While sketching these penguins, I was thinking about how resilient penguins are. It is the very nature of penguins to "stay the course," even in the midst of great danger and hardship. They instinctively "muster on" in the frozen tundra powering through great physical challenges. Just living on the frozen tundra would be enough of a challenge for me, but they also journey 30-40 miles during mating season, far away from their food source on their little legs. They must wobble precariously on their small wobbly feet or glide on their stomachs paddling with their tiny feet. They slip and slide undeterred to reach the area where they will court, mate (just once), nest, incubate and protect their young. Often, for over 100 days in temperatures as low as -80*F, and without food, the male and female take turns returning to the sea (40 miles away) to obtain food to bring back for their young chick. They make this long, dangerous trip over and over again during this period. While waiting, the other penguins huddle together in a big circle (literally, the circle of life) to stay warm. They take turns with the warmest inside spots. The penguins never waver in this pursuit, no matter how difficult the task. So many lessons I draw from the penguins way of life; too apparent to list here, but something to reflect on.

Valentine's Day

This is what my house looked like on Valentine's Day this year. I was surrounded by those I love the most; my wonderful husband (this rose being one of a dozen he gave me), my two fabulous daughters, my awesome son-in-law and Michelle's significant other, Scott DeWeese, and my two fun, and funny grandchildren. Life is good this year, and what could be better than being surrounded by those you love on Valentine's Day? It was not always the case in my growing up years, and I remember many a lonely Valentine's Day when I did not think that anyone loved me. I can think all the way back to grade school when the magnetic pull between boy and girl begins, and I was in love with so many of the cute boys in my class. Back then, we decorated shoe boxes with red crape paper, ribbons, white doilies and anything else that would suggest love. Usually the rule was that everyone in the class got a valentine from everyone else; no one was to be left out, and I was just foolish enough to actually think that if I happened to get one of those three cent valentines that said "Will you be mine?" it really meant something from that cute boy across the isle. In fact, his mom probably wrote out his valentines for him, and he was clueless as to who got which one. In many ways, Valentine's Day is much like New Year's Eve; it is hard to be without a "love" for either of these occasions, but I had plenty of these. I remember many times being in tears. I guess that this is one reason that today I am so grateful when I look around and see how lovingly rich my life is. And to all the singles out there, I want to say, keep the fires burning and the hope alive. True love will come along when you least expect it. It did for me!

Snowy Day to Myself

SNOW, SNOW AND MORE SNOW!!! Yesterday was a beautiful, sunny day so I took my camera and headed out into nature to take some pictures. It was such a lovely day, even though it was cold and snow-filled, but the wind wasn't blowing so it felt warmer than it was. With the sun coming through my car window, it felt delightful as I listened to classical music and drove through the countryside. I was by myself with nothing to do but enjoy the music and nature all around me. I drove for six hours, and went 150 miles, stopping only to have lunch at one of my favorite spots; a wine bistro that serves delicious lunches in a quaint and picturesque dining room. I was out in farm country where I saw cows huddled together against the cold, and beautiful horses running or resting in the snowy pastures; a scene for a Currier & Ives Christmas card. I passed through little towns with nothing more than a gas station and a mechanic shop, and wondered about the lives of all the people who lived there. I loved the quiet and being by myself; to appreciate the beauty all around me; to ponder some of the wonders of the world and my life, and to truly appreciate the simple beauty of life. I recommend a day like this for everyone now and then. It cleared my head and mind, and brought me back home appreciating things I had not even thought about when I started out. Simply lovely.

Fresh Tomatoes

Why is it that today I am thinking of fresh tomatoes that we grow in our garden every year as seen in this picture I took last summer. Every year, my husband, who grew up on a farm, and I "put up" our tomatoes, and when we are finished, we have about 30 quarts of fresh grown tomato sauce to last us through the winter. I am a city girl at heart, but some of the farm traditions that my husband grew up with have seeped into my soul, and this is one of them. Nothing, and I mean nothing, is better in the middle of winter than eating fresh grown tomatoes in spaghetti, chili, or whatever other tomato dish we cook. We are very covetous of these jars of tomatoes and only give a few to family and friends as they are precious indeed. I guess I am thinking about fresh tomatoes today because I am longing for the kind of weather that grows them. The first of February has brought us more of the same overcast cold and gray skies that we had in January. My longing for sunshine and warmer weather runs deep in me, I am sure, as this kind of weather, without question, affects my mood which today is being pulled more into negative energy than positive. Isn't that a nice way to say that I am slightly depressed today? Weather clearly does affect me and no matter how much I try to say to myself, it is only a state of mind, I still feel lousy. Ah, mind over emotions...now that is a subject for another day. For today, I am just happy to be writing on my BLOG, and keeping my head above water.

