Wyatt's big catch!

Recently, my oldest (11 years) grandson, Wyatt Toombs, hung a big Swordfish off the coast of Costa Rica.  The fish weighed in at 110 pounds and was too big for the boat to accommodate it! 

What fun to watch him work at landing this big fish!

Are we large or small? Think about it carefully. . .

Milky Way over Rocky Mountains at 11,000 feet above sea level.

Arkansas and the Ozarks

Ran across this photo of the look out from Petit Jean Mountain across the Arkansas River valley.

Enjoyed my years as a student in Arkansas and at Harding College (now University).

Lots of beauty there, and so many good people.

I love the hills and foothills of Arkansas!

Gone Fishin'!

Spending two days on the White River in northern Arkansas.

Mission:  land as many big, browns as possible! 

Check with me next week to see what kind of mood I'm in!

Inner city, Old East Dallas, what a trip!

Heavenly endorsement of peaceful games?

Interrelated

A very small, "typical" (if such a denigrating term can be tolerated here) sparrow hopped into my pathway ths morning as I hurried up the rain-soaked sidewalk. Strange moment. The tiny winged creature worked hard at finding breakfast. I gathered coffee in an heroic effort to awaken to the day. The bird did the trick! Something about our dance captured my undivided attention. My little friend, clearly aware of me, stepped nearer into my path. For just a moment, a very clear moment, we both, aware of the other, greeted; extended greeting with presence and knowing connection. The delicate, brown creature moved toward me, no doubt to seize some falling crumb or seed, and I toward him to study the precise colors extending from his crown and down and across his feathery, mural-graced back. We stood in the same frame for but a breath, then moving on, having truly seen one another. Life, a sheer wonder every day.

Unexpected guest!

I've said for years that if you live in Old East Dallas, you never know what to expect next! 

Of course, this is not our first encounter with "this element" of the population.  Last Halloween tricker-treaters spotted a group of this sort staring back at all of us from inside the window that lets light into our attic! 

Hey, you just never know!  But, at least everybody's welcome! 

Rest

Rest

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.

Sir J. Lubbock

Quoted at herondance.org

By inward/outward



Snow. . .

What is it about snow?

I don't know about you, but I'm fascinated by it every time it comes! 

I suppose it goes back to my childhood.  Nothing was better than an unexpected, "snow day" in Texas that put an end to school and turned everyone out into the white wonderland. 

I also expect that somehow I'm "hard-wired" to appreciate the white stuff.  I'm told that the afternoon I was born, Spokane, Washington took the assault of the worst snow storm the city had seen in about 25 years!  So, I got here in the snow, and I've always loved it.  The more the better. 

As I've grown older though, snow has pushed me down and along a more contemplative path every time it shows up.  Over the past few years my experience with snow prompted more time with a camera in hand, as if the magic and mystery of the snow would somehow escape me before I could savor it adequately. 

And the amazing, deep, unexpected snows of the last 2-3 years have brought amazing experiences of appreciation, celebration and self-reflection, as if snow signals my way farther down a very important pathway I'm meant to take. 

Call me crazy, but there is something about the snow. 

I caught the image above earlier this month when I was in Colorado speaking to and working with about 150 business majors from Abilene Christian University and Lubbock Christian University.  The corner post on the porch of the cabin where I slept found itself adorned with the beautiful stuff on the morning my trip came to a close.  Dare I say a special blessing to point me in the right direction once again?

Serenity

When I detect a beauty in any of the recesses of nature, I am reminded by the serene and retired spirit in which it requires to be contemplated, of the inexpressible privacy of life, — how silent and unambitious it is. The beauty there is in mosses will have to be considered from the holiest, quietest nook. The gods delight in stillness, they say ‘st–’st. My truest, serenest moments are too still for emotion; they have woolen feet.

- Henry David Thoreau in his journal

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Serenity is an indicator of inner peace, and thus of wisdom. We don’t want to live boring lives and adventure definitely has a role in a life well-lived, but serenity is an indicator that someone has thought through their life and pursued it with discipline and goodwill. Serenity is an indicator that a lot of other things in someone’s life are working well. They don’t try to take on too much, for instance. They have a margin of energy in reserve. They set aside time for the contemplation of beauty. There’s not much rushing. Hectic activity, desperation – these are not part of a life of serenity or wisdom. Serenity is the outcome of a well-designed, a well thought-through life.

I’m reading a biography right now of Abraham Lincoln and perhaps the most thought-provoking characteristic of his life is the serenity with which he conducted his relationships, even when dealing with dishonesty. Lincoln had a particularly close bond with his stepmother, who is described as having been a constant source of encouragement, support and love to him.

Serenity comes from acceptance, including acceptance of one’s own faults and the faults of others. It may be easier to accept life, including our faults, when we are also comfortable in the knowledge that despite those faults, we are valuable or important to ourselves and to others. Characteristics of serenity:

an unwillingness to judge oneself harshly

an unwillingness to judge others harshly

an absence of conflict

a feeling of connectedness to others and to nature

[June 3, 2011, Heron Dance]

Snow, Dallas, Two years in a row! Joy!

Here's what greeted us in Dallas, Texas this morning.  Shots off my front porch in Old East Dallas.

Schools closed for the 4th day in a row.  Unheard of in these parts! 

A city pretty much shut down. 

Beautiful time if you're looking for the beauty of the entire experience.

Images from above. . .

On Tuesday, January 4, 2011, a solar eclipse could be observed over most of the Middle East.  The images below come from msnbc.com. 

Amazing!

To see more images go here.