Evening, Wisdom and Beauty

People are like stained-glass windows.
They sparkle and shine when the sun is out,
but when the darkness sets in,
their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.
-Elizabeth Kubler-Ross



No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
-Eleanor Roosevelt



Even on the highest throne in the world, we are still sitting on our ass.
Michel de Montaigne (1533 - 1592)



The heart has its reasons that reason knows nothing of.
Blaise Pascal, Pensées, 1670



Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you'd have preferred to talk.
Doug Larson

Shadow Shot Sunday!

Shadow Shot Sunday is delightfully hosted by Tracy at Hey Harriet and it's a great way to have fun with your camera -- well, actually it becomes more like an obsession, but I won't go into that right now! Just click here, sign up become obsessed like the rest of us!



I have a little of everything today. This first shot is in front of our house -- lovely natural tree shadows and high tech that invades everything these days. No, I'm not complaining -- I would have none of these toys without high tech! Just an observation!

 

This is a lamp post on the main street of the little town in Texas where my grandparents lived and where I spent my summers as a child. And, no, it didn't look exactly like this then -- it's been dressed up a a bit even though it isn't much larger than it was when I was little. They were having a street fair the day one of my cousins took this shot to send to me.

 

Last, but not least, my favorite color shadow along with a chair back -- I was rearranging furniture, had to stop and run get the camera.

 

Have a great day!

Evening, Wisdom and Beauty

Every man is a damn fool for at least five minutes every day; wisdom consists in not exceeding the limit. ~Elbert Hubbard



How can you be a sage if you're pretty? You can't get your wizard papers without wrinkles. ~Bill Veeck



Count the garden by the flowers, never by the leaves that fall. Count your life with smiles and not the tears that roll. ~Author Unknown



Nothing takes the taste out of peanut butter quite like unrequited love. ~Charlie Brown



Wisdom doesn't necessarily come with age. Sometimes age just shows up all by itself. ~Tom Wilson

Why We Love Kids!

From one of my non-blogging friends who manages to keep me in the fun stuff -- and these days I need all the fun I can find! So, have another cup of whatever floats your boat and have a giggle or two!

1) NUDITY
I was driving with my three young children one warm summer evening when a woman in the convertible ahead of us stood up and waved. She was stark naked! As I was reeling from the shock, I heard my 5-year-old shout from the back seat, 'Mom, that lady isn't wearing a seat belt!'

2) OPINIONS
On the first day of school, a first-grader handed his teacher a note from his mother. The note read, 'The opinions expressed by this child are not necessarily those of his parents .'

3) KETCHUP
A woman was trying hard to get the ketchup out of the jar. During her struggle the phone rang so she asked her 4-year-old daughter to answer the phone.. 'Mommy can't come to the phone to talk to you right now. She's hitting the bottle.'

4) MORE NUDITY

A little boy got lost at the YMCA and found himself in the women's locker room. When he was spotted, the room burst into shrieks, with ladies grabbing towels and running for cover. The little boy watched in amazement and then asked, 'What's the matter, haven't you ever seen a little boy before?'

5) POLICE # 1
While taking a routine vandalism report at an elementary school, I was interrupted by a little girl about 6 years old. Looking up and down at my uniform, she asked, 'Are you a cop? Yes,' I answered and continued writing the report My mother said if I ever needed help I should ask the police. Is that right?' 'Yes, that's right,' I told her. 'Well, then,' she said as she extended her foot toward me, 'would you please tie my shoe?'

6) POLICE # 2
It was the end of the day when I parked my police van in front of the station. As I gathered my equipment, my K-9 partner, Jake, was barking, and I saw a little boy staring in at me. 'Is that a dog you got back there?' he asked.
'It sure is,' I replied.
Puzzled, the boy looked at me and then towards the back of the van. Finally he said, 'What'd he do?'

7) ELDERLY
While working for an organization that delivers lunches to elderly shut-ins, I used to take my 4-year-old daughter on my afternoon rounds. She was unfailingly intrigued by the various appliances of old age, particularly the canes, walkers and wheelchairs. One day I found her staring at a pair of false teeth soaking in a glass. As I braced myself for the inevitable barrage of questions, she merely turned and whispered, 'The tooth fairy will never believe this!'

