Life and Death….

On some level, we know that life and death walk hand in hand….yet it’s a truth we manage to close our eyes to until it hits home on a personal level. For my family, that loss was a mother….grandmother….sister, aunt, friend. My husband’s mother, my mother-in-law, Mildred Rhodes. I was fortunate in her, as there wasn’t any mother/daughter-in-law angst between us. She accepted me wholeheartedly, because Kevin loves me. Who could ask for a greater blessing?

When I struggle to make sense of the incomprehensible I turn to nature for solace. I take my camera outside and look for beauty–a bird, a flower, a sunrise or sunset, and I am rewarded with a small miracle to remind me the world is still turning, in spite of our loss. That life goes on, even as it ends. Today’s gift was a single cluster of surprise lilies, ten days after the rest were finished. I don’t question why it came up today; I know it was meant to, that I was meant to find it. Of particular significance is the flower’s color: pink, Mildred’s favorite. It’s as if she reached out a hand and touched me as she passed….and I am comforted.

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Interface Pending…..

In our present climate of increasing digital communication, there still resides in the human spirit a deep longing for personal contact, for knowledge of each other that cannot be gained through interaction on a small screen. We do our best to make the meaning of our words clear but without the emotion or inflection of vocals the nuances are often lost–or worse, completely misunderstood. Drama ensues, feelings hurt where pain was not the desired outcome. Tone is difficult to ‘read’ from cryptic messages, especially in the shorthand of ‘textese.’ Have we really digressed to such trite phrases as ‘OMG’ and ‘LOL’ to convey the complexity of language? I chose this particular image, shot earlier today, to illustrate the point I’m trying to make here: that our spirits need the warmth and nourishment of human interaction, away from all the electronic devices, that our natural impulses are to strive for that connection. And I find it highly ironic that I’m making this point through a digital medium!

I challenge you to put down the phones today, the tablets and the laptops and the iPads. Walk away from the desktop computer. Reach out to the important people in your life. Engage them in real conversation. Face to face, if possible, because that is surely the best possible scenario–you can watch their facial expressions, hear the sound of their voices and their laughter, see their truth in their eyes. Unplug every day, if only for a while….and remind yourself what it is to be human. xo

Thanks for stopping by, for taking the time to read my thoughts….and if the spirit moves you, leave me some love. 🙂 Carpe diem!

My Apologies….

Sometimes, in spite of our best intentions, life demands our attention and takes precedence over blogging. Family is my first priority and, recently, my youngest son, Bryan(a talented tattoo artist), left Iowa for Pennsylvania to take the next step in his rapidly blossoming career. While I am excited for him it was so difficult to see his family go–his lovely wife Kerrie, like another daughter to me, and their beautiful daughter, Ireland, who will turn four in early November. We spent as much time with them as possible and sent them on their way with love, a part of our hearts, and quite a few tears.

Now that things are (somewhat) back to normal, I find myself at the end of the Summer season, with Fall poised in the wings. It seems everything is happening early this year! I look out my windows and see yellow leaves pirouetting to the ground in a spiral dance. Dry leaves line the walkway to our front door, and my flower beds are finished blooming–all but one lone day lily (a black variety, very difficult to photograph) and a few valiant zinnias. The last of the hollyhocks, bravely pink, anchor the raspberry patch. The flower beds are full of fried seed heads and brown brittle stalks. Irises need to be cut back, and the gardens ‘put to bed’ for next year. Apples and grapes are ripening. Where did Summer go?

I leave you with a collection of images, most of them shot over the past couple of days…the last hurrah of my garden. I appreciate you, my loyal followers, who make this blog possible, and I send blessings to you all.

XO, Celia