Lifetime Quotes

Tucked away on the shelf in my office is my book of quotes. This little leather-bound book contains the many quotes that I have been saving over the years, and ones that speak to me now and then. I consider them my road map in life and I often turn to them just to remind myself of things I may have forgotten. Today I want to share some of my favorite quotes with you. My favorite has always been a Persian Proverb that says, "Trust in God, but tie your camel." Here are some others:

"If you have no enemies, you have never done anything." (observation by my father.)

"Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."
(Quote sent to me by my mother in 1978)

"I am too much of a sceptic to deny the possibility of anything." T.H.Huxley (1828-1895)

"Sometimes even to live is an act of courage." Seneca (4B.C.-A.D.65)

"A really busy person never knows how much he weighs." Edger W. Howe (1853-1937)

"Blessed are the forgetful, for they get the better, even of their blunders." Friedrich Nietzche ( 1844-1900)

"There is only one thing about which I am certain, and this is that there is very little about which one can be certain." W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965)

"This above all; to thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man." William Shakespeare. (1564-1616)

"The secret of a good old age is simply an honorable pact with solitude." Gabriel Garcia Marquez
(1928-?)

"We don't receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us, for it is a point of view about things." Marcel Proust (1871-1922)

"In comedy, the best actor plays the part of the droll, while some second rogue is made the hero or fine gentleman. So, in this farce of life, wise men pass their time in mirth, while fools are only serious." Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)

"Noble deeds and hot baths are the best cures for depression." Dodie Smith (1896-?) Who is Dodie Smith???

"The afternoon of human life must have a significance of its own and cannot be merely a pitiful appendage of life's morning." Carl Jung

WINTER STILLNESS

Out my kitchen window, all is quiet

In this midwinter darkness before dawn

Not a bird or rabbit about

Although footprints in the snow

Show me that they are nesting nearby

Hibernating like bears on this winter day

Bundled together against the cold.

And even the wind is not stirring the trees

As all is frozen and still

The sun is not yet visable

But slight light below the gray sky

Gives promise for the day

The brown shrubs and stubs

Stick up from the ground

Where in spring

Green leaves and flowers abound

But not today.....

One color that is still around

Is the prairie grass, which has not

Shed its color of ashen brown

Along with the fir and birch trees

Which give some delight

Their needles and trunks green and white

The chickadees that play in my bushes

Have gone

Their urge to flee, feels just like mine

But on my kitchen window sill

Are the paperwhites I planted in early December

Blooming for the first time today

So a ray of sunshine comes into my heart

And now, with joy, I begin my winter day.

Martin Luther King Day

Today is Martin Luther King Day and I would like to remember him and all the others in history who courageously took the path of non-violence against adversity. I have often heard the human race referred to as "just below the angels," but, often I think that we are really "just above the apes." But we should not despair; we are evolving, and some day, if we survive, we will come to a more peaceful existence. Once a wrote a poem to this effect and I will share it on this special day.

YOU WANTED A MORE PERFECT WORLD

You wanted a more perfect world
You didn't understand
That we are not yet capable
As man
To live a world without hate
A world without fear
A world without war
That rather than being
A little less than angels
We are just above the apes
Like our brothers and sisters of the jungle
Who scratch and bite and hate
To protect their clan, their tribe
Their territory
With the most vicious of intents

You wanted a more perfect world
But you didn't understand
That man has not yet evolved
Above a primal state
To a place
Where love and peace and
Inclusion is the measure of the day

And we have many decades left to travel
To this enlighted state
But, there is reason for hope
As Jane Goodall who lived among our mates
Has said,
We are all a part of the upward movement
In our actions of today
So even though,
You wanted, you expected better
From your fellow man
Don't despair
What you and I do today will
Actualize
Realize
A future world of peace