8) DRESS-UP
A little girl was watching her parents dress for a party. When she saw her dad donning his tuxedo, she warned, 'Daddy, you shouldn't wear that suit.'
'And why not, darling?'
'You know that it always gives you a headache the next morning.'

9) DEATH
While walking along the sidewalk in front of his church, our minister heard the intoning of a prayer that nearly made his collar wilt. Apparently, his 5-year-old son and his playmates had found a dead robin. Feeling that proper burial should be performed, they had secured a small box and cotton batting, then dug a hole and made ready for the disposal of the deceased.
The minister's son was chosen to say the appropriate prayers and with sonorous dignity intoned his version of what he thought his father always said: 'Glory be unto the Faaather, and unto the Sonnn, and into the hole he goooes.' (I want this line used at my funeral!)

10) SCHOOL
A little girl had just finished her first week of school. 'I'm just wasting my time,' she said to her mother. 'I can't read, I can't write, and they won't let me talk!'

11) BIBLE
A little boy opened the big family Bible. He was fascinated as he fingered through the old pages. Suddenly, something fell out of the Bible He picked up the object and looked at it. What he saw was an old leaf that had been pressed in between the pages.
'Mama, look what I found,' the boy called out.
'What have you got there, dear?'
With astonishment in the young boy's voice, he answered, 'I think it's Adam's underwear!'

NOW IF THIS DIDN'T BRIGHTEN YOUR DAY, GO BACK TO BED AND FORGET IT

Evening, Wisdom and Beauty

Almost everything in life is easier to get into than out of.
~Agnes' Law



It's so easy to fall in love but hard to find someone who will catch you.
~Author Unknown



If you keep on saying things are going to be bad, you have a good chance of being a prophet. Isaac Bashevis Singer



Life is simple, its just not easy. ~Author Unknown



Today's Multiple Choice Thought
There is no place where a loving touch so completely compensates for an unskilled hand as in:
a. the bedroom
b. the nursery
c. the garden
d. all of the above.
I guess, when you get down to it, a loving touch compensates for an unskilled hand about everywhere except in an airplane cockpit. ~Robert Brault,

Sky Watch Friday!

Time once again for Sky Watch Friday! Hosted by Klaus, Sandy, Ivar, Wren, Fishing Guy and Louise each week, Sky Watch give us a chance to share our skies and see the skies of others all over the world. Click here to sign up and share yours as well!



Last Sunday as the day began to wind down I noticed some very lovely pastel clouds moving west towards the harbor and Sam Schnauzer and I drove down to see how the sunset was shaping up. These are the shots I want to share with your today.

Evening, Wisdom - Life Comes at You Fast ! How are You Using Your Time?

A friend sent this to me the other day -- I had to stop and wonder if she had done it for more of a reason than just sharing something she had found or had sent to her. But for whatever reason, it did make me stop and take a look at how I use my time. It's worth taking a minute or so to read.

Too many of us put off something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it was coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine.

I got to thinking one day about all those people on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back. From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible.

How many women out there will eat at home because their husband didn't suggest going out to dinner until after something had been thawed? Does the word 'refrigeration' mean nothing to you?

How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence while you watched 'Jeopardy' on television?

I cannot count the times I called my sister and said , 'How about going to lunch in a half hour?' She would gas up and stammer, 'I can't. I have clothes on the line. My hair is dirty. I wish I had known yesterday, I had a late breakfast, It looks like rain' And my personal favorite: 'It's Monday.' She died a few years ago. We never did have lunch together.

Because Canadians cram so much into their lives, we tend to schedule our headaches.. We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when all the conditions are perfect!

We'll go back and visit the grandparents when we get Steve toilet-trained. We'll entertain when we replace the living-room carpet. We'll go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college.

Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter, and the list of promises to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a litany of 'I'm going to,' 'I plan on,' and 'Someday, when things are settled down a bit.'

When anyone calls my 'seize the moment' friend, she is open to adventure and available for trips. She keeps an open mind on new ideas. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes, and you're ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of Rollerblades and skip an elevator for a bungee cord.

My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years.. I love ice cream. It's just that I might as well apply it directly to my stomach with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process. The other day, I stopped the car and bought a triple-decker.. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy.

Now...go on and have a nice day. Do something you WANT to....not something on your SHOULD DO list. If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting?

