Tuesday morning I was up early with the puppies, I glanced eastward and caught the moon rising as it was greeting the new day. The January Light is getting a bit longer each day and a few minutes earlier and the moon would have gone unseen. I am thankful for being in the right place at the right time.
my first photo…..
Two days later the moon is obscured by dense cloud cover and it is lightly snowing painting the landscape a fresh coat of white.
It’s a school day and we are on a field trip tramping in the light snow along a planned route to highlight the Underground Railroad.
photo from inside the house, a few minutes later. a new day is dawning, bringing with it light, #JanuaryLight
It’s gonna be a great day, I know it and I can feel it. So I’d better jump up, jump in and seize the day. Making the Days Count, one day at a time, one early morning after another.
Good bye 2019. It has been a year. A lot of it has been good and some not so good.
Yesterday we were at the lake and this morning we are home.
falling snow makes a day magical
I re-read my first post of last year – a first Sunday and two sunsets. Last year, I had planned to write more often but didn’t. There were a lot of distractions AND diversions throughout the year from the beginning until the end. Habits changed, life intervened.
In March, my mother passed away after a brief illness, in May we got a puppy, in August we got the midnight phone call every parent dreads, and in December it all came together and we finished strong.
These three seemingly disconnected events are connected by a common theme – the color yellow. I suppose the color of the year for me was yellow, but I am taking the color with me into 2020.
O has always wanted a puppy. The problem with puppies is they don’t stay puppies, they grow and mature into dogs. O got her puppy in Ivy but Ivy became my dog and she was no longer a puppy. Ivy is an amazing dog, but she isn’t a puppy
It started before Mother’s Day with a text and a picture. Her name was Yellow. She was the same breed and coloration of Ivy – liver and white Brittany Spaniel. The breeder used colored collars to tell the puppies apart, her collar was yellow so she was Yellow.
Yellow the puppy – 5/19
backyard Fern – 9/19
Fern the puppy – 1/20
Then there was a four and half hour Saturday drive to Southern Illinois and back. O drove the first leg with one puppy and I drove the return leg with two.
the first day together – Ivy and Fern (Yellow)
When we brought her home, Yellow didn’t have an official name, yet. O wanted to call her Bailey, but B didn’t think she looked like a Bailey and there was already a Bailey in the neighborhood and bailey ended with a long E sound like Ivy and B contended it would be confusing. Continue reading yellow – it’s a new year→
It’s Christmas morning and the puppies and I are the only creatures stirring. Ivy is content to lie beside me and stare out the window into the yard. A few minutes ago, Fern awoke and needed to go outside. Fern has discovered squirrels and enjoys keeping our yard safe.
This morning when I awoke after a fitful sleep, I peered out our bedroom window and was greeted by this morning’s sunrise. A few minutes earlier, or later and I would have missed it entirely. Timing is everything in life.
This past year has been full of twists and turns and I am full of gratitude. Timing is everything in life from waking at the right moment to getting the care one needs at the precise moment. I am thankful.
I don’t know what tomorrow has in store for me, but I do know today is a day to savor and share with family.
For unto us, a savior has been born and He is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2: 11)
It’s a day to remember what the day is really all about.
Today is going to be a great day, possibly the best day ever. So I’d better jump up, jump in, and seize the day. Carpe diem! Making the Days Count, one day at a time, using timing to my favor.
What greeted you the moment you awoke this morning?
Last Friday’s sunrise. I was fortunate to see it. I was placed in exactly the right place at the right time, by chance. That’s how life happens. I was on my way into Chicago and I pulled over to the side of the road to take the photo. I missed last Wednesday’s wordless post, but I haven’t missed making the days count since and I won’t stop.
I was asleep this morning when the sun rose, but it rose anyway, and tonight the sun will set and maybe I’ll see it, maybe I won’t. But it will come up and in between those sunrises and sunsets, I’ll be making the days count. Making the Days Count, one day at a time.
What are you doing in between the sun rise and sunset?
We can learn a lot from our dogs. I’ve learned a lot from Ivy, our Brittany Spaniel. Fern, our Brittany puppy is a work in progress. She’s made a lot of progress since we brought her home seven weeks ago, but we have a lot progress to make.
Ivy’s perch and Fern’s new spot…someday she’ll outgrow it.
