hemisphere which means in some areas the “S” word has arrived. We try not to say that word much here in hopes it stays away. Yea, that didn’t work for Halloween this year with 4 inches and low 20 temperatures. But I have for a picture of today’s snow, the best kind of snow – Snowed all night but due to the warmth of December, the roads were still warm and therefore the roads are still clear. So the trees were beautifully covered. The sky cleared a short while before turning back to winter gray and I was able to grab this picture.

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It is amazing to me how hard wood tree twist and turn their limbs for their leaves to get the best sunshine. Even nature knows what is best for it and it tries to get there. We humans sometimes over think things and go way in the wrong direction.

As we push into this new year guiding ourselves in the direction we think is best, let us take a cue from nature and find the best direction.

And as we search for that direction, think of the beauty of fresh fallen snow, its purity and beauty and remember to cover everything with kindness.

Kind snow

The Area’s Official Start

Today was the Festival of Trees Parade. This is the kickoff of the Christmas season for Quad Cities(Iowa/Illinois). In the Davenport Civic Center is where the Festival of Trees is sponsored – a fantastic array of fully decorated trees created by businesses for bidding on as a charity event. It has some amazing artistic display for those who are crafty to get their ideas turning for their own trees.

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But the event is kicked off in the morning with the Festival of Trees Parade with huge balloons, bands, and I am told hot chocolate but have yet to find it.

But what this does for me is get me fully in Christmas mode. Today I decorated outside, so the only thing left to do is the mantle above the fireplace in my bedroom. I will get that finished tomorrow.

But for today’s fun post, I will start showing off more of my Christmas. I will start with the “formal” tree that is in the living room. This tree has only white lights and white or silver ornaments, some with a touch of color. I have it on top of the coffee table to keep the puppy’s interest out of reach. It also has the painted ceramic puppies I painted this year beneath it and the other normal other things that are usually under this tree.

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For today’s featured piece of my village, I give you the municipal buildings, ie. City Hall, Lawyer office and the police station. I enjoyed doing these as my father and my brother both are in the corporate legal filed.

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The string of lights running under the little building makes them a little off centered, but I really like the lights shining through the windows. It reminds me of the verse from II Corinthians 4:6 saying to let the light shine out of the darkness. I think that is what Christmas does for me, a reminder of Jesus light and how he was us to shine our love and kindness the way that he did.

The First of Fall

I love the reds of the dogwood, sugar maple and the other trees who really have red leaves before they are invaded by chlorophyll turning them green. The yellows and gold are really rich and nice but I love the reds the best. It was cloudy today but still the reds were beautiful. It is supposed to be sunny on Saturday so I will take some more pictures then. The reds against a clear cold sky in fall are amazing.

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Each season has its own beauty, yes, even winter can be exquisite, and for a southern girl, that is a pretty big statement. So enjoy this season as the northern hemisphere prepares to sleep and remember the beauty of all of God’s creation.

And with beauty comes smiles, and with smiles comes kindness. Always remember the beauty of kindness and share as you can.

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Back Catalog, TPC

Photography is a wonderful means to create reminders of things we saw, things that move us and pull us back to that memory or things that scare us. The photo I am submitting saddens me each time I see it and recently I drove back out there and it is still the same. I ask the question to my self as I have no idea who to ask but …”Why is this allowed to remain this way?”

Death and crash of a tree in a place of remembrance for those who have live.

B&W grave — Grave was created 100 years ago

I changed this to black and white with heightened light and clarity to give it a more lost look of apathy. Fits in with this month celebration, as some do, of death.

Life that goes to fast to remember is a life not worth living. It is our story, good and bad, that makes us who we are. And nothing is all bad…there is always a silver lining somewhere, you just have to find it.

It is my Christian belief that we all have a purpose on this earth to share the gifts God has given us and he has given all gifts…love, kindness, blessings…the air we breathe. And I believe we are all meant to share his attributes in any way we can. So as you go about your day, try to remember to show kindness in any way you can.