Have you ever watched kids playing on a merry go round or listened to the rain lapping on the ground? Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight or gazed at the sun into the fading night? Do you run through each day on the fly? When you ask 'How are you?' Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores running through your head? Ever told your child, 'We'll do it tomorrow.' And in your haste, not see his sorrow? Ever lost touch? Let a good friendship die? Just call to say 'Hi'?

When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened gift....Thrown away.... Life is not a race. Take it slower. Hear the music before the song is over.

'Life may not be the party we hoped for...

but while we are here we might as well dance!'

Finally, Some Good Advice

--- from a doctor that knows what he is talking about!

Q: Doctor, I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life. Is this true?
A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that's it... don't waste them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer; that's like saying you can extend the life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Take a nap.

Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?
A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies. What does a cow eat? Hay and corn. And what are these? Vegetables. So a steak is nothing more than an efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system. Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef is also a good source of field grass (green leafy vegetable). And a pork chop can give you 100% of your recommended daily allowance of vegetable products.

Q: Should I reduce my alcohol intake?
A: No, not at all. Wine is made from fruit. Brandy is distilled wine, that means they take the water out of the fruity bit so you get even more of the goodness that way. Beer is also made out of grain. Bottoms up!

Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?
A: Well, if you have a body and you have fat, your ratio is one to one. If you have two bodies, your ratio is two to one, etc.

Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?
A: Can't think of a single one, sorry. My philosophy is: No Pain... Good!

Q: Aren't fried foods bad for you?
A: YOU'RE NOT LISTENING!!! Foods are fried these days in vegetable oil. In fact, they're permeated in it. How could getting more vegetables be bad for you?

Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?
A: Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. You should only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger stomach.

Q: Is chocolate bad for me?
A: Are you crazy? HELLO! Cocoa beans! Another vegetable!!! It's the best feel-good food around!

Q: Is swimming good for your figure?
A: If swimming is good for your figure, explain whales to me.

Q: Is getting in-shape important for my lifestyle?
A: Hey! 'Round' is a shape!

Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets.

And remember:
'Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - Chardonnay in one hand - chocolate in the other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming 'WOO HOO, What a Ride'

AND.....

For those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word on nutrition and health. It's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting nutritional studies.

1. The Japanese eat very little fat
and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat
and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

3. The Chinese drink very little red wine
and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine
and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

5. The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

CONCLUSION

Eat and drink what you like.
Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

Evening, Wisdom and Beauty

Hold fast to your dreams, for without them life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly. Langston Hughes



Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby. Langston Hughes



An election is coming. Universal peace is declared and the foxes have a sincere interest in prolonging the lives of the poultry. T. S. Eliot



Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.
T. S. Eliot



Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage. Lao Tzu

ABC Wednesday -- I!

Put your thinking cap on and come up with some "I" words for today's ABC Wednesday, hosted each week by Mrs. Denise Nesbitt! Click on her name, sign up and join the fun!



And "I" is for Inspiring and Idyllic skies and nature!







"I" is for Irish Moss!





And last, but by no means least, "I" is for the Ideal market!

Evening, Wisdom and Beauty

We are like tea bags - we don't know our own strength until we're in hot water.
- Sister Busche



Nature does nothing uselessly.
- Aristotle



It is love that makes the impossible possible.
- Indian Proverb



Where there is love there is no darkness.
- Burundi Proverb



But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep.
- Robert Frost

That's My World - Shilshole Harbor

Time to show and share your world! Hosted each week by Klaus, Sandy, Ivar, Wren, Fishing Guy and Louise, That's My World gives us all an opportunity to show and share the beauties of our worlds. Click here to sign up and join the fun!



This area, west of Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood, is a good place for both cautious sea outings for new kayakers during calm weather and more lengthy and challenging routes for the experienced. It includes popular and secluded sunbathing beaches, pleasure boats galore at the extensive marina, and sunset views of the Olympic Mountains.



Shilshole has many things to offer the visitor. There are lovely ponds where you can feed the ducks and watch the turtles sun. Click on any photo to embiggen and see more details.



Always love upside down ducks!



It's fun to walk on the beach and collect rocks -- well, I'm in to simple pleasures!



And there's no place better to watch a glorious sunset!





Or watch the boats in the harbor on a clear, beautiful day!



Or bring a blanket, spread it under the trees and enjoy a good book or a picnic and share the beauty!