Each day is new; we all know this.
The feeling of promise kisses each of us upon first awakening; however fleeting.
Before the Realities of Life sift back into our consciousness, this is how it all begins.
Dawning of a new day in central Florida
Tag: inspiration (Page 7 of 8)
I caught this re-broadcast segment on 60 minutes last night after returning from our 4015-plus mile road trip to visit Dad and be with Family. Because Dad fought in WWII, I offer this video in honor of the spirit in which it was fought…because he is my dad, I offer it in honor of what it means to be Family.
(Nicholas Winton and the Power of Good)
John Lennon in Lafayette, Colorado
“You may say I’m a dreamer but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you’ll join us and the world will be as one.” John Lennon
Bengal Tiger Nashville Zoo, Amiee Stubbs Photography 2012
That gaze is arresting; so peaceful yet focused and in the moment. What a glorious creation; breathed forth into existence by the imagination of my Lord.
Reaching out to me from the image; that gaze. The earthy balance of body, pattern and color palette; eye – candy ‘au naturale.’ It fills me.
The glow of the glimmering candles cast orange upon my workspace. Against a grey backdrop day, I am surrounded by supportive stuff; bits of inspiration, all within view of that gaze.
from- Swimming with Swans: vignettes of our three year journey between homes
November 2011 (Fountain Hills, AZ)
During my daily walks along local paths in town and in the surrounding desert area, I’ve noticed Saguaro Cacti with large dark brown “bite” patches along their base up to and including places way high above my head. At first I thought perhaps they were indeed, bites from local fauna that somehow didn’t get hurt eating the spiky spines along with the juicy flesh. Think: deer bites on Aspen tree trunks. But it didn’t seem to fit with the height limit of most animals. So, I got to thinking maybe it was some sort of naturally occurring disease that helps to maintain eco-balance such as the Pine Beetles in the Colorado forests.
I did a bit of Google research and discovered Continue reading
Detail of rows 1 & 2 of my quilt WIP
“Hello, my name is Laura and I am a rusty quilter who’s picking up the needle again.”
Geesh, that sounds kind of illegal. No matter, quilting is and has been a very important part of my life since well, forever. Put another way, when the country was re-discovering quilt-art in the 1960’s and 70’s, I was among those who tried my hand at it…and kept my hand in it ever afterwards.
Basic to those early projects was a deep desire to stay true to my own set of ‘quilt values.’ Specifically: recycling used clothing and jeans into quilts and wearables, both utilitarian and artistic. One of my first quilt-based projects used old jeans pockets as squares to make a lounge pillow for my younger brother.
Yes, the times they were a-changin’.* Continue reading
My hubby Terry’s twin (?)
Those baby blues. That attitude.
My future husband, my lover, my BE-ONE…and oh yes, he looks just like James Taylor.
What’s not to like?
Most of our family and friends know the story of how we met. Truncated version: Terry as best friend of my then fiancé convinces said fiancé to dump me and the rest is history. While it certainly was God’s plan for us to be married, it might not have been exactly His way of getting us together.
Over these past years we have celebrated June 17th in various ways. Our first anniversary we did the ‘eat the frozen wedding cake top’ thing in our little square cinder block married student housing house. Living on love in the midst of typical newlywed poverty those first years proved to produce a firm foundation to our new union; along with three children!
Our tenth anniversary we threw a huge backyard party celebrating the fact that we had made it together that long. Sadly, many we knew who married the same year as we did, were no longer together. This was also the year in which we followed the dream and took a leap of faith in starting our own business. Continue reading
“Where flowers bloom, so does hope.”
-Lady Bird Johnson
View from my front porch lounge chair
Calibrachoa in Michelle’s pot
Note: In keeping with the theme of this previously written Swimming with Swans vignette (2012), we celebrate in spirit with our daughter Hava as she receives her J.D. degree this weekend (2014).
Celebrations and Inspirations
from-Swimming with Swans: vignettes of our three journey between homes
May 2012 (Westminster, CO)
In honor of this time of year: a time of graduations, weddings and new beginnings. It is a time of celebrations and inspirations.
- Bobby is graduating College with a BFA in Studio Art this weekend.
- Our daughter Michelle is getting married in September.
- Our son Joe is in a few new bands and learning to balance work, play and school as a bachelor guy.
- My husband and I are faithfully walking the life-path before us regardless of its many mysteries.
- A colleague and friend Bill, has survived two years of intense cancer treatment and is entering into a new cancer-free life.
And there’s more, oh so much more to be thankful for and to celebrate… Continue reading
Peace, love and happiness don’t just happen.
These qualities arise from a life of intent, purpose and passion.
Passion leaves scars. Scars are not bad. Scars are proof.
Imagine the scars of love on the risen Christ while walking the road beside Thomas.
“Reach here your finger, and see My hands; reach here your hand, and put it into My side; and be not unbelieving, but believing.”*
Proof that it is He.
Passion leaves a legacy.
Consider the statues of Easter Island. 
Long thought to be created using slave labor, researchers now believe the Moai were fashioned as part of a community ‘Passion Project.’ Many generations hauling and carving stone, raising the giant heads all to honor those who had gone on before them. Passion to make those they loved ‘known’ beyond their short time on earth.
Peace, love and happiness don’t just happen.
Passion is not without its costs.
Passion leaves scars. Scars are not bad. Scars are proof.
*John 20:27
Credits: Photographer Peter Steele’s latest body of work, Passion Scars Peace, Love and Happiness documents the carving in aspen trees from Steamboat Springs to Telluride, Colorado. Steele has identified four groups of people who carve in the aspen trees: sheep herders, elk hunters, the casual car camper, and homesteaders.Steele’s image of the oldest carving in the collection, dated 1922, was taken in an old growth aspen grove outside Telluride, CO. While Steele does not condone the act of aspen graffiti, and does not carve in trees, he enjoys searching and documenting these sacred messages that people have passionately expressed on the smooth canvas of the bark of the aspen tree. Peter Steele’s collection consists of 2000 tattooed aspen photographs recorded while hiking hundreds of miles of trails throughout Colorado.