Kind breeze

Jekyll and Hyde

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, while they are fictional characters by Robert Louis Stevenson, is a phrase we use for people having multiple ways of behaving. I think I can now use that phrase for my new puppy. Precious as she can be but coming from a large litter I think she may have been the alpha pup.

This afternoon, she had her supper, played with Mimi a bit went outside and did all her business so I though it would be safe to go downstairs to discuss supper options. Five minutes. Yea, wrong idea…

Last week a storm came through and I didn’t get the banana tree in before the wind did some damage to the two lower leaves and I had not trimmed them as I should have. Now they were hanging within reach for tug-a-war. The tree obviously lost the battle but maybe not the war. The main stem was not damaged and the ball was okay so we will see.

Reminder to self…puppies can become Mr. Hyde in a heartbeat. Prepare. She spent some time in timeout to settle down and now the vacuum has become public enemy #1. Well, it was noisy, so OK.

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And that can be a reminder to us all, that while we can sometime feel like Mr. Hyde we need to remember the damage it can cause. So let us always focus on being kind.

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A Fun Morning, Garden & Challenges

After an exceptionally busy week, I am glad to have today to myself. I need to cut grass but it will still be there tomorrow. So I decided to go the Vander Veer Botanical Park and walk around. Besides the play area for the children, there are winding sidewalks through the flowers, several fountains and the pond that the ducks and geese love. With all that I saw I actually got neat shots for several challenges so this is a 5 in 1 post tying several wonderful bloggers and their challenges in one post. With Nancy Merrill’s weekly challenge of Yellow, Cee’s Fun Photo Challenge of Tree, Granny Shot It’s 2 challenges of Bird of the Day and Water Water Everywhere and finishing off with Cee’s Flower of the Day, almost forgot about that one.

The fun we can have experiencing each others challenges only helps us to grow more and sometimes experience life with a little different view.

Starting at the top with Nancy’s challenge of yellow, evidently that is the theme for this season. Much beautiful yellow was spread in this particular section of the park. With star shaped beds, raised beds, flower shaped beds all nestled around a historical fountain to bring in Granny’s Water challenge.

The fountain shots are in sequence of the water flow timers.

On the other side of the park is the duck pond with many ducks and geese who know that people will feed them from the corn dispenser provided. And the geese are funny chasing off others of their clan showing who is boss. I thought BOTD fit well here, they all wanted to be picked as top bird of the day.

At the edge of the park is a very old tree that is beginning to look rough but still holding its own. Said to be the largest of it specie growing in the US. This is placed in with Cee’s CFFC for tree.

And last but not at all least is Cee’s FOTD, a closeup of one of the yellow mum like daisy beauties. I love it when there are flowers inside a flower. So cool. Things I would never have noticed before taking close up pictures of flowers. You learn every day if you allow it.

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With all this fun you can’t help but smile at the beauty surrounding you. So lets reflect this beauty with kindness and make the world a happier place.

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More yellow flowers.

The Beauty of The Tree

Piercing Through the Trees — Summer Beauty

The Beauty of the Tree

I can hear it coming, the deep thundering in the distant

I dare not move for fear of losing this peace in a instant

The sun seeps through the canopy above

A quiet calling of a dove

I ponder the quiet around me

Embracing the beauty I see

I raise my heart to heaven in hopes that God will hear

With shadows of forest surrounding, a reminder of Eden so dear

Forgive us our dear Father for your beauty we do not see

Help us always to remember the beauty of the tree.

Anita Neal

Today, Irene of Heavens Sunshine posted this beautiful picture trees and it reminded me of the Garden of Eden and how magnificent it must have been. An untouched creation of God. It gives me hope of the beauty of heaven.

Check out other picture from Irene’s blog as well as all the many photographers in this blogging world that continually remind us of the beauty of this world.

And as always remember to be kind in all you do to help regain some of the beauty of all of creation.

Kindness roots