A couple of mornings ago, Fern and I were out for a walk. I needed to move and so did she. Walking a dog is an exercise in curiosity, walking a puppy is a course in curiosity and patience.
Fern is learning and so am I. As we walked, Fern was discovering a new world, even though we had walked part of the same route a day earlier. Fern discovered objects I didn’t see – pine cones, sticks, and sadly, trash – paper and plastic.
Fern saw insects and birds – I could see them, but she noticed them and followed them with her head and would pull on the leash give chase to them. Continue reading curiosity→
March has been brutal, in like a lion, out like a lamb. It’s an old saying to describe the March’s weather and while it’s true in the upper Midwest that’s not the reference I am making.
It’s been a while since I started a post, even longer since I finished and published one. It’s not that I haven’t wanted to write, it’s that I’ve been distracted and not sure what to say and write.
a lone tree overlooking the Atlantic Ocean
I’ve been thinking about what ‘making the days count’ really means the past few months going back to this this past summer. I’ve been a in writing drought of sorts. Four posts in six months.
A friend of mine recently shared with me that he thought I was ‘one of the most positive people’ he knew. The compliment buoyed my spirits at a time when I needed a boost.
It’s spring break and I am, or rather, we are in the Florida Keys for a week of rest, relaxation, and rejuvenation. I know I am need of all three.
Four weeks ago, tomorrow morning, I opened my Five Minute Journal and was greeted by,
“Today is the tomorrow we worried about yesterday.” Ann Brashares.
It’s Sunday morning of Labor Day
weekend and it’s quiet by the lake. It’s the last weekend of summer, at least if
I define summer as having boats in the water.
image courtesy of read.gov
Definitions of summer are plentiful,
though I firmly believe summer is almost a state of mind in addition to being a
season. For O and I, school has been in session for two weeks. Both of us have eight
days of school under our belts.
The autumnal equinox will arrive in
a few weeks and all the earth will be equal for a moment then slowly fall will
advance in the northern hemisphere and summer in the south. It’s time, it
happens each year and again, year after year. There is time for everything
under the sun.
O and I drove up North yesterday
morning. B had come up earlier in the week bringing Ivy with her. Ivy was
overjoyed to see us, though you’d hardly recognize that now as she sleeps
curled up on the footstool. B was too, but Ivy was more enthusiastic with her welcome.
When summer ends, there is much to
do. Boats, dock, lifts, and lawn furniture to store, gardens and beds trimmed,
and the garage organized for the next season. Yesterday one of our neighbors
remarked it was Labor Day weekend and we were working, working hard to get the chores
accomplished. I reflected and replied – this is the weekend we pay the rent. We
work hard at the beginning and the end and reap the benefits of our work in the
middle. It’s different from Aesop’s fable the Ant and the Grasshopper, where the
ants toiled tirelessly all season long to be able to rest (and survive) when
summer ended. Along the lakeshore, we all work together and help each other
with the heavy work pitching in when needed. We know that fall is coming and
winter is not far behind.
There are few grasshoppers here
this weekend, most of us are ants. There is a time for everything under the sun.
“What you are looking for and what you find, are often very different and amazing at the same time.” Me
the moth and the black-eyed Susan, a native prairie flower
Yesterday afternoon, Ivy and I sat in the backyard and watched for birds. At least I was looking for birds. Ivy lay patiently at my feet and scanned the edges of the garden. I did see a bunny or two, I am certain Ivy did as well.
my view with Ivy scanning too
It was time well spent. It was relaxing and almost as good as taking a nap, almost.
I observed several bird species including robins, cardinals, and sparrows, I think as well as other species. I also saw a several butterflies and hummingbirds, before I took out my camera.
I was looking for the source of the activity in thicket in the corner of the backyard, when I found the moth atop a black-eyed Susan, hence the quote above.
Yesterday was the Fourth of July. Independence Day. We spent our day as we usually do – parade, lake, dinner, then fireworks.
My wife reminded me to fly the flag the evening before, but I didn’t put the flag up until the yesterday morning.
flying the flag…
and a smaller version posted in the mail box
It was a beautiful summer day. I got to ride in the boat and watch my daughter enjoy tubing. My daughter towed me to and from the boat on her tube. But, no water for me, other than a shower until I get the green light in a couple of weeks to swim and get in the lake. I’ll have to wait until later in the summer when my incision is fully healed.
the flag flying on the boat as Olivia follows behind on